The first Counter-Strike Major of 2022 is finally here. 24 teams enter the PGL Antwerp Major, but only one can stamp their name in history and claim CS:GO’s greatest prize.
- RNG drop Nuke to forZe; Aussies struggle with just 1 T round
- Astralis decimate IHC on Nuke 16-2
- Renegades, IHC represent APAC’s hopes at Challengers Stage
PGL’s Antwerp Major has finally arrived. The two week event will see 24 of the world’s best go head-to-head in Belgium for the lion’s share of $1,000,000 USD and the title of Major Champions.
First up — the Challengers Stage. 16 teams enter, but only eight will emerge and progress to the Legends Stage.
Our Asia-Pacific representatives — Renegades and IHC Esports — have very few pundits backing them through the opening round of the Major.
Oceanic hopes Renegades take on a formidable forZe in their opening match, while Mongolian squad IHC, who upset RNG and TYLOO at the APAC RMR, face an uphill battle early on against Astralis.
But with the opening two rounds featuring best-of-ones, it’s truly up in the air, and will be the focus for underdog squads looking to upset their way to the best-of-threes.
By Thursday night, we’ll know our eight emerging Challenger squads, who will progress to join the Legends in the next round on their road to the Sportpaleis Antwerpen main stage.
PGL Antwerp Major — Streams
The PGL Antwerp Major streams live on Twitch. Missed the action? VODs are available on the respective Twitch channels immediately following the day’s action, as well as on PGL’s YouTube channel.
Primary Stream: PGL (Twitch)
Secondary Stream: PGL_CSGO (Twitch)
PGL Antwerp Major — Challenger Stage Standings (Swiss)
The PGL Antwerp Major Challengers Stage features a Swiss format. Opening and subsequent matches are best-of-one; matches that would see a team progress or eliminated are best-of-three series.
| Place | Team | Record |
| 1 | Team Vitality | 1-0 |
| Astralis | 1-0 | |
| Team Spirit | 1-0 | |
| G2 Esports | 1-0 | |
| ENCE | 1-0 | |
| forZe | 1-0 | |
| Outsiders | 1-0 | |
| Bad News Eagles | 1-0 | |
| 9 | Eternal Fire | 0-1 |
| MIBR | 0-1 | |
| Renegades | 0-1 | |
| 9z Team | 0-1 | |
| Imperial | 0-1 | |
| Team Liquid | 0-1 | |
| IHC Esports | 0-1 | |
| Complexity Gaming | 0-1 |
PGL Antwerp Major — Schedule
Challengers Stage, Day 1 (May 9) – Round 1 & 2
| Date & Match | Game | Time (AEST) |
| Round 1 | Vitality 1-0 Complexity | 8pm |
| Opening Matches (0-0) | Bad News Eagles 1-0 Eternal Fire | |
| G2 1-0 Liquid | 9:15pm | |
| forZe 1-0 Renegades | ||
| Astralis 1-0 IHC | 10:30pm | |
| Imperial 0-1 Spirit | ||
| MIBR 0-1 Outsiders | 11:45pm | |
| ENCE 1-0 9z | ||
| Round 2 High (1-0) | G2 v Spirit | 1:30am |
| Round 2 Low (0-1) | Eternal Fire v Renegades | |
| Round 2 High (1-0) | forZe v Bad New Eagles | 2:15am |
| Round 2 Low (0-1) | Complexity v IHC | |
| Round 2 High (1-0) | ENCE v Outsiders | 3:30am |
| Round 2 Low (0-1) | Imperial v Liquid | |
| Round 2 High (1-0) | Astralis v Vitality | 4:45am |
| Round 2 Low (0-1) | MIBR v 9z |
PGL Antwerp Major — Rosters
| Team | Squad | ||||
| — Legends — | |||||
| Heroic | stavn | cadiaN | TeSeS | refrezh | sjush |
| Copenhagen Flames | jabbi | nicoodoz | roeJ | HooXi | Zyphon |
| BIG | tabseN | tiziaN | syrsoN | faveN | Krimbo |
| Cloud 9 | nafany | sh1ro | interz | Ax1Le | Hobbit |
| FURIA | yuurih | arT | KSCERATO | drop | saffee |
| FaZe Clan | rain | broky | Twistzz | karrigan | ropz |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | REZ | Plopski | hampus | es3tag | Brollan |
| Natus Vincere | s1mple | electronic | Boombl4 | Perfecto | b1t |
| — Challengers — | |||||
| ENCE | Snappi | Spinx | dycha | hades | maden |
| G2 Esports | JaCkz | huNter | NiKo | m0NESY | Aleksib |
| forZe | Jerry | KENSi | zorte | Norwi | shalfey |
| Astralis | Xyp9x | gla1ve | k0nfig | blameF | Farlig |
| Team Vitality | apEX | ZywOo | misutaaa | dupreeh | Magisk |
| MIBR | chelo | exit | WOOD7 | Tuurtle | JOTA |
| Imperial Esports | FalleN | fer | fnx | boltz | VINI |
| Bad News Eagles | SENER1 | gxx- | juanflatroo | sinnopsyy | rigoN |
| — Contenders — | |||||
| Eternal Fire | XANTARES | woxic | Calyx | imoRR | xfl0ud |
| Team Spirit | chopper | magixx | degster | Patsi | S1ren |
| Outsiders | buster | qikert | Jame | YEKINDAR | FL1T |
| Complexity Gaming | JT | FaNg | floppy | Grim | junior |
| IHC Esports | bLitz | Techno4K | kabal | nin9 | sk0R |
| Renegades | INS | sico | hatz | aliStair | Liazz |
| Team Liquid | EliGE | NAF | oSee | shox | nitr0 |
| 9z Team | dgt | max | rox | luken | dav1d |
snowballesports.com
