PGL also revealed that the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 would be held from March 17-31. It will be the first Major event in Denmark and will take place at the Royal Arena, where several previous BLAST CS:GO events have occurred since 2017.
The tournament will be the first Major of Counter-Strike’s newest version, set to be released this summer. Valve informed fans of the new game early last week and began its Limited Beta Testing phase.
The game developer selected gamers to participate based on factors like their Steam account standing, playtime on official servers, and trust factor. The testing period is expected to last until Counter-Strike 2’s official release.
In a press release, PGL’s CEO Silviu Stroie revealed that it was an honor for the company to host such an important event, and they would strive to achieve a record-breaking viewership count with this tournament.
“One of the greatest games of all time is marching to another chapter, and we couldn’t be happier to host probably the most important Major of the franchise in recent years,” Stroie said.
“Denmark has a rich esports heritage, and we are excited to bring the world’s best Counter-Strike teams to Copenhagen to compete for the game’s most prestigious title. Our ambition for PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 is to break the game’s all-time viewership records.”
The tournament organizer set the previous record with the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, which achieved over a 2.7 million count during the match between G2 and Natus Vincere in the grand final.
PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 will be PGL’s fourth Major organized and the third since 2021. The tournament will feature 24 teams competing for a prize pool of $1.25 million.
]]>VCT EMEA Stage 2 started on May 13, with 12 teams coming together to compete for a spot in the Masters and a piece of the $212,421 prize pool. After a riveting six weeks of action, the EU’s best teams have been revealed.
Fnatic currently holds the title after defeating FunPlus Phoenix on the last day of the challengers. They swept FunPlus, who were the EMEA reigning champions, 3-0 in the grand final.
FunPlus defeated G2 Esports 3-1 in March to become the European champions. Unfortunately, they were unable to feature in the Reykjavik Masters due to travel restrictions in Ukraine.
CHAMPIONS OF EMEA! #FNCWIN pic.twitter.com/1s7SyAAciN
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) June 26, 2022
Fnatic’s run in the Stage 2 challengers was near perfect. Out of five group stage best-of-3 matches, they only lost two maps, one to FPX in week 1 and the other to G2 on the final group stage day.
It was more of the same in the playoff upper bracket semifinal, as they won FPX 2-1 while sweeping Guild Esports 2-0 in the upper bracket final to reach the grand final.
After losing to Fnatic, FPX had to reach the grand final through the lower bracket. They defeated Acend, M3 Champions, and Guild to seal their grand final spot.
Unfortunately, it seems like all the action in the lower bracket zapped FPX’s juices. Despite being one of the two teams to come close to handing Fnatic a loss, they crumbled in the grand final.
While the grand finals result shows a 3-0 sweep, it was no cakewalk for Fnatic, who were the heavy favorites with a $1.50 winning odd across esports betting platforms. The UK-based team had to win two of the three maps in overtime.
The game started on Split, which was FPX’s map choice. Although FPX maintained control of the environment, they failed to close out the game in regular time. Fnatic’s precise reading of FPX’s attacking schemes helped them secure the victory in overtime.
Devastated by the result, FPX completely lost their way on the second map. They were blown out of the water with a 13-5 victory on Icebox.
Although Haven was another closely-contested map thanks to a second-half comeback by FPX, Fnatic won 15-13 in overtime. The newly-acquired Emir Ali “Alfajer” Beder was the star of the show, finishing the series with a +26 kills-deaths and a game-high average combat score of 306.
European teams had a ridiculously poor outing in the Stage 1 Masters and will be looking to better that performance. Fnatic failed to make it out of Group A on the back of two sweeps by Ninjas in Pyjamas and ZETA DIVISION.
The Copenhagen Masters will commence on July 10 and will run to July 24. All 12 teams from different regions will slug it out for a larger piece of the yet-to-be-disclosed prize pool and points for the 2022 Valorant Champions Tour.
]]>The forthcoming Stage 2 Masters event of the Valorant Champions Tour will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, from July 10-24, 2022, while the end-of-year finale will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2022. Qualified teams will journey to these locations to compete for the prize money and the ultimate bragging right as Valorant Champions.?
?VCT Masters 2 will bring together 12 teams from around the globe to battle for the prize money and a spot in the season finale. Riot’s upcoming Valorant Champions event in Istanbul will feature 16 teams, 10 of which will qualify through the regular season. The remaining six teams will be selected via the Last Chance Qualifiers in August. VCT Stage 2 has already begun in all regions, with the major events beginning on May 13.
Furthermore, fans will be able to watch the live games at the arena during these events. Fans will be present in the arena for the very first time in Valorant’s history to cheer on their favorite teams. These two events will undoubtedly be eagerly anticipated by Valorant fans all throughout the world.
Riot Games has stated explicitly that one of its sole objectives is to organize international events where fans from all around the world can watch live, making sure that teams can participate from everywhere in the globe at the scheduled venue without any hindrance.
??��Our goal is to see our biggest international events played in front of a live audience and both of these cities provided clear pathways towards this goal, while also providing the best possible guarantee that all qualified teams will be able to safely attend and compete. We��re excited to share the initial details of these two events and will be providing more information in the coming weeks,�� the company said in a statement.
??The declaration of the venues has put an end to speculation about the final two foreign tournaments on the Valorant Champions Tour for the 2022 season. The VCT Stage 1 Masters, the year’s first international event, was held in Reykjavik, Iceland, and recorded a viewership milestone of over one million. In 2021, the Masters and Champions of Stage 2 were held in Berlin, Germany.??
However, over years, Copenhagen has hosted a number of esports tournaments. Copenhagen, with its substantial esports infrastructure, is an ideal location for a VCT event. Istanbul does not have as much level of international esports event hosting experience.
??Riot Games has also revealed that VCT will be completely restructured for next season. Valorant will broaden its existing Challengers systems and Game Changers as well as add new foreign competitions. Partner teams will be added to Valorant’s leagues, although Riot did not provide many details on that front.
]]>BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2019 will feature six CS:GO esports teams going head-to-head at the 13,000-capacity Royal Arena in ?restad Syd.
Four teams have already been confirmed for the event. Alongside the top two in the world, Team Liquid and Astralis, last year’s champions Natus Vincere and runners-up Ninjas in Pyjamas will also feature in Denmark.
The tournament will use a classic BLAST format. The six teams will play each other once in a Bo1 round-robin group stage, after which the top two will advance directly to a Bo3 grand final series.
The first two rounds of the group stage will be played behind closed doors on November 1, with the remaining three rounds and the finals to take place in front of a live audience at Royal Arena.
The tournament will also feature a BLAST Pro Standoff bonus match, where the third-placed team at the end of the group stage gets to choose an opponent for five 1v1 aim duels. While there are no points on offer, the winner will take home a $20,000 cash prize.
Copenhagen will be the second-to-last stop before the 2019 BLAST Pro Series Global Finals, which are set to take place in December 2019 with the top four teams on the circuit battling it out for the lion’s share of $500,000.