ELEAGUE to host next Major, with playoffs in Boston

The 12th Major in the history of CS:GO will take place only in 2018, with the group stage running from January 19-22 at the ELEAGUE Arena, in Atlanta, while the playoffs will be held from January 26-28 at the Agganis Arena, a 7,200-seat arena located on the campus of Boston University.

The announcement confirms an earlier report by HLTV.org that the next Counter-Strike Major would only take place only next year, making 2017 the second year in a row with just two Valve-sponsored events. 

This will be the second time that Turner's ELEAGUE has been named the host for a Counter-Strike Major. The North American company also hosted the first Major of 2017, in Atlanta, which saw Astralis take home the grand prize of $500,000.

ELEAGUE will host the first Major of 2018

The total prize purse of $1 Million from the previous four Majors will be kept the same for ELEAGUE Major: Boston, which will continue to feature 16 teams, eight of whom determined by the Legend status earned at PGL Major Krakow.

Digital coverage of the Major will be available across Twitch, ELEAGUE.com and YouTube, with the event's organisers also promising a broadcasting experience via TBS. 

"We are looking forward to hosting our second ELEAGUE Major in back-to-back years and bringing a CS:GO championship to Boston for the first time," said Craig Barry, Chief Content Officer for Turner Sports.

"Following the record-setting engagement during last year’s ELEAGUE Major, we appreciate Valve’s ongoing trust in us and all of the continued support from the esports community."

ELEAGUE still lists Immortals as one of the eight teams with Legend status despite the fact that the Brazilian side currently have just two players from the squad that reached the final in Krakow on their active roster.

HLTV.org knows that the team's spot is currently under review and that Immortals have not yet submitted their roster for the Major. In case they cannot field at least 3/5 of the team that competed at PGL Major Krakow, Immortals will most likely have to fight for a spot at the Americas Minor via the qualifiers, similarly to what happened to Envy after losing three players to G2 before PGL Major Krakow, earlier this year.

Below you can find the teams who have earned Legend status from PGL Major Krakow:

Gambit	Immortals *
Astralis	Virtus.pro
fnatic	SK
BIG	North

* Spot under review

The bottom eight teams from the previous Major will be invited to compete for a Challenger Spot at the Main Qualifier, which will be held from January 12-15 at the ELEAGUE Arena.

The invite list for the Main Qualifier looks as follows:

Cloud9	FlipSid3
G2	Natus Vincere
MOUZ	Seed (ex-PENTA)
FaZe	Vega Squadron

The road to the ELEAGUE Major Boston will begin with the online qualifiers for the Minors, kicking off on October 9 and hosted by CEVO in the CIS, North America, South America and Europe. Asia will be the only region without qualifiers as all the teams competing at the Minor will be determined by invites.

The first two Minors, for Asian and CIS teams, will be held this month already, from October 26-29, in Seoul and Bucharest, respectively. The Europe and the Americas Minors will run from November 2-5, in Bucharest and Toronto.

Additional information about the Boston Major, including format, will be released in the weeks leading up to the event. Ticket information will be provided during the live coverage of the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier playoffs, beginning next week. 

Below you can find all the dates for the ELEAGUE Major: Boston circuit:

• October 26-29 - Asia Minor (Seoul)
• October 26-29 - CIS Minor (Bucharest)
• November 2-5 - Europe Minor (Bucharest)
• November 2-5 - Americas Minor (Toronto)
• January 12-15 - Main Qualifier (Atlanta)
• January 19-22 - ELEAGUE Major Boston Group Stage (Atlanta)
• January 26-28 - ELEAGUE Major Boston Playoffs (Boston)