At long last, the illustrious CS:GO Major returns with PGL Stockholm in late October 2021. The last time a Valve-sponsored Major was held was August 2019, with StarLadder Berlin. Back then, Team Vitality had to play through a Challengers Stage where North went 3-0. Evil Geniuses hadn’t returned to CS:GO yet. Renegades were a playoff team. And before they left for Virtus.pro, the AVANGAR roster shocked everyone with a grand finals run before falling to Astralis, who won their third major in a row.
It's been too long, but the CS:GO Major finally returns. (Image via PGL Esports)
A lot has changed in the past two years, but the goal of every top-tier CS:GO team remains the same: win the Major. With the return of Majors comes a new system for qualifying, the Regional Major Rankings. A deep run at the previous Major no longer guarantees you a spot, you must earn points via RMR events for each region.
There’s a lot to keep track of heading into October, including the current rankings, results from RMR events, roster moves, and more. And we’ve got them all here for you to help you stay on top of things on the road to PGL Stockholm.
The last Major crowd, two years ago, at the site of Astralis’ third straight title. (Image via StarLadder)
PGL Stockholm Regional Major Rankings
Here are the current Regional Major Rankings for all the competing regions. Each placement includes what qualifying/starting spot the team would have at PGL Stockholm. Those spots are Legends, Challengers, and Contenders.
North America
- EXTREMEM, 1880 points – Legends
- Team Liquid, 1840 points – Legends
- FURIA Esports, 1584 points – Legends
- Evil Geniuses, 1310 points – Challengers
- O Plano, 1300 points – Contenders
- Extra Salt, 1200 points
- paiN Gaming, 1100 points
- Bad News Bears, 760 points
Europe
- Ninjas in Pyjamas, 1860 points – Legends
- Heroic, 1660 points – Legends
- G2 Esports, 1640 points – Legends
- Mousesports, 1600 points – Challengers
- BIG, 1500 points – Challengers
- Team Vitality, 1480 points – Challengers
- Astralis, 1280 points – Challengers
- FunPlus Phoenix, 1040 points – Challengers
- Double Poney, 720 points – Challengers
- Complexity, 700 points – Contenders
- Sprout, 600 points – Contenders
- Anonymo Esports, 500 points
- Fnatic, 490 points
- OG, 430 points
- FaZe Clan, 248 points
- HYENA (ex-North), 208 points
CIS
- Natus Vincere, 3680 points – Legends
- Team Spirit, 3530 point – Legends
- Gambit Esports, 3475points – Challengers
- K23, 2575 points – Contenders
- ForZe, 2450 points – Contenders
- Virtus.pro, 1600 points
- Akuma, 1120 points
- Entropiq, 1100 points
- Nemiga Gaming, 240 points
- ESPADA, 60 points
South America
- MIBR, 1680 points – Contenders
- Sharks Esports, 1500 points
- Paquetá Gaming, 1400 points
- Havan Liberty, 1050 points
- Bravos Gaming, 1040 points
- INTZ, 840 points
Oceania
- Renegades, 1680 points – Contenders
- ORDER, 1500 points
- Dire Wolves, 1300 points
- Roosters, 896 points
Asia
- TYLOO, 1600 points – Contenders
- ViCi Gaming, 1600 points
- Invictus Gaming, 1400 points
- Wings Up Gaming, 1300 points
PGL Stockholm RMR 2021 Event Results
StarLadder CIS RMR – CIS
Nothing will deny s1mple and company from the first major in two years. Image via StarLadder.
There wasn’t much surprise at the top of the standings at the end of the StarLadder CIS RMR event. Both Natus Vincere and Gambit, who sat near the top of the rankings before the event began, tested each other numerous times during the event.
In the group stage, Gambit got the better of s1mple and company with a 2-1 comeback, winning Dust2 and Inferno after losing Mirage. Both teams met in the upper bracket final, and again Gambit won two straight (Inferno and Mirage) after losing map one (Dust2). In the grand finals, Gambit’s one-map advantage and win on Ancient put them up 2-0. But three straight map wins from Na’Vi, including a 31 kill performance from B1T on Mirage, gave them the win when it mattered the most.
Surprisingly absent from the playoffs altogether was Virtus.pro, who went a lackluster 1-3 in group stage, completely missing out on earning any RMR points. With that, they fall from tied for third in the CIS rankings to sixth, and now risk missing out on the Major altogether.
Flashpoint 3 – Europe
If they can’t be slowed down, Europe is going to have a real mous problem. (Image via mousesports)
The third Flashpoint event ended up being a breakthrough for the struggling tournament organizer. A 16 team double-elimination bracket made way for the best squads in Europe to earn their first share of 2021 RMR points. Despite being released before the start of the event, Valve made the decision not to use Ancient.
The focus from day one was on Ninjas in Pyjamas, in their debut event with all-star AWPer dev1ce after his departure from Astralis. Unfortunately, NiP’s play was not the focus of round one, as controversy surrounding the replay of their third map versus Anonymo dominated the headlines. While their controversial win soured their start, they impressed with a tough lower bracket run with comebacks versus BIG, Heroic, and G2.
NiP would eventually fall to the surprise of the tournament, mousesports, in the grand finals. Few expected mousesports to be this good this early after adding dexter as IGL, but the Australian sensation impressed with his shot-calling and his kill output.
Cs_summit 8 – North America
The current version of Liquid is different from the one crowds last saw, but EliGE is as dangerous as ever. (Image via ESL)
Team Liquid entered the first RMR event for North America with some ground to cover. They started with a Contenders spot in a diminished NA scene, and don’t want to make their run toward an elusive major any harder on themselves. Liquid took care of business at summit, winning five straight series while only dropping four total maps. Three of those four map losses were in overtime, and came against the eventual second and third place teams, FURIA and EXTREMUM.
It was a tough showing from Evil Geniuses, who were bounced quickly after an 0-2 record following losses against FURIA and paiN Gaming. Due to this result, they’ve currently dropped from Legends status down to Challengers status behind Liquid, EXTREMUM, and FURIA. With former CS pro daps returning to the group as a coach, they will look to make up for lost ground at the next NA RMR event.
EPIC League Spring – CIS
A new boyband or the hottest team in CS:GO? The answer is yes. (Image via Gambit Esports)
The EPIC CIS League Spring was just another notch for the absolutely red-hot Gambit squad. Gambit have made a strong case for ‘best team in the world’ in 2021, with wins at IEM Katowice, IEM Summer, and the BLAST Spring Finals. They will certainly be a favorite in Stockholm, and the 1600 points earned from their first place finish at EPIC is a step in the right direction. They still sit behind Team Spirit and Na’Vi.
Like Flashpoint 3, however, EPIC League Spring wasn’t without controversy. The fifth-place match was delayed as neither Entropiq or Na’Vi were informed that there even was a fifth-place match. After the event, allegations of betting fraud surfaced regarding the Akuma roster and the CEO of their former organization.
Roster Moves ahead of PGL Stockholm
List of significant roster moves and transfers since the beginning of 2021, starting with the most recent.
- July 1: HYENAS project disbands.
- June 14: FaZe brings olofmeister back to the starting lineup, again.
- June 1: FaZe moves coldzera to bench.
- May 1: Ex-MIBR players form O PLANO.
- April 23: Ninjas in Pyjamas signs dev1ce via transfer from Astralis.
- April 15: Evil Geniuses signs michu as tarik moves to bench.
- March 27: Cloud9 disbands ‘the Colossus’, departs CS:GO.
- March 24: Ex-North, Heroic players form HYENAS.
- February 26: Heroic benches niko and b0RUP, signs refrezh and sjuush.
- February 15: FaZe Clan brings back karrigan.
- February 10: mousesports sign new IGL dexter.
- February 5: North organization folds, moves CS:GO players to bench.
- January 30: FaZe Clan signs Twistzz from Team Liquid, moves Kjaerbye to bench.
- January 25: FunPlus Phoenix signs ex-GODSENT roster.
- January 24: EXTREMUM signs ex-100 Thieves core, as well as Gen.G’s BnTeT.
- January 21: GODSENT signs Brazilian roster headlined by TACO and felps.
- January 16: GeT_RiGhT steps back from active competition.
- January 15: MIBR signs entirely new roster.
- January 11: Team Envy departs from CS:GO.
- January 9: Team Liquid signs FalleN from MIBR.
- January 8: Fnatic moves flusha to the bench.
- January 8: kNgV-, trk, and TACO all leave MIBR.
- January 1: Chaos Esports Club releases their roster and departs NA CS:GO.
- January 1: v$m, leo_drk, LUCAS1, and coach cogu all depart MIBR.
