PGL Major 2022 Champions Stage preview

PGL Major Antwerp 2022, the first CS:GO Major of the year is heading to Champions Stage, the event-concluding stage that features the eight remaining teams in a battle for the $500,000 main prize and prestigious bragging rights. 

The Major in Antwerp is reaching its final stages, with the playoffs set to conclude on Sunday, May 22. Besides the alluring prize, the winning team will also secure an entry to the BLAST Premier World Final at the end of 2022.

The Champions Stage starts today, May 19 and will be held in the presence of a live audience at the Antwerps Sportpaleis arena. Being one of the first esports majors to resume following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, CS:GO fans are eager to see their much-loved teams compete for this title in person.

Format & schedule

The Champions Stage of the PGL Major will see a single-elimination bracket with eight teams fighting for their chance to play in the grand final. All matches will be best-of-three, starting with Ninjas in Pyjamas against FaZe Clan today at 4:30pm CEST and followed by Team Spirit against FURIA Esports at 8pm CEST.

The two remaining quarterfinal matches on Friday, May 20, will include clashes of ENCE vs. Copenhagen Flames at 4:30pm CEST and Heroic vs. Natus Vincere at 8pm CEST.

Saturday, May 21 will showcase the semifinals at 4:30pm and 8pm CEST, with every team guaranteed a minimum of $70,000 in prize money.

The Grand Final will take place on Sunday, May 22 at 6pm CEST when the top two teams will battle it out for the title of this year’s PGL Major Champions.

What’s happened so far

Major tournaments are historically full of unexpected twists and turns. This major has certainly not been an exception to that rule. Most notably, Copenhagen Flames knocked out Imperial in a nail-biting best-of-three Legends Stage series, which ended with a double-overtime on the second map, Inferno.

Another upset was caused by Brazilian FURIA, who ended G2 Esports’ journey at the tournament. Despite G2 showing a valiant effort, they simply couldn’t stop Yuri “⁠yuurih⁠” Santos from putting down any attempt at an easy game.

Champions Stage preview

NiP are due to face FaZe for the first game of the Champions Stage. It will be a tough fight for NiP, who are currently 7th in the world rankings according to HLTV. Despite winning three out of four games played in the Legends Stage, it’s looking tough for NiP, who need to take down FaZe, the clear favourite of the bookmakers.

A match of FURIA vs. Team Spirit will follow to take to the stage. Spirit will likely have their confidence boosted, considering they are on a five-game win streak. On the other hand, FURIA did reach the quarterfinals in Stockholm last year, but will this be enough to see them through to the semifinals at Antwerp?

Friday’s first game will bring ENCE vs. Copenhagen Flames, who have already shown exceptional clutch capability against Imperial. Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard managed to shut down multiple man advantages against Imperial, who were expected to win that day. However, ENCE had enough time to analyse CPHF’s style of play and being a more experienced team, should manage to keep CPHF under control.

The final match on Friday will see Natus Vincere against Heroic. Surprisingly, Heroic have won their last two games against NaVi. However, their limited exposure to the final stages of major tournaments might see them crumble, just like they did in Stockholm 2021. NaVi are a strong favourite of the competition and with the likes of Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev on their side, they seem unstoppable.

Image credit: PGL