All you need to know about ELEAGUE Boston Major 2018

The first Valve sponsored Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament of 2018 is all set to begin on January 12 at 8:30 PM IST. Boston Major 2018 will be the first in the year sponsored by Valve.

With a $1 million prize pool on the line, the competitors will go head to head in either one or two Swiss format group stages (based on their status) to see who’s worthy of continuing on to the playoffs bracket. PGL Krakow champion Gambit Esports will be defending their title in what’s set to be the largest team pool in Valve Major history.

Boston Major 2018 – Tournament Information

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Coverage

• Talkesport

• Eleague 

• Liquidpedia

• Hltv

Format

The New Challengers

• Swiss System
• 16 teams – 5 rounds – Best-of-one matches

• Round 1

• Seeding Pool 1: Place 9-11 and one team from place 12-14 at PGL Major Kraków 2017
• Seeding Pool 2: Other teams from place 12-14 and place 15-16 at PGL Major Kraków 2017 and EU Minor champion
• Seeding Pool 3: Minor champions
• Seeding Pool 4: Minor runners-up
• Teams from Seeding Pool 1 versus Seeding Pool 4
• Teams from Seeding Pool 2 versus Seeding Pool 3

• Round 2

• Division into 2 groups
• Group 1: Round 1 Winners – 8 teams
• Group 2: Round 1 Losers – 8 teams

• Round 3

• Division into 3 groups
• Group 1: Teams with a 2-0 score – 4 teams
• Group 2: Teams with a 1-1 score – 8 teams
• Group 3: Teams with a 0-2 score – 4 teams
• Each team faces a team they have not played yet from their group
• Winners of Group 1 are qualified for “The New Legends” stage (Cumulated score: 3-0) – 2 teams
• Losers of Group 3 are eliminated (Cumulated score: 0-3) – 2 teams

• Round 4

• Group 1: Teams with a 2-1 score – 6 teams
• Group 2: Teams with a 1-2 score – 6 teams
• Each team faces a team they have not played yet from their group
• Winners of Group 1 are qualified for “The New Legends” stage (Cumulated score: 3-1) – 3 teams
• Losers of Group 2 are eliminated (Cumulated score: 1-3) – 3 teams

• Round 5

• Teams with a 2-2 score – 6 teams
• Each team faces a team they have not played yet
• Winners are qualified for “The New Legends” stage (Cumulated score: 3-2) – 3 teams
• Losers are eliminated (Cumulated score: 2-3) – 3 teams

The New Legends

• Swiss System
• 16 teams – 5 rounds – Best-of-one matches

• Round 1

• Seeding Pool 1: Place 1-4 at ELEAGUE Major 2017 Atlanta
• Seeding Pool 2: Place 5-8 at ELEAGUE Major 2017 Atlanta
• Seeding Pool 3: Place 1-4 at ELEAGUE Major 2018 Boston “The New Challengers” stage
• Seeding Pool 4: Place 5-8 at ELEAGUE Major 2018 Boston “The New Challengers” stage
• Each team from Seeding Pool 1 versus a team from Seeding Pool 4
• Each team from Seeding Pool 2 versus a team from Seeding Pool 3

• Round 2

• Division into 2 groups
• Group 1: Round 1 Winners – 8 teams
• Group 2: Round 1 Losers – 8 teams

• Round 3

• Division into 3 groups
• Group 1: Teams with a 2-0 score – 4 teams
• Group 2: Teams with a 1-1 score – 8 teams
• Group 3: Teams with a 0-2 score – 4 teams
• Each team faces a team they have not played yet from their group
• Winners of Group 1 are qualified for “The New Champions” stage (Cumulated score: 3-0) – 2 teams
• Losers of Group 3 are eliminated (Cumulated score: 0-3) – 2 teams

• Round 4

• Group 1: Teams with a 2-1 score – 6 teams
• Group 2: Teams with a 1-2 score – 6 teams
• Each team faces a team they have not played yet from their group
• Winners of Group 1 are qualified for “The New Champions” stage (Cumulated score: 3-1) – 3 teams
• Losers of Group 2 are eliminated (Cumulated score: 1-3) – 3 teams

• Round 5

• Teams with a 2-2 score – 6 teams
• Each team faces a team they have not played yet
• Winners are qualified for “The New Champions” stage (Cumulated score: 3-2) – 3 teams
• Losers are eliminated (Cumulated score: 2-3) – 3 teams

The New Champions

• Single-elimination bracket
• Best-of-three matches

Map pool 

Talent Lineup

Stage Host

•  Sue “Smix” Lee

Desk Host

•  Richard Lewis

Analysts

•  Jason “moses” O’Toole
•  Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert
•  Janko “YNk” Paunovic

Casters

•  Henry “HenryG” Greer
•  Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett
•  James Bardolph
•  Daniel “ddk” Kapadia
•  Anders Blume

Observers

•  DJ “Prius” Kuntz
•  Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo

Teams

The Legends – Placed top 8 at PGL Krakow 

• Gambit Esports
• 100 Thieves
• Astralis
• Virtus Pro
• Fnatic
• SK Gaming with substitute Joao “felps” Vasconcellos
• BIG
• North

The Challengers – Placed top 16 PGL Krakow

• Cloud9
• FlipSid3 Tactics
• G2 Esports
• Natus Vincere
• Mousesports
• Sprout Esports
• FaZe Clan
• Vega Squadron

The Minor Champions – Placed top 2 at regional Minor qualifiers

• Space Soldiers (Europe)
• Team Envy (Europe)
• Team Liquid with substitute Wilton “zews” Prado (North America)
• Misfits (North America)
• Renegades (Asia)
• Flash Gaming (Asia)
• AVANGAR (CIS)
• Quantum Bellator Fire (CIS)

Prize Pool

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Teams with “Legend” and “Challenger” status are automatically invited to the next Major

News

• TyLoo to miss ELEAGUE Boston Major 2018
• Why Tyloo has withdrawn from ELEAGUE Boston Major : 2018
• ASTRALIS gets back Dev1ce on time, equipped for ELEAGUE Boston Major : 2018.
• ELEALGUE Boston Major 2018, Challengers Pool Drawn.

More information on the Boston Major can be found on ELEAGUE’s website, and this article will be updated as more details are released