FACEIT Major: London 2018
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| 2018 | |
 The FACEIT Major 2018 logo | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Dates | September 5, 2018–September 23, 2018 |
| Administrator | Valve FACEIT |
Tournament format(s) | Two 16-team Buchholz group stages 8-team single-elimination playoff |
| Venue | Twickenham Stadium The SSE Arena, Wembley |
| Teams | 24 teams |
| Purse | $1,000,000 USD |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Astralis (2nd title) |
| 1st runners-up | Natus Vincere |
| 2nd runners-up | MIBR Team Liquid |
| MVP | Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz |
The FACEIT Major: London 2018, also known as FACEIT Major 2018, or London 2018, was the thirteenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship, the second Major of 2018, and first organized by FACEIT. It featured twenty-four professional teams from around the world and took place in London, United Kingdom. The group stages were held in Twickenham Stadium, and the playoffs were played in front of a live crowd in the SSE Arena, Wembley. The London Major was the sixth consecutive major with a prize pool of $1,000,000.[1][2] The top sixteen teams from the previous Major, Boston 2018, automatically qualified for the FACEIT Major while another eight teams qualified from their respective regional qualifiers. The eight from regional qualifiers and the bottom eight teams from Boston 2018 (together called the "Challengers") competed in the New Challengers group stage, a Swiss-system tournament. The top eight from this stage then advanced to face the top eight teams from Boston ("Legends") in a second Swiss-system group stage, the New Legends stage. The top eight from this stage advanced to the playoffs.
FaZe Clan, MIBR, and Natus Vincere were the only incoming Legends to retain their Legend status at this Major by advancing to the playoff stage. Team Liquid, compLexity Gaming, BIG, HellRaisers, and Astralis were new Legends. Defending champions Cloud9, along with mousesports, Fnatic, G2 Esports, and Winstrike Team, were knocked out in the New Legends stage, thus losing their Legends status. Fnatic failed to advance to the playoffs for the first time in the team's history; the organization had been a Legend at every Major until London. This also ended Freddy "KRiMZ" Johansson's run as one of the only players to attend every Major and become Legends. This left Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer as the only player to become a Legend at every Major in CS:GO history, and MIBR as the only team to be Legends at every Major it had attended. This Major was also significant in that no majority-Swedish team became Legends after Ninjas in Pyjamas fell to MIBR in the New Legends stage. Cloud9 also became the second team in CS:GO history to lose its Legends status after winning the previous Major, along with Team EnVyUs.
The grand finals pitted Natus Vincere and Astralis against each other. Natus Vincere defeated BIG in the quarterfinals and MIBR in the semifinals while Astralis defeated FaZe Clan and Team Liquid respectively. In a fairly convincing two map sweep, Astralis took down Natus Vincere for its second Major championship to draw level with MIBR and the former Team EnVyUs French core for the second most Major titles.
Background[edit]
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series. In professional CS:GO, the Valve-sponsored Majors are the most prestigious tournaments.[3][4]
The defending champion was Cloud9, which became the first North American team to win a Major and just the third non-European team to win a Major. The Swedish team Fnatic attended as the most decorated CS:GO team in Major history, with three wins.
Format[edit]
FACEIT largely retained the Major format from Boston 2018 that had been announced by Valve and ELEAGUE, where the offline qualifier that had taken place before early Majors was rebranded as the "New Challengers stage" and became an official part of the full Major. Apart from this, the competitive format had remained nearly constant since implementing the 16-team Swiss system over the GSL format at ELEAGUE Major 2017.
The Major cycle began with four Minors, or regional qualifiers: Americas, Asia, CIS, and Europe. Two teams from each qualifier moved on to the New Challengers stage.[5] The New Challengers stage featured sixteen teams: the bottom eight teams from the previous Major's New Legends stage and the eight teams from the Minors. These teams played in a sixteen team, Swiss-system format. The top eight teams from this stage moved on to the next stage of the Major, the "New Legends stage".
The 16-team New Legends stage, which replaced the old group stage, featured the eight teams advancing from the New Challengers stage and the eight Legends from the Boston Major. Like the New Challengers stage, the New Legends stage used a 16-team, Swiss-system format. The top eight teams from this stage moved on to the playoff bracket and gained Legend status for the following Major.
FACEIT's format for the New Challengers and the New Legends stages made few adjustments to the Boston format. In round five of each Swiss group stage, the remaining six teams played a best-of-three instead of the previous best-of-one.[6] In addition, the group stage used the Buchholz system for seeding the Swiss-system, rather than random draw. In FACEIT's Buchholz system, the teams with the hardest strength of schedule earned the higher seeds after the first round; strength of schedule is determined by how many wins the team's opponent has had.[7]
In the playoffs, now known as the "New Champions stage," eight teams played in a single elimination, best-of-three bracket.[2] FACEIT also made slight changes to the New Champions stage. Rather than randomizing the teams with the same records, these playoffs seeded teams based on how difficult their opponents in the group stage had been. This was determined by adding up opponent wins from the New Legends stage.[6]
Map pool[edit]
On April 20, 2018, Valve announced that the revamped Dust II would be replacing Cobblestone in the Active Duty map pool, changing the map pool from Boston 2018.[8]
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Regional qualifiers[edit]
Each regional qualifier, called "Minors", featured eight teams, whether through direct invitation or through qualifiers. Each minor featured two groups of four teams; these groups were in GSL double elimination formats, which was the format used at every major until the ELEAGUE Major, with the initial matches and winners match being best of ones and the losers and decider series being best of three. Two teams of each group qualify for the bracket phase, which is a four team, double elimination, best of three bracket. Two teams qualify for the major qualifier from each minor.
Each minor also had a US$50,000 prize pool with first place receiving US$30,000, second place taking in US$15,000, and third place raking in the last US$5,000.[9] In addition, all four minors will be held in London at the Twickenham Stadium to combat any last minute visa issues before the actual Major starts.[10]
Asia Minor[edit]
The Asia Minor ran from July 16 to July 20. Two teams were invited to the Asia Minor, unlike the last Asia Minor, in which all eight teams were invited. Two teams qualified from the Southeast Asia qualifier (which includes India), one team from the East Asia qualifier, one team from the Middle East qualifier, one team from the Oceania qualifier, and one team from the China qualifier. Each open Asian regional qualifier was a single elimination bracket.[11]
Controversy ensued in the China qualifier. Fierce Tiger had won the China qualifier via forfeit from VG.FlashGaming due to the latter's internet issues. VG.Flash suspected that its internet had been "sabotaged" before the match was about to start. FACEIT decided that the match would be replayed. Fierce Tiger was unhappy with the decision, saying that VG.Flash should be held accountable for its own issues and that its players were already on vacation. Fierce Tiger later said that it would not surrender its China qualifier win and hoped that FACEIT would could reach a "verdict with fair play in mind."[12] FACEIT administrators also realized that three of Fierce Tiger's four matches resulted in forfeits, with the other match being a 16–0 against Team MAX, making a possibility of a denial-of-service attack or match fixing likely. After speculations arose about the mysterious new fifth player Fierce Tiger brought on to the team who went by the alias "tbgirl", FACEIT learned and eventually confirmed with Valve that "tbgirl" was actually a player named Kun "LEo" Hou. LEo had recently been banned by Valve with a VAC ban. A VAC ban is an official ban by Valve if a player is caught cheating with Valve's anti-cheat system and any player with a VAC ban would be ineligible to play at a Valve-sponsored tournament and would last a lifetime. Fierce Tiger tried to hide "LEo"'s new identity and knowingly let the banned player play. In the end, FACEIT disqualified Fierce Tiger and Roar eSports would face off against VG.Flash in the final.[13]
- Teams
- Renegades (Invited)
- TyLoo (Invited)
- 5Power Club[a][14] (Southeast Asia)
- B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape[b][15] (Southeast Asia)
- SCARZ Absolute (East Asia)
- Uniquestars (Middle East)
- Tainted Minds (Oceania)
- ViCi.Flash Gaming (China)
- Bracket
| Upper round 1 | Upper final | Final | |||||||||||
| A1 | SCARZ Absolute | 0 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Tainted Minds | 2 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Tainted Minds | 0 | |||||||||||
| B1 | TyLoo | 2 | |||||||||||
| B1 | TyLoo | 2 | |||||||||||
| A2 | Renegades | 1 | |||||||||||
| B1 | TyLoo | 0 | |||||||||||
| A2 | Renegades | 2 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| B2 | Tainted Minds | 0 | |||||||||||
| A1 | SCARZ Absolute | 1 | A2 | Renegades | 2 | ||||||||
| A2 | Renegades | 2 | |||||||||||
CIS Minor[edit]
The CIS Minor ran from July 10 to July 13. All eight teams in the CIS Minor came from the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, eight teams were invited and another eight teams qualified from four separate open qualifiers. The closed qualifier was a sixteen team, best of three, Swiss system format and the top eight teams moved on to the CIS Minor.[16]
Before the Minor even started, Nemiga Gaming was denied visas to the United Kingdom, so the team was unable to attend the Minor. Instead of finding a replacement, FACEIT decided to run the event with seven teams.[17] Visa denial issues also forced two additional teams (PLINK-TECH and Monolith Gaming) to play with stand-ins.[18] This Minor was notable in that it would be the first Major in which Yegor "markeloff" Markelov would not participate in after his FlipSid3 Tactics team lost to three unknown teams in the CIS closed qualifier.
- Teams
- HellRaisers (Closed #1–2)
- Team Spirit (Closed #1–2)
- AVANGAR (Closed #3–5)
Nemiga Gaming (Closed #3–5)- pro100 (Closed #3–5)
- forZe (Closed #6–8)
- PLINK-TECH (Closed #6–8)
- Monolith Gaming (Closed #6–8)
- Bracket
| Upper round 1 | Upper final | Final | |||||||||||
| A1 | HellRaisers | 2 | |||||||||||
| B2 | AVANGAR | 0 | |||||||||||
| A1 | HellRaisers | 2 | |||||||||||
| A2 | pro100 | 0 | |||||||||||
| B1 | Team Spirit | 0 | |||||||||||
| A2 | pro100 | 2 | |||||||||||
| A1 | HellRaisers | 2 | |||||||||||
| B1 | Team Spirit | 1 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| A2 | pro100 | 0 | |||||||||||
| B2 | AVANGAR | 1 | B1 | Team Spirit | 2 | ||||||||
| B1 | Team Spirit | 2 | |||||||||||
Europe Minor[edit]
The Europe Minor ran from July 19 to July 22. The Europe Minor will be exactly like the CIS Minor. All eight teams in the Europe Minor will come from the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, eight teams will be invited and another eight teams will qualify from four separate open qualifiers. The closed qualifier will be a sixteen team, best of three, Swiss system format and the top eight teams move on to the Europe Minor.[19] Notably, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to qualify for a Major for the first time in over two years.
- Teams
- OpTic Gaming (Closed #1–2)
- Team Kinguin (Closed #1–2)
- ENCE eSports (Closed #3–5)
- Ninjas in Pyjamas (Closed #3–5)
- Red Reserve (Closed #3–5)
- 3DMAX (Closed #6–8)
- LeftOut (Closed #6–8)
- Sprout Esports (Closed #6–8)
- Bracket
| Upper round 1 | Upper final | Final | |||||||||||
| A1 | OpTic Gaming | 2 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 1 | |||||||||||
| A1 | OpTic Gaming | 2 | |||||||||||
| A2 | ENCE eSports | 1 | |||||||||||
| B1 | Sprout Esports | 0 | |||||||||||
| A2 | ENCE eSports | 2 | |||||||||||
| A1 | OpTic Gaming | 0 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 2 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| A2 | ENCE eSports | 0 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 2 | B2 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 2 | ||||||||
| B1 | Sprout Esports | 1 | |||||||||||
Americas Minor[edit]
The Americas Minor ran from July 7 to July 11. Unlike the previous America Minors, no team was directly invited to the Americas Minor. This time, six teams will come from the North American closed qualifier and two teams will come from the South American open qualifier. In the North American closed qualifier, eight teams will be invited and another eight teams will come from four separate open qualifiers. These teams will play in a sixteen teams, best of three Swiss system format and the top six teams will move on to the Americas Minor. The South American open will have two open qualifiers and each will be a single elimination, 1024 team bracket.[20]
- Teams
compLexity Gaming (North America #1–2)- NRG Esports (North America #1–2)
- eUnited (North America #3–5)
- Rogue (North America #3–5)
- Team Dignitas (North America #3–5)
- Swole Patrol[c] (North America #6)
- Não Tem Como (South America 1)
- Furia eSports (South America 2)
- Bracket
| Upper round 1 | Upper final | Final | |||||||||||
| A1 | NRG Esports | 1 | |||||||||||
| B2 |  compLexity | 2 | |||||||||||
| B2 | compLexity | 0 | |||||||||||
| B1 | Rogue | 2 | |||||||||||
| B1 | Rogue | 2 | |||||||||||
| A2 | eUnited | 1 | |||||||||||
| B1 | Rogue | 0 | |||||||||||
| B2 | compLexity | 2 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| B2 | compLexity | 2 | |||||||||||
| A1 | NRG Esports | 1 | A2 | eUnited | 0 | ||||||||
| A2 | eUnited | 2 | |||||||||||
Broadcast talent[edit]
Desk host
- Alex "Machine" Richardson
Stage host
- Freya Spiers
Interviewer
- Pala Gilroy Sen
Commentators
- James Bardolph
- Anders Blume
- Henry "HenryG" Greer
- Vince Hill
- Daniel "ddk" Kapadia
- Jason "moses" O'Toole
- Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett
Analysts
- Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill
- Sean "seang@res" Gares
- Björn "THREAT" Pers
- Damian "daps" Steele
- Jacob "Pimp" Winneche
Observers
- Connor "Sliggy" Blomfield
Broadcasts[edit]
The major was streamed in various languages across Twitch. China streamed its broadcast on Douyu. Streams were also shown on FACEIT's YouTube's channel and on Steam.tv.
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Teams competing[edit]
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Pre-major ranking[edit]
HLTV.org rank teams based on results of teams' performances. The rankings shown below reflect the September 3, 2018 rankings.[22]
Teams that were in the top 30 but failed to qualify for the major include NRG eSports (#9, United States), Heroic (#13, Denmark), ENCE eSports (#18, Finland), Ghost Gaming (#22, Canada), Luminosity Gaming (#23, Brazil), Imperial Esports (#24, Lithuania), AGO Esports (#25, Poland), Fragsters (#26, Denmark), AVANGAR (#27, Kazakhstan), and Team Kinguin (#28, Poland).
| World ranking | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Move1 | Peak2 | Low2 | Best Major placing3 | Best achievements2 |
| 1 | Astralis | 982 |  | 1 | 8 | 1st at Atlanta 2017 | ECS Season 5 winner ELEAGUE Premier 2018 winner ESL Pro League Season 7 winner |
| 2 | Natus Vincere | 709 | | 2 | 10 | 2nd at Cluj-Napoca 2015 2nd at Columbus 2016 | SL i-League Season 5 winner ESL One Cologne 2018 winner |
| 3 | Team Liquid | 482 | | 3 | 14 | 2nd at Cologne 2016 | cs_summit 2 winner ECS Season 5 runner-up ELEAGUE Premier 2018 runner-up |
| 4 | North | 477 |  6 | 4 | 17 | 5th at Atlanta 2017 5th at Kraków 2017 | DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 winner DreamHack Open Valencia 2018 winner |
| 5 | mousesports | 472 | | 2 | 8 | 5th at Boston 2018 | SL i-League Season 4 winner V4 Future Sports Festival winner |
| 6 | FaZe Clan | 457 |  2 | 1 | 6 | 2nd at Boston 2018 | ELEAGUE Premier 2018 winner IEM Sydney 2018 winner ESL Belo Horizonte 2018 winner |
| 7 | MIBR | 358 | | 1 | 8 | 1st at Columbus 2016 1st at Cologne 2016 | Adrenaline Cyber League 2018 winner Moche XL Esports winner ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018 winner |
| 8 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 271 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 1st at Cologne 2014 | 5th at SL i-League S5 3rd at DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 |
| 10 | Fnatic | 220 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1st at Winter 2013 1st at Katowice 2015 1st Cologne 2015 | Intel Extreme Masters XII – World Championship winner World Electronic Sports Games 2017 winner |
| 11 | BIG | 277 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 5th at Kraków 2017 | ESEA Season 27 winner ESL One Cologne 2018 runner-up |
| 12 | TyLoo | 178 | | 10 | 30 | 2nd at Boston 2018 Asia Minor | SL & ImbaTV Chongqing winner Qi Invitational runner-up |
| 14 | G2 Esports | 136 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 5th at Boston 2018 | 5th at SL i-League Season 4 5th at ECS Season 5 5th at ESL One Cologne 2018 |
| 15 | HellRaisers | 128 | 1 | 13 | 21 | 5th at Katowice 2014 5th at Winter 2014 | DreamHack Open Tours 2018 runner-up Moche XL Esports runner-up |
| 16 | Renegades | 128 | 1 | 10 | 19 | 9th at Cologne 2015 | 5th at SL i-League S4 5th at IEM Sydney 2018 |
| 17 | OpTic Gaming | 115 | 3 | 15 | 48 | 2nd at London 2018 Europe Minor | DreamHack Summer 2018 runner-up 5th at ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018 |
| 19 | Gambit Esports | 108 | 1 | 10 | 21 | 1st at Kraków 2017 | 3rd at DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018 3rd at DreamHack Open Tours 2018 |
| 20 | Virtus.pro | 102 | 1 | 10 | 22 | 1st at Katowice 2014 | V4 Future Sports Festival runner-up CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 runner-up |
| 21 | Cloud9 | 99 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 1st at Boston 2018 | 5th at World Electronic Sports Games 2017 cs_summit 2 runner-up |
| 29 | compLexity Gaming | 70 | 3 | 21 | 55 | 3rd at Winter 2013 | 5th at DreamHack Open Summer 2018 |
| 30 | Rogue | 70 | 8 | 22 | 63 | 2nd at London 2018 Americas Minor | DreamHack Open Austin 2018 runner-up |
| 31 | Space Soldiers | – | 3 | 12 | 31 | 9th at Boston 2018 | World Electronic Sports Games 2017 runner-up DreamHack Open Austin 2018 winner |
| 36 | Team Spirit | – | 1 | 23 | 37 | 2nd at London 2018 CIS Minor | SL & ImbaTV Chongqing 2018 runner-up ESEA Season 27 runner-up |
| 47 | Winstrike Team | – | 1 | 12 | 51 | 5th at Boston 2018 | M.Game League #2 winner 3rd at World Cyber Arena 2017 |
| 211 | Vega Squadron | – | 133 | 14 | 211 | 9th at Boston 2018 | 5th at SL & ImbaTV Chongqing 2018 |
1Change since August 27, 2018 ranking
2Since end of ELEAGUE Boston Major
3Best major placements may not necessarily reflect teams' current rosters
New Challengers stage[edit]
The New Challengers stage took place from September 5 to September 9, 2018. The Challengers stage, also known as the Preliminary stage and formerly known as the offline qualifier, will be a sixteen team swiss tournament: after the randomly-drawn Day 1 games, teams will play other teams with the same win–loss record. Every round will consist of one game. In addition, teams will not play the same team twice unless necessary and teams will be randomly chosen for the first two rounds; afterwards, rounds three through five will use the Buchholz system, meaning that seeding will take place for next matchups. In addition, round five matchups will be a best of three rather than a best of one. Any team with three wins would qualify for the New Legends stage, and any team with three losses would be eliminated.
In the first round, teams from pool one will be matched up against teams in pool four. Teams in pool two will play teams in pool three. One team from a pool is randomly decided to face off against a randomly decided team in another pool. Teams in pool one are Gambit Esports, Space Soldiers, Vega Squadron, and a randomly decided team among Astralis, BIG, and Team Liquid. Teams in pool two are the two other teams from Astralis, BIG, and Team Liquid; North; and Virtus.pro. Teams in pool three are the Minor winners: Renegades, HellRaisers, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and compLexity Gaming. Teams in pool four are the Minor runner-ups: TyLoo, Team Spirit, OpTic Gaming, and Rogue.
In the second round, the winners in the first round will face each other in the "high" matches, in which teams with a 1–0 record will play against each other; the losers will face each other in the "low" matches, in which teams with a 0–1 record will play each other.
In the third round, the winners of the high matches (teams with 2–0 records) from round two will face each other. The winners of these two matches will qualify for the major. The losers of the high round and the winners of the low round (teams with 1–1 records) will face each other in the "mid" matches. The losers from the previous low matches (teams with 0–2 records) will face each other in round three's low matches. The losers of these low matches are eliminated. Twelve teams remain in the Challengers stage.
In the fourth round, the losers of the high matches and the winners of the mid matches (teams with 2–1 records) will face each other in round four's high matches. The winners of those high matches qualify for the next phase of the Major. The losers of the mid matches and the winners of the low matches (teams with 1–2 records) will face each other in the low matches of round four. The losers of these matches are eliminated from the Major. Six teams remain.
In the last round, the remaining teams will face off (teams with 2–2 records). The winners of these matches will qualify for the New Legends stage and the losing teams will be eliminated from the Major. Instead of a best of one, these games will be a best of three. In the most ideal of situations, the Swiss format should allow teams to have a harder time each time they win and have an easier time each time they lose.
| Place | Team | Record | RD | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Team Liquid | 3–0 | +20 | OpTic Gaming 16–4 Mirage | High match HellRaisers 16–9 Inferno | High match Vega Squadron 19–17 Cache | New Legends stage | New Legends stage |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | 3–0 | +17 | Virtus.pro 16–5 Mirage | High match TyLoo 16–12 Train | High match Astralis 28–26 Mirage | New Legends stage | New Legends stage | |
| 3–5 | Astralis | 3–1 | +26 | compLexity Gaming 16–4 Inferno | High match Rogue 16–13 Inferno | High match Ninjas in Pyjamas 26–28 Mirage | High match Team Spirit 16–3 Dust II | New Legends stage |
| compLexity Gaming | 3–1 | +1 | Astralis 4–16 Inferno | Low match Space Soldiers 16–11 Inferno | Mid match BIG 16–12 Inferno | High match Vega Squadron 19–15 Inferno | New Legends stage | |
| HellRaisers | 3–1 | −1 | North 19–17 Overpass | High match Team Liquid 9–16 Inferno | Mid match Gambit Esports 16–14 Overpass | High match OpTic Gaming 25–23 Train | New Legends stage | |
| 6–8 | BIG | 3–2 | +23 | Renegades 16–6 Overpass | High match Vega Squadron 16–19 Train | Mid match compLexity Gaming 12–16 Inferno | Low match Gambit Esports 16–8 Nuke | OpTic Gaming 2–0 |
| Vega Squadron | 3–2 | +10 | Team Spirit 16–14 Mirage | High match BIG 19–16 Train | High match Team Liquid 17–19 Cache | High match compLexity Gaming 15–19 Inferno | North 2–0 | |
| TyLoo | 3–2 | +8 | Gambit Esports 19–17 Inferno | High match Ninjas in Pyjamas 16–12 Train | Mid match OpTic Gaming 26–28 Inferno | Low match Renegades 16–10 Inferno | Team Spirit 2–0 | |
| 9–11 | North | 2–3 | −4 | HellRaisers 17–19 Overpass | Low match Team Spirit 13–16 Nuke | Low match Virtus.pro 16–6 Mirage | Low match Rogue 25–23 Inferno | Vega Squadron 0–2 |
| Team Spirit | 2–3 | −6 | Vega Squadron 14–16 Mirage | Low match North 16–13 Nuke | Mid match Rogue 16–4 Overpass | High match Astralis 3–16 Dust II | TyLoo 0–2 | |
| OpTic Gaming | 2–3 | −21 | Team Liquid 4–16 Mirage | Low match Virtus.pro 16–13 Mirage | Mid match TyLoo 28–26 Inferno | High match HellRaisers 23–25 Train | BIG 0–2 | |
| 12–14 | Gambit Esports | 1–3 | −6 | Tyloo 17–19 Inferno | Low match Renegades 16–10 Train | Mid match HellRaisers 14–16 Overpass | Low match BIG 8–16 Nuke | Eliminated |
| Rogue | 1–3 | −11 | Space Soldiers 16–10 Inferno | High match Astralis 13–16 Inferno | Mid match Team Spirit 4–16 Overpass | Low match North 23–25 Inferno | Eliminated | |
| Renegades | 1–3 | −18 | BIG 6–16 Overpass | Low match Gambit Esports 10–16 Train | Low match Space Soldiers 19–15 Inferno | Low match TyLoo 10–16 Inferno | Eliminated | |
| 15–16 | Space Soldiers | 0–3 | −15 | Rogue 10–16 Inferno | Low match compLexity Gaming 11–16 Inferno | Low match Renegades 15–19 Inferno | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Virtus.pro | 0–3 | −24 | Ninjas in Pyjamas 5–16 Mirage | Low match OpTic Gaming 13–16 Mirage | Low match North 6–16 Mirage | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Round 5 scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Team Spirit | 12 | Overpass | 16 | TyLoo |
| Team Spirit | 23 | Inferno | 25 | TyLoo |
| Team Spirit | – | Mirage | – | TyLoo |
| OpTic Gaming | 6 | Dust II | 16 | BIG |
| OpTic Gaming | 14 | Train | 16 | BIG |
| OpTic Gaming | – | Nuke | – | BIG |
| Vega Squadron | 16 | Inferno | 8 | North |
| Vega Squadron | 16 | Mirage | 13 | North |
| Vega Squadron | – | Train | – | North |
New Legends stage[edit]
The New Legends stage, formerly known as the Group stage, used the same format as the Challengers stage. This stage takes place from September 12 to September 16, 2018.
Cloud9, FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, and MIBR were teams in pool one based on their top four placement at the Boston Major. Fnatic, G2 Esports, mousesports, and Winstrike Team were teams in pool two based on their quarterfinals finish at the Boston Major. Team Liquid and Ninjas in Pyjamas were placed in a third pool for going undefeated in the New Challengers stage. Astralis, compLexity Gaming, and HellRaisers were in a fourth pool after going 3–1. BIG, TyLoo, and Vega Squadron were in a fifth pool for going 3–2. The two teams in pool three were randomly drawn to play two teams from pool two. Two randomly selected teams from pool four were drawn to play the other two teams from pool two. The remaining team from pool four was matched against a randomly selected team from pool one. The three teams from pool five were randomly selected to play a randomly selected team from the three remaining teams in pool one.[23]
| Place | Team | Record | RD | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | compLexity Gaming | 3–0 | +25 | Fnatic 16–4 Inferno | High match G2 Esports 16–11 Cache | High match BIG 16–8 Nuke | New Champions stage | New Champions stage |
| Team Liquid | 3–0 | +19 | Winstrike Team 16–7 Mirage | High match Ninjas in Pyjamas 16–10 Mirage | High match Astralis 19–15 Inferno | New Champions stage | New Champions stage | |
| 3–5 | Astralis | 3–1 | +26 | Natus Vincere 16–14 Inferno | High match Vega Squadron 16–4 Inferno | High match Team Liquid 15–19 Inferno | High match MIBR 16–0 Dust II | New Champions stage |
| Natus Vincere | 3–1 | +19 | Astralis 14–16 Inferno | Low match FaZe Clan 16–12 Overpass | Mid match Ninjas in Pyjamas 16–6 Train | High match Fnatic 16–9 Mirage | New Champions stage | |
| BIG | 3–1 | +19 | FaZe Clan 16–5 Dust II | High match TyLoo 16–7 Train | High match compLexity Gaming 8–16 Nuke | High match HellRaisers 16–9 Train | New Champions stage | |
| 6–8 | FaZe Clan | 3–2 | +22 | BIG 5–16 Dust II | Low match Natus Vincere 12–16 Overpass | Low match mousesports 16–8 Mirage | Low match TyLoo 16–4 Mirage | G2 Esports 2–0 |
| HellRaisers | 3–2 | +19 | G2 Esports 20–22 Dust II | Low match Cloud9 19–16 Overpass | Mid match TyLoo 16–10 Overpass | High match BIG 9–16 Train | Fnatic 2–1 | |
| MIBR | 3–2 | +6 | TyLoo 13–16 Inferno | Low match mousesports 16–6 Dust II | Mid match G2 Esports 16–4 Inferno | High match Astralis 0–16 Dust II | Ninjas in Pyjamas 2–1 | |
| 9–11 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 2–3 | −10 | mousesports 16–12 Mirage | High match Team Liquid 10–16 Mirage | Mid match Natus Vincere 6–16 Train | Low match Vega Squadron 16–11 Train | MIBR 1–2 |
| Fnatic | 2–3 | −27 | compLexity Gaming 4–16 Inferno | Low match Winstrike Team 16–7 Inferno | Mid match Vega Squadron 16–14 Inferno | High match Natus Vincere 9–16 Mirage | HellRaisers 1–2 | |
| G2 Esports | 2–3 | −29 | HellRaisers 22–20 Dust II | High match compLexity Gaming 11–16 Cache | Mid match MIBR 4–16 Inferno | Low match Cloud9 22–19 Inferno | FaZe Clan 0–2 | |
| 12–14 | Vega Squadron | 1–3 | −7 | Cloud9 16–4 Mirage | High match Astralis 4–16 Inferno | Mid match Fnatic 14–16 Inferno | Low match Ninjas in Pyjamas 11–16 Train | Eliminated |
| Cloud9 | 1–3 | −15 | Vega Squadron 4–16 Mirage | Low match HellRaisers 16–19 Overpass | Low match Winstrike Team 19–16 Inferno | Low match G2 Esports 19–22 Inferno | Eliminated | |
| TyLoo | 1–3 | −24 | MIBR 16–13 Inferno | High match BIG 7–16 Train | Mid match HellRaisers 10–16 Overpass | Low match FaZe Clan 4–16 Mirage | Eliminated | |
| 15–16 | Winstrike Team | 0–3 | −21 | Team Liquid 7–16 Mirage | Low match Fnatic 7–16 Inferno | Low match Cloud9 16–19 Inferno | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| mousesports | 0–3 | −22 | Ninjas in Pyjamas 12–16 Mirage | Low match MIBR 6–16 Dust II | Low match FaZe Clan 8–16 Mirage | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Round 5 Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Fnatic | 19 | Mirage | 17 | HellRaisers |
| Fnatic | 9 | Dust II | 16 | HellRaisers |
| Fnatic | 2 | Cache | 16 | HellRaisers |
| G2 Esports | 2 | Mirage | 16 | FaZe Clan |
| G2 Esports | 22 | Dust II | 25 | FaZe Clan |
| G2 Esports | – | Overpass | – | FaZe Clan |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | 15 | Cache | 19 | MIBR |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | 16 | Mirage | 10 | MIBR |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | 11 | Train | 16 | MIBR |
New Champions stage[edit]
The New Champions Stage was a best-of-three single elimination bracket, with teams playing until a winner was decided. This stage took place at the Wembley Arena between September 20, 2018 and September 23, 2018. Brackets were revealed shortly after MIBR defeated NIP in the last map of the group stages. Teams were seeded first based on their record in the New Legends stage and then based on strength of schedule.[24]
Bracket[edit]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Complexity | 4 | 12 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | MIBR | 16 | 16 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | MIBR | 10 | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Natus Vincere | 16 | 16 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | BIG Clan | 2 | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Natus Vincere | 16 | 16 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Natus Vincere | 6 | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Astralis | 16 | 16 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Team Liquid | 16 | 10 | 16 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | HellRaisers | 10 | 16 | 8 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Team Liquid | 8 | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Astralis | 16 | 16 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Astralis | 16 | 16 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | FaZe Clan | 14 | 12 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
Quarterfinals[edit]
BIG vs. Natus Vincere[edit]
Casters: James Bardolph & ddk
| BIG vs. Natus Vincere Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| BIG | 2 | Dust II | 16 | Natus Vincere |
| BIG | 6 | Nuke | 16 | Natus Vincere |
| BIG | – | Overpass | – | Natus Vincere |
compLexity Gaming vs. MIBR[edit]
Casters: HenryG & Sadokist
| compLexity Gaming vs. MIBR Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| compLexity Gaming | 4 | Train | 16 | MIBR |
| compLexity Gaming | 12 | Inferno | 16 | MIBR |
| compLexity Gaming | – | Cache | – | MIBR |
Team Liquid vs. HellRaisers[edit]
Casters: HenryG & Vince Hill
| Team Liquid vs. HellRaisers Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Team Liquid | 16 | Mirage | 10 | HellRaisers |
| Team Liquid | 10 | Dust II | 16 | HellRaisers |
| Team Liquid | 16 | Cache | 8 | HellRaisers |
Astralis vs. FaZe Clan[edit]
Casters: Anders Blume & moses
| Astralis vs. FaZe Clan Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Astralis | 16 | Mirage | 14 | FaZe Clan |
| Astralis | 16 | Inferno | 12 | FaZe Clan |
| Astralis | – | Overpass | – | FaZe Clan |
Semifinals[edit]
Natus Vincere vs. MIBR[edit]
Casters: Anders Blume & moses
| Natus Vincere vs. MIBR Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Natus Vincere | 16 | Overpass | 10 | MIBR |
| Natus Vincere | 16 | Dust II | 5 | MIBR |
| Natus Vincere | – | Train | – | MIBR |
Team Liquid vs. Astralis[edit]
Casters: HenryG & Sadokist
| Team Liquid vs. Astralis Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Team Liquid | 8 | Nuke | 16 | Astralis |
| Team Liquid | 7 | Mirage | 16 | Astralis |
| Team Liquid | – | Dust II | – | Astralis |
Finals[edit]
Casters: James Bardolph & ddk
No official MVP was given, but HLTV.org deemed dev1ce as the MVP. Astralis became the fourth squad to win multiple Major titles.
| Natus Vincere vs. Astralis Scores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Score | Map | Score | Team |
| Natus Vincere | 6 | Nuke | 16 | Astralis |
| Natus Vincere | 9 | Overpass | 16 | Astralis |
| Natus Vincere | – | Inferno | – | Astralis |
Final standings[edit]
The final placings are shown below. In addition, the prize distribution, seed for the next major, roster, and coaches are shown. Each team's in-game leader is shown first.
| Place | Prize Money | Team | Seed | Roster | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | US$500,000 | Astralis | IEM Katowice 2019 New Legends | gla1ve, dev1ce, dupreeh, Magisk, Xyp9x | zonic |
| 2nd | US$150,000 | Natus Vincere | Zeus, Edward, s1mple, electronic, flamie | kane | |
| 3rd – 4th | US$70,000 | MIBR | FalleN, coldzera, fer, Stewie2K, tarik | YNk | |
| Team Liquid | nitr0, ELiGE, NAF, Twistzz, TACO | zews | |||
| 5th – 8th | US$35,000 | BIG | gob b, nex, tabseN, tiziaN, smooya | LEGIJA | |
| compLexity Gaming | stanislaw, ANDROID, ShahZaM, yay, dephh | Rambo | |||
| FaZe Clan | karrigan, GuardiaN, NiKo, olofmeister, rain | RobbaN | |||
| HellRaisers | ANGE1, bondik, DeadFox, woxic, ISSAA | Johnta | |||
| 9th – 11th | US$8,750 | Fnatic | IEM Katowice 2019 New Challengers | Xizt, draken, flusha, JW, KRiMZ | Jumpy |
| G2 Esports | Ex6TenZ, bodyy, kennyS, shox, SmithZz | NiaK | |||
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | Lekr0, dennis, f0rest, GeT RiGhT, REZ | pita | |||
| 12th – 14th | US$8,750 | Cloud9 | Golden, autimatic, RUSH, Skadoodle, STYKO | valens | |
| TyLoo | BnTeT, captainMo, DD, somebody, xccurate | CruSad3 | |||
| Vega Squadron | jR, chopper, hutji, tonyblack, crush | Fierce | |||
| 15th – 16th | US$8,750 | mousesports | – | chrisJ, ropz, oskar, Snax, suNny | lmbt |
| Winstrike Team | waterfaLLZ, balbina, Boombl4, jmqa, Kvik | iksou | |||
| 17th – 19th | – | North | MSL, aizy, Kjaerbye, niko, v4lde | ave | |
| OpTic Gaming | Snappi, cajunb, gade, JUGi, k0nfig | ruggah | |||
| Team Spirit | S0tF1k, DavCost, Dima, COLDYY1, somedieyoung | Certus | |||
| 20th – 22nd | – | Gambit Esports | Dosia, AdreN, HObbit, mou, mir | B1ad3 | |
| Renegades | Nifty, AZR, jks, USTILO, jkaem | Ryu | |||
| Rogue | Rickeh, Hiko, SicK, vice, cadiaN | mCe | |||
| 23rd – 24th | – | Space Soldiers | hardstyle, Calyx, MAJ3R, paz, XANTARES | ||
| Virtus.pro | NEO, byali, MICHU, pashaBiceps, snatchie | kuben |
Post-Major rankings[edit]
The rankings shown below reflect the September 24, 2018 rankings, the first ranking after the Major.[25]
| World ranking | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Move1 | ||||
| 1 | Astralis | 1000 | | ||||
| 2 | Natus Vincere | 734 | | ||||
| 3 | Team Liquid | 504 | | ||||
| 4 | MIBR | 415 | 3 | ||||
| 5 | FaZe Clan | 413 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | North | 387 | 2 | ||||
| 7 | mousesports | 326 | 2 | ||||
| 8 | BIG | 318 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 277 | 1 | ||||
| 10 | HellRaisers | 212 | 5 | ||||
| 11 | compLexity Gaming | 182 | 18 | ||||
| 12 | TyLoo | 180 | | ||||
| 14 | Fnatic | 130 | 4 | ||||
| 15 | G2 Esports | 129 | 1 | ||||
| 18 | Vega Squadron | 114 | 193 | ||||
| 20 | Gambit Esports | 92 | 1 | ||||
| 21 | Cloud9 | 87 | | ||||
| 23 | Renegades | 83 | 7 | ||||
| 24 | OpTic Gaming | 82 | 7 | ||||
| 28 | Virtus.pro | 66 | 8 | ||||
| 34 | Team Spirit | – | 2 | ||||
| 35 | Rogue | – | 5 | ||||
| 39 | Space Soldiers | – | 8 | ||||
| – | Winstrike Team2 | – | – | ||||
1Change since September 3, 2018 ranking
2Winstrike Team released four players. HLTV.org requires at least three members of a team to be included in the rankings.
Notes[edit]
- ^ 5Power Club had three players with visa issues, so the team was forced to gather three players with visas to the United Kingdom quickly before the event started.
- ^ Signature Gaming's visa applications were denied by the British embassy. FACEIT decided to find a replacement instead of running the event with seven teams like the CIS Minor. The semifinalists runner-ups at the Southeast Asia qualifier, B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape and Devious, played to replace Signature. B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape would stroll its way into the Asia Minor.
- ^ Three teams were tied for sixth place at the North American closed qualifier. The tiebreaker was determined by whichever team had the best map win to loss difference. Swole Patrol (8–5) was able to beat out Luminosity Gaming (6–5) and Team One (6–6) to take the last spot in the Americas Minor.
- ^ Immortals acquire the MIBR (Made in Brazil) brand. The SK Gaming players' contracts expired and Immortals picked up the roster. Immortals announced that they would be playing under the MIBR tag.
- ^ Quantum Bellator Fire sold its team to a newly formed organization called Winstrike Team.
References[edit]
- ^ Steiner, Dustin (22 February 2018). "FACEIT to Host Next CS:GO Major in London Sept 20–23". Unikrn. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ a b Mira, Luis (13 December 2017). "VALVE REVAMPS MAJOR STAGE NAMES TO INCLUDE QUALIFIER; ALL 24 TEAMS TO HAVE STICKERS". HLTV.org. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Chiu, Stephen. "Retrospective of the Majors: Lineups with 2 Major Wins and Players with 3". VPEsports. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- ^ Kovanen, Tomi. "Why CS:GO needs major events". HLTV.org. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- ^ Mira, Luis (5 October 2017). "ELEAGUE TO HOST NEXT MAJOR, WITH PLAYOFFS IN BOSTON". HLTV.org. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ a b Lewis, Jarek (30 July 2018). "FACEIT London Major Format Slightly Tweaked From Past Majors". DBLTAP. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ Mira, Luis (1 August 2018). "FACEIT Major to feature Buchholz system, BO3 fifth Swiss round". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
- ^ Villanueava, Jamie (20 April 2018). "Dust II returns to Active Duty map pool, Cobblestone removed". Dot eSports. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ Burazin, Zvonimir (2 April 2018). "FACEIT reveal Major qualifier details". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Stubbs, Mike (10 May 2018). "FACEIT To Host 'CS:GO' Minors At Iconic Twickenham Stadium In London". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ "Asia Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Mira, Luis (24 May 2018). "VG.Flash, Fierce Tiger to replay Asia Minor qualifier match". Twitter. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
- ^ Mira, Luis (26 May 2018). "Fierce Tiger disqualified from Asia Minor qualifier". HLTV.org. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
- ^ Mira, Luis (13 July 2018). "SIGNATURE TO MISS ASIA MINOR; 5POWER TO FIELD THREE STAND-INS". HLTV.org. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ Deng, Alex (14 July 2018). "B.O.OT-d[S] replaces Signature at Asia Minor". HLTV.org. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "CIS Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Aznar Miles, Lucas (5 July 2018). "Nemiga confirmed out of CIS Monor". HLTV.org. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ Mira, Luis (9 July 2018). "CIS MINOR TO FEATURE JUST SEVEN TEAMS; PLINK, MONOLITH WITH STAND-INS". HLTV.org. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ "Europe Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "America Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Patterson, Calum (23 June 2018). "Former SK Gaming CS:GO Roster Officially Move to 'Made in Brazil' (MIBR), Partner with Tinder and Betway". Dexerto. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ "CS:GO Ranking – World Ranking". HLTV.org. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ Švejda, Milan (9 September 2018). "FACEIT Major New Legends stage first round matchups drawn". HLTV.org. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ Švejda, Milan (16 September 2018). "FACEIT Major quarter-final pairs determined". HLTV.org. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ "CS:GO Ranking – World Ranking". HLTV.org. Retrieved 25 September 2018.