How to watch the PGL Stockholm Major

The wait is nearly over, CS:GO fans. The PGL Stockholm Major, the first Valve-sponsored tournament since 2019, will run from Oct. 26 to Nov. 7. Some of the best teams in the world will be fighting for their share of the $2 million prize pool and a chance to make history.

For the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a premier tournament will be held in front of a live audience. PGL is expecting to have a full house at the Avicii Arena, the venue of choice for the playoffs, which will run in the last four days of the competition.

It’s without a doubt the most relevant CS:GO tournament since the last Major, the StarLadder Berlin in September 2019. Most of the best teams in the world secured their spots, so we can expect a handful of quality matches.

The tournament will kick off with the Challengers Stage, where eight of the 16 teams will advance to the Legends Stage. Once again, half of the teams will be eliminated and the top eight will play in the playoffs at the Avicii Arena.

Here’s everything you need to know about the PGL Stockholm Major.

Stream

The PGL Stockholm Major will be broadcast on PGL’s Twitch and YouTube channel. There will be a secondary stream for simultaneous matches and non-English broadcasts such as WePlay’s Russian stream.

Format

The $2 million competition will use a 16-team Swiss system for both the Challengers and the Legends Stage. In the Swiss stage, teams who win three matches progress, and teams who lost three are eliminated from the tournament. Both the elimination and advancement matches will be played as best-of-threes, while the other matches are all best-of-ones.

The Challengers Stage will run from Oct. 26 to 29 and eight teams will advance to the next phase to meet the teams who secured Legend status during the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournaments. The Legends stage will be played from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 and only the top eight will make it into the playoffs.

The playoffs will take place in the Avicii Arena in front of a live audience starting on Nov. 4 and ending on Nov. 7. PGL will use a single-elimination bracket and all the matches will be best-of-threes. The winner will earn $1 million, while the runners-up will grab $300,000. The semifinalists will take home $140,000 each.

Teams

Not all of the teams will be playing with their usual rosters. Virtus Pro has made a last-minute change and will use the former forZe rifler Evgeny “FL1T” Lebedev instead of the Uzbek support Sanjar “SANJI” Kuliev.

Gambit and Copenhagen Flames will be missing their official coaches, Ivan “F_1N” Kochugov and Faruk Pita, respectively, because they were banned by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) in the coach spectator bug scandal and prohibited by Valve to attend the Major. Gambit and Copenhagen Flames will use their CEO and director of sports, respectively, in place of their official coaches.

Bruno Ono (paiN Gaming), Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan), and Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira (FURIA) were also banned from attending the Major as a result of their involvement in the coach spectator scandal. FURIA listed the assistant coach Marcos “⁠tacitus⁠” Castilho as the stand-in, while FaZe will use their analyst Viacheslav “innersh1ne” Britvin. PaiN, on the other hand, brought in Felippe “felippe1” Martins, a former player and coach, to fill in from Bruno.

There are also two coaches on personal leave, Team Liquid’s Eric “adreN” Hoag and BIG’s Dustin “⁠DuDe⁠” Großmann. Liquid will use general manager Steve “jokasteve” Perino and BIG will play under the interim coach Nikola “LEGIJA” Ninić.

And finally, there is Heroic, who didn’t hire a coach after Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen’s departure in July. The Danes signed the former Ninjas in Pyjamas’ in-game leader Richard “Xizt” Landström as an analyst and he will be coaching during the Major.

The competition allowed teams to list one substitute that can play in case an official player has to miss a match, and most of the teams have listed an emergency substitute. For those who don’t have a substitute, the coach is expected to fill in if needed. Stand-in coaches have been marked with an asterisk.

Challengers Stage

Astralis

• Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
• Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen
• Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
• Emil “Magisk” Reif
• Philip “Lucky” Ewald
• Substitute: Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen
• Coach: Danny “zonic” Sørensen

Heroic

• Casper “cadiaN” Møller
• Martin “stavn” Lund
• Ismail “refrezh” Ali
• René “TeSeS” Madsen
• Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
• Coach: Richard “Xizt” Landström*

FaZe Clan

• Håvard “rain” Nygaard
• Helvijs “broky” Saukants
• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
• Finn “karrigan” Andersen
• Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer
• Coach: Viacheslav “innersh1ne” Britvin*

ENCE

• Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer
• Lotan “Spinx” Giladi
• Paweł Dycha
• Olek “hades” Miskiewicz
• Joonas “doto” Forss
• Substitute: Aleksi “allu” Jalli
• Coach: Eetu “sAw” Saha

Virtus Pro

• Dzhami “Jame” Ali
• Alexey “qikert” Golubev
• Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis
• Timur “buster” Tulepov
• Evgeny “FL1T” Lebedev
• Coach: Dastan Akbayev

BIG

• Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz
• Florian “syrsoN” Rische
• Nils “k1to” Gruhne
• Tizian Feldbusch
• Nicklas Gade
• Substitute: Nico “⁠Aqua⁠” Kembitzky
• Coach: Nikola “LEGIJA” Ninić*

MOUZ

• Robin “ropz” Kool
• David “frozen” Čerňanský
• Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras
• Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand
• Christopher “dexter” Nong
• Substitute: Jon “⁠JDC⁠” de Castro
• Coach: Torbjørn “mithR” Nyborg

Copenhagen Flames

• Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen
• Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen
• Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjid
• Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard
• Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss
• Substitute: Niels Christian “⁠NaToSaphiX⁠” Sillassen
• Coach: Daniel Vorborg*

Team Spirit

• Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov
• Victor “somedieyoung” Orudzhev
• Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov
• Nikolay “mir” Bityukov
• Boris “magixx” Vorobiev
• Substitute: Robert “⁠Patsi⁠” Isyanov
• Coach: Nikolay “Certus” Poluyanov

Movistar Riders

• Alejandro “mopoz” Fernández-Quejo Cano
• Alejandro “ALEX” Masanet Candela
• Raúl “DeathZz” Jordán Nieto
• Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia
• David “dav1g” Granado Bermudo
• Coach: Galder “bladE” Barcena

Entropiq

• Aleksey “El1an” Gusev
• Viktor “Lack1” Boldyrev
• Alexey “NickelBack” Trofimov
• Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko
• Igor “forester” Bezotecheskiy
• Substitute: Egor “⁠flamie⁠” Vasilyev
• Coach: Dmitry “hooch” Bogdanov

GODSENT

• Epitácio “TACO” de Melo
• João “felps” Vasconcellos
• Bruno “latto” Rebelatto
• Bruno “b4rtiN” Câmara
• Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer
• Coach: Olavo “cky” Napoleão

PaiN Gaming

• Rafael “saffee” Costa
• Vinícios “PKL” Coelho
• Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt
• Gabriel “NEKIZ” Schenato
• Wesley “hardzao” Lopes
• Coach: Felippe “felippe1” Martins*

Renegades

• Liam “malta” Schembri
• Simon “Sico” Williams
• Joshua “INS” Potter
• Jordan “Hatz” Bajic
• Alistair “sliStair” Johnston
• Coach: David “Kingfisher” Kingsford

Sharks

• Jhonatan “jnt” Silva
• Lucas “Lucaozy” Neves
• Antonio “realziN” Oliveira
• Romeu “zevy” Rocco
• Filipe “pancc” Martins
• Coach: Hélder “coachi” Sancho

TYLOO

• Haowen “somebody” Xu
• YuLun “Summer” Cai
• YuanZhang “Attacker” Sheng
• Kelun “SLOWLY” Sun
• ZhengHao “DANK1NG” Lyu
• Coach: QiFang “⁠Karsa⁠” Su

Legends Stage

Natus Vincere

• Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
• Denis “electronic” Sharipov
• Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov
• Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
• Valerii “B1T” Vakhovskyi
• Coach: Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi

Gambit

• Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov
• Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov
• Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov
• Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov
• Timofey “interz” Yakushin
• Coach: Konstantin “groove” Pikiner*

Ninjas in Pyjamas

• Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
• Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora
• Hampus Poser
• Fredrik “REZ” Sterner
• Linus “LNZ” Holtäng
• Substitute: Erik “ztr” Gustafsson
• Coach: Björn “THREAT” Pers

Team Liquid

• Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
• Keith “NAF” Markovic
• Jake “Stewie2K” Yip
• Michael “Grim” Wince
• Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo
• Substitute: Jarosław “⁠pashaBiceps⁠” Jarząbkowski
• Coach: Steve “jokasteve” Perino*

G2

• Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
• Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač
• Nemanja “nexa” Isaković
• Audric “JaCkz” Jug
• François “AmaNEk” Delaunay
• Substitute: Kenny “kennyS” Schrub
• Coach: Damien “maLeK” Marcel

FURIA

• Yuri “yuurih” Gomes
• Andrei “arT” Piovezan
• Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo
• Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato
• André “drop” Abreu
• Substitute: Lucas “⁠decenty⁠” Bacelar
• Coach: Marcos “⁠tacitus⁠” Castilho*

Evil Geniuses

• Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte
• Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov
• Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz
• Owen “oBo” Schlatter
• Michał “MICHU” Müller
• Coach: Damian “daps” Steele

Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 26

• 3am CT: Astralis vs. Copenhagen Flames
• 3am CT: FaZe vs. Team Spirit
• 4:15am CT: ENCE vs. GoDSENT
• 4:15am CT: VP vs. paiN
• 5:30am CT: BIG vs. Entropiq
• 5:30am CT: Movistar Riders vs. Renegades
• 6:45am CT: Heroic vs. TYLOO
• 6:45am CT: MOUZ vs. Sharks

Key storylines

It’s the first CS:GO Major in over two years and the first premier Counter-Strike event to be played in front of a live crowd since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, so there’s definitely a lot of hype around the tournament in the community. It’s the most important event in years, the biggest prize pool in Major history, and of equally importance, the competitors will have the opportunity to join the select group of players who have earned a Major, the most prestigious tournament in the scene.

It’s impossible to think of a better team than Na`Vi ahead of the PGL Stockholm Major. The squad headlined by s1mple have always been a threat and won tournaments in the past, but they were missing consistency. They achieved it this year and won two of the biggest events so far, the IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League season 14, claiming the Intel Grand Slam season three and its $1 million prize pool. The organization is a three-time Major runner-up and it would mean the world to the brand if s1mple and company can bring it home.

Gambit, the other powerhouse in CIS, is definitely a team that can ruin Na`Vi’s plans, though. They surprised just about everyone earlier this year when they won the IEM Katowice in February. Sh1ro and his teammates build on that unexpected success and won other premier tournaments such as BLAST Premier Spring Finals and IEM Summer. So far, Gambit have won two grand finals and lost two to Na`Vi. Imagine if they get to decide who’s better in the PGL Stockholm Major finals. That would be a hell of an arc.

Astralis won the last three Majors, which nobody else has done. The Danes will be playing for their fourth consecutive title and the fifth Major trophy in general, but the question is if they can do it without dev1ce, who is considered by many the GOAT of CS:GO. The star AWPer departed the Astralis’ camp to join Ninjas in Pyjamas in April 2021 and quickly made NiP a top contender for titles. For CS:GO fans, nothing should be better than watching these two teams face each other in an elimination match.