Summary:
- The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is BLAST’s second Major and Counter-Strike 2’s third Major.
- The tournament is happening June 3-22, 2025 in Austin, Texas, in the Moody Center.
- The Major will host 32 teams, 16 of which are top-tier teams that receive direct invitations, and the other 16 via regional Major Ranking Qualifiers.
- The Austin Major will have a prize pool of $1,250,000. The winning team will take home $500,000.
It’s time to get hyped for the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025. It might just be one of the most thrilling Counter-Strike 2 tournaments of the year! You might be asking yourself, what makes this Major the best of the year? Well, let’s tell you everything you need to know about the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, your one-stop shop for CS2’s biggest event in Texas.
Tournament Overview
The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is a big moment for BLAST as it will be their second Major tournament after hosting the BLAST.tv Paris Major in 2023. The Paris Major was a memorable occasion, not just because it was BLAST’s first undertaking of a Major, but it was also the last Major in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive before we flipped the script to Counter-Strike 2.
Majors have become an important part of Counter-Strike and have a lot of prestige. Majors are the highest level of competition, endorsed by Valve, allowing the best teams in the world to come together to compete as a top-tier team. Major tournaments have been premier tournaments in the Counter-Strike esports calendar since the first ever Valve-recognized Major in 2013.
This Austin Major will see Team Spirit as the defending champions heading into the tournament, having won their first Major title at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 [the second Major to take place in Counter-Strike 2].
Tournament Format and Structure
The event is being divided into four stages before proceeding to the playoffs. The first three stages will be run in a 16-team Swiss system, where teams will play matches to determine whether they advance or are eliminated according to their win-loss record. Best-of-three matches will identify elimination and advancement during the Swiss stages, while other matches will be played as best-of-one.
The first stage (June 3–6) will feature the teams that obtained qualification from regional qualifiers, with the top eight teams qualifying for stage 2. The second stage (June 7–10) will situate the eight qualified teams with eight more teams who received direct invitations based on Valve’s Regional Standings, and further reduce that pool to eight teams. During stage 3 (June 12–15), eight more invited teams will join the previous 16 and compete in a Swiss format to find the final eight teams who will advance to the playoffs. Lastly, the playoffs, scheduled for June 19th–22nd, are formatted as a single-elimination bracket, with all matches best-of-three.
Teams and Qualification
The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 will showcase the best 32 Counter-Strike 2 teams on the planet. The qualification for this Major will be layered, with 16 teams getting direct qualification to the final phases (Stage 2 and Stage 3) of the tournament based on their past achievements and rankings. The invited teams are various well-known top-tier teams:
- Aurora Gaming
- G2 Esports
- MOUZ
- Natus Vincere
- The MongolZ
- Team Liquid
- Team Spirit
- Team Vitality
- 3DMAX
- FaZe Clan
- FURIA
- M80
- MIBR
- paiN Gaming
- Team Falcons
- Virtus.pro
The 16 other teams qualified through a demanding set of Major Ranking Qualifiers (MRQs) in their regions:
- B8
- BESTIA
- BetBoom Team
- Chinggis Warriors
- Complexity
- Fluxo
- FlyQuest
- HEROIC
- Imperial Esports
- Lynn Vision Gaming
- Metizport
- Nemiga Gaming
- NRG
- OG
- TYLOO
- Wildcard
Prize Pool and Venue
The tournament is happening from June 3, 2025, to June 22, 2025. 32 teams are starting off, and the final stages will be hosted at the Moody Center.
The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 features a massive prize pool of $1,250,000 USD, which is one of the biggest events on the Counter-Strike 2 competition calendar. The prize format is structured to significantly reward the better teams, with the winning team taking home $500,000. The second place team gets $170,000, and the third and fourth place teams get $80,000 each. Fifth to eighth place teams get $45,000 each, and the rest of the prize pool will go to lower place teams.
Conclusion
With the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 coming soon, the excitement in the CS2 community couldn’t be any higher. The intensity of the teams will be at an all-time high, and the prize pool will be just as daunting. With that, every match should provide some exhilarating entertainment. If you were waiting for the perfect opportunity to get into competitive Counter-Strike, this is the opportunity.
