PGL Major Copenhagen 2024


The PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 was the first Counter-Strike 2 Major Championship and twentieth Counter-Strike Major overall. It was held in Copenhagen, Denmark at the Royal Arena from March 17 to 31, 2024. Twenty-four teams qualified from regional qualifiers for the tournament, which involved a prize pool of US$1,250,000. It is the fourth Counter-Strike Major organized by PGL after PGL Major: Kraków 2017, PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Natus Vincere were the tournament's champions, following a 2–1 victory over FaZe Clan.

Background

Counter-Strike 2 is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the fifth game in the Counter-Strike series. In professional Counter-Strike, the Valve-sponsored Majors are the most prestigious tournaments.
The defending Major champions were Team Vitality, who won their first Major championship at Blast Paris Major 2023. They would be eliminated following a semi-final defeat to FaZe Clan.

Format

On November 4, 2023, it was announced that Valve had renamed the Major's stages from Challengers Stage, Legends Stage and Champions Stage to "Opening Stage", "Elimination Stage" and "Playoffs Stage", respectively.
Like previous Majors using a Swiss-system group stage, twenty-four teams qualified for the tournament. This includes sixteen teams who qualified for the Opening Stage. The top eight teams from the Opening Stage moved on to the Elimination Stage, along with eight teams directly from the Regional Major Ranking qualifiers. Finally, the top eight teams from the Elimination Stage played a single-elimination Playoffs Stage to determine a champion.
In the first two stages, all matches except for progression or elimination matches, which are played as bests-of-three, are played in a best-of-one format. All matches in the Playoff Stage are played in a best-of-three format. It is the first Major to be played with Counter-Strike 2's new 12-round halves.

Map pool

Talent

On March 13, 2024, PGL announced the full talent lineup for the Major, including the first ever "Newbie" stream, intended to ease in newer viewers unfamiliar with Counter-Strike.
Hosts
Analysts
  • Jacob "Pimp" Winneche
  • Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez
  • Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam
  • Jason "moses" O'Toole
Casters
  • Anders Blume
  • Henry "HenryG" Greer
  • Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill
  • Alex "Machine" Richardson
  • Harry "JustHarry" Russell
  • Hugo Byron
  • Mohan "launders" Govindasamy
  • Conner "scrawny" Girvan
  • Vince Hill
  • Jack "Jacky" Peters

Teams

Europe

Asia

  • The Mongolz
  • Lynn Vision

Americas

Qualification

Qualification took place through three Regional Major Ranking events, based on teams' geographical regions, events were held in Europe, Americas and Asia. Unlike in previous Majors where teams were seeded according to performance at RMRs, a number of Opening Stage and Elimination Stage places were instead distributed according to Valve's own regional standings.
Seven teams from Europe and one team from the Americas RMRs who qualified earned direct berths to the Elimination Stage, in accordance with the number of each region's teams that advanced from the Legends Stage to the playoffs of Paris 2023.
The RMR tournaments took place in the following cities:

RMR results

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Team seeding

Following the conclusion of the Americas RMRs, Valve updated their regional standings and awarded teams Elimination Stage berths based on their new rankings.
StandingTeam NameRosterSeed
1FaZekarrigan, rain, frozen, ropz, brokyElimination Stage
2Spiritchopper, sh1ro, magixx, zont1x, donkElimination Stage
3VitalityapEX, ZywOo, flameZ, Spinx, meziiElimination Stage
4MOUZBrollan, siuhy, torzsi, Jimpphat, xertioNElimination Stage
5Virtus.promir, FL1T, Jame, n0rb3r7, fameElimination Stage
6Natus VincereAleksib, iM, b1t, jL, w0nderfulElimination Stage
7G2NiKo, huNter-, nexa, HooXi, m0NESYElimination Stage
9Cloud9HObbit, electroNic, Boombl4, Ax1Le, PerfectoOpening Stage
10Eternal FireMAJ3R, XANTARES, woxic, Calyx, WicadiaOpening Stage
11ENCEgla1ve, Goofy, dycha, hades, KylarOpening Stage
12ApeksSTYKO, jkaem, nawwk, sense, CacaNitoOpening Stage
13HEROICNertZ, TeSeS, nicoodoz, sjuush, kyxsanOpening Stage
14GamerLegionSnax, acoR, Keoz, isak, voltOpening Stage
199 Pandasseized, clax, iDISBALANCE, glowiing, d1Ledez
20SAWMUTiRiS, roman, story, ewjerkz, arrozdoceOpening Stage
21ECSTATICNodios, Patti, Queenix, kraghen, salazarOpening Stage
23AMKALNickelBack, Krad, Forester, TRAVIS, ICYOpening Stage
27KOIJUST, mopoz, stadodo, dav1g, adamSOpening Stage

StandingTeam NameRosterSeed
1ComplexityEliGE, JT, floppy, hallzerk, GrimElimination Stage
2FURIAFalleN, chelo, arT, yuurih, KSCERATOOpening Stage
5ImperialHEN1, felps, VINI, decenty, nowayOpening Stage
7paiNbiguzera, n1ssim, nqz, kauez, luxOpening Stage
9Legacycoldzera, NEKIZ, dumau, b4rtiN, lattoOpening Stage

StandingTeam NameRosterSeed
1TheMongolzbLitz, Techno, Senzu, mzinho, 910Opening Stage
2Lynn VisionWestmelon, z4kr, Starry, Jee, EmiliaQAQOpening Stage

Opening stage

On November 4, 2023, it was announced that Valve had renamed the Challengers Stage and Legends Stage of the Major to "Opening Stage" and "Elimination Stage" respectively. Teams would also be seeded into these stages according to their regional standings. Like previous Majors using a Swiss-system bracket, sixteen teams will compete for eight Elimination Stage spots, with all matches besides elimination and progression matches, which are bests-of-three, being bests-of-one.
The Opening Stage was played between March 17 and March 20, 2024.

Elimination stage

Like the Opening Stage, the Elimination Stage is played in a Swiss-system bracket, with eight teams advancing to a single-elimination Playoffs Stage. The Elimination Stage includes the eight teams that advance from the Opening Stage, as well as the seven highest teams from the Europe RMR and the highest team from the Americas RMR in Valve's regional standings. Matches are played in the same format as in the Opening Stage.
During a 2–2 bracket match between Virtus.pro and G2 Esports, Virtus.pro player Dzhami "Jame" Ali experienced a game crash, after what was later determined to be an NVIDIA driver crash. The event led to G2 reaching map point, and caused a response regarding controversial technical issues with the Major, including from G2 player Nikola "NiKo" Kovač.
The Elimination Stage was played between March 21 and March 24, 2024.

Playoffs stage

The top eight teams from the Elimination Stage will advance to a single-elimination bracket. Each match in the Playoffs Stage is played in a best-of-three format.
On March 29, during a quarter-final match between G2 and MOUZ, spectators rushed the stage and were tackled by event security, damaging the trophy. PGL released a statement following the incident stating that they intended to press charges against the disruptors, who were reportedly involved with a Counter-Strike gambling platform.
The Playoffs Stage was played between March 28 and March 31, 2024.

Final standings

The final placings are shown below. In addition, the prize distribution, roster, and coaches are shown.
PlacePrize MoneyTeamRosterCoach
1stNatus VincereAleksib, iM, b1t, jL, w0nderfulB1ad3
2ndFaZe Clankarrigan, rain, frozen, broky, NEO
3rd 4thG2 EsportsNiKo, huNter-, nexa, HooXi, m0NESYTaZ
3rd 4thTeam VitalityapEX, ZywOo, flameZ, Spinx, meziiXTQZZZ
5th 8thMOUZsiuhy, Brollan, torzsi, Jimpphat, xertioNsycrone
5th 8thEternal FireMAJ3R, XANTARES, woxic, Calyx, WicadiaFabre
5th 8thTeam Spiritchopper, sh1ro, magixx, zont1x, donkhally
5th 8thCloud9HObbit, electroNic, Perfecto, Boombl4, Ax1Legroove
9th 11thpaiN Gamingbiguzera, n1ssim, nqz, kauez, luxrikz
9th 11thVirtus.promir, FL1T, Jame, n0rb3r7, famedastan
9th 11thComplexity GamingJT, hallzerk, EliGE, floppy, GrimT.c
12th 14thHEROICNertZ, nicoodoz, sjuush, TeSeS, kyxsansAw
12th 14thECSTATICNodios, Patti, kraghen, salazar, Queenixcasle
12th 14thImperial EsportsHEN1, felps, VINI, decenty, nowayzakk
15th 16thFURIA EsportsarT, FalleN, chelo, yuurih, KSCERATOguerri
15th 16thTheMongolzbLitz, 910, Techno, Senzu, mzinhomaaRaa
17th 19thSAWMUTiRiS, story, arrozdoce, ewjerkz, romanNABOWOW
17th 19thGamerLegionisak, Snax, Keoz, acoR, voltash
17th 19thLegacycoldzera, NEKIZ, dumau, b4rtiN, lattochucky
20th 22ndENCEgla1ve, Goofy, hades, dycha, Kylarkuben
20th 22ndApeksSTYKO, jkaem, nawwk, sense, CacaNitomithR
20th 22ndLynn VisionWestmelon, EmiliaQAQ, Jee, Starry, z4krGUM
23rd 24thMovistar KOIJUST, mopoz, adamS, dav1g, stadododeLonge
23rd 24thAMKAL ESPORTSNickelBack, ICY, Krad, Forester, TRAVISsvyat

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