We’ve been brewing in anticipation and excitement to announce that ESL One Rio 2020 will be coming to full fruition next year during May. In a world’s first, we’d also like to declare that ESL One Rio 2020 will stand as Brazil’s first Valve sponsored Major Championship of all time. Harbouring one of the most passionate fan bases of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Brazil’s calls for a Major tournament have deservingly been answered.
Glistening as the 16th Major tournament in CS:GO history, ESL One Rio 2020 will represent itself as a Major Championship event within the ESL Pro Tour, the world’s largest CS:GO circuit. A grand prize pool of $1,000,000 will be the spoils of glory and the Major tournament will also contribute towards the IntelⓇ Grand Slam.
“We are extremely excited and proud to host the next Major in Brazil,” said Ulrich Schulze, Senior Vice President Product at ESL. “Our aim is to bring pure esports moments to the most passionate fans around the world and reward them by creating a unique experience on all levels. With teams from all over the world having a chance to qualify and making their way to the final, we expect the matches to be incredible and the crowd to be the loudest we have ever seen.”
Please read below for more details regarding the Minor & Major tournament information:
Event: ESL One Rio 2020 CS:GO Major
Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD
Minor Qualifiers:
- European Qualifier
- North American Qualifier
- South American Qualifier
- CIS Qualifier
- Oceania Qualifier
- China Qualifier
- SEA Qualifier
- East Asia Qualifier
- Middle East Qualifier
Minors:
Dates: 26th of April to 3rd of May
Team Capacity: 8 total teams per region
Total Progressing Teams: Two
All four Minor tournaments will be run simultaneously during the 26th of April to the 3rd of May with the best 2 teams from each Minor ensuring their position at following Challengers Stage.
Challengers Stage:
Dates: 11th of May to the 14th
Format: Swiss System
Team Capacity: 16 teams
Returning Challengers: G2 Esports, mousesports, CR4ZY, FaZe Clan, North, MIBR, Ninjas In Pyjamas and Dream Eaters.
The Challenger Stage will be comprised of the eight returning Challenger teams and the eight successful Minor qualifying teams. Eight victors of the Challengers Stage will proceed to the Legends Stage whereas the other eight will be eliminated.
Legends Stage:
Dates: 16th of May to the 19th
Format: Swiss System
Team Capacity: 16 teams
Returning Legends: Team Liquid, Astralis, ENCE, Team Vitality, Renegades, Evil Geniuses, AVANGAR & Natus Vincere
The Legends Stage will be comprised of the eight returning Legends teams and the eight successful teams from the Challenger Stage. The eight victors of the Legends stage progress to the final Champions Stage.
Champions Stage:
Dates: 21st of May to the 24th
Format: Best of 3 Single-Elimination Playoffs
Venue: Jeunesse Arena
Team Capacity: 8 teams
The Champions Stage acts as the final battleground for the world’s most elite-class squads to battle it out for the Major title and lionshare of $1,000,000.
Following this announcement of ESL One Rio 2020, we’ll be releasing more information in the lead up to the event. Be sure to keep up to date with our Twitter and Facebook as we continue to post all updates regarding the event.