FACEIT Major: London 2018

The FACEIT Major: London 2018, also known as FACEIT Major 2018, or London 2018, was the thirteenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship, the second Major of 2018, and first organized by FACEIT. It featured twenty-four professional teams from around the world and took place in London, United Kingdom. The group stages were held in Twickenham Stadium, and the playoffs were played in front of a live crowd in the SSE Arena, Wembley. The London Major was the sixth consecutive major with a prize pool of $1,000,000.[1][2] The top sixteen teams from the previous Major, Boston 2018, automatically qualified for the FACEIT Major while another eight teams qualified from their respective regional qualifiers. The eight from regional qualifiers and the bottom eight teams from Boston 2018 (together called the "Challengers") competed in the New Challengers group stage, a Swiss-system tournament. The top eight from this stage then advanced to face the top eight teams from Boston ("Legends") in a second Swiss-system group stage, the New Legends stage. The top eight from this stage advanced to the playoffs.

FACEIT Major 2018
2018
The FACEIT Major 2018 logo
Tournament information
SportCounter-Strike: Global Offensive
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Dates5–23 September
AdministratorValve
FACEIT
Tournament
format(s)
Two 16-team Buchholz group stages
8-team single-elimination playoff
VenueTwickenham Stadium
The SSE Arena, Wembley
Teams24 teams
Purse$1,000,000 USD
Final positions
ChampionsAstralis (2nd title)
1st runners-upNatus Vincere
2nd runners-upMIBR
Team Liquid
MVPNicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz

FaZe Clan, MIBR, and Natus Vincere were the only incoming Legends to retain their Legend status at this Major by advancing to the playoff stage. Team Liquid, compLexity Gaming, BIG, HellRaisers, and Astralis were new Legends. Defending champions Cloud9, along with mousesports, Fnatic, G2 Esports, and Winstrike Team, were knocked out in the New Legends stage, thus losing their Legends status. Fnatic failed to advance to the playoffs for the first time in the team's history; the organization had been a Legend at every Major until London. This also ended Freddy "KRiMZ" Johansson's run as one of the only players to attend every Major and become Legends. This left Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer as the only player to become a Legend at every Major in CS:GO history, and MIBR as the only team to be Legends at every Major it had attended. This Major was also significant in that no majority-Swedish team became Legends after Ninjas in Pyjamas fell to MIBR in the New Legends stage. Cloud9 also became the second team in CS:GO history to lose its Legends status after winning the previous Major, along with Team EnVyUs.

The grand finals pitted Natus Vincere and Astralis against each other. Natus Vincere defeated BIG in the quarterfinals and MIBR in the semifinals while Astralis defeated FaZe Clan and Team Liquid respectively. In a fairly convincing two map sweep, Astralis took down Natus Vincere for its second Major championship to draw level with MIBR and the former Team EnVyUs French core for the second most Major titles.

Background

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series. In professional CS:GO, the Valve-sponsored Majors are the most prestigious tournaments.[3][4]

The defending champion was Cloud9, which became the first North American team to win a Major and just the third non-European team to win a Major. The Swedish team Fnatic attended as the most decorated CS:GO team in Major history, with three wins.

Format

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FACEIT largely retained the Major format from Boston 2018 that had been announced by Valve and ELEAGUE, where the offline qualifier that had taken place before early Majors was rebranded as the "New Challengers stage" and became an official part of the full Major. Apart from this, the competitive format had remained nearly constant since implementing the 16-team Swiss system over the GSL format at ELEAGUE Major 2017.

The Major cycle began with four Minors, or regional qualifiers: Americas, Asia, CIS, and Europe. Two teams from each qualifier moved on to the New Challengers stage.[5] The New Challengers stage featured sixteen teams: the bottom eight teams from the previous Major's New Legends stage and the eight teams from the Minors. These teams played in a sixteen team, Swiss-system format. The top eight teams from this stage moved on to the next stage of the Major, the "New Legends stage".

The 16-team New Legends stage, which replaced the old group stage, featured the eight teams advancing from the New Challengers stage and the eight Legends from the Boston Major. Like the New Challengers stage, the New Legends stage used a 16-team, Swiss-system format. The top eight teams from this stage moved on to the playoff bracket and gained Legend status for the following Major.

FACEIT's format for the New Challengers and the New Legends stages made few adjustments to the Boston format. In round five of each Swiss group stage, the remaining six teams played a best-of-three instead of the previous best-of-one.[6] In addition, the group stage used the Buchholz system for seeding the Swiss-system, rather than random draw. In FACEIT's Buchholz system, the teams with the hardest strength of schedule earned the higher seeds after the first round; strength of schedule is determined by how many wins the team's opponent has had.[7]

In the playoffs, now known as the "New Champions stage," eight teams played in a single elimination, best-of-three bracket.[2] FACEIT also made slight changes to the New Champions stage. Rather than randomizing the teams with the same records, these playoffs seeded teams based on how difficult their opponents in the group stage had been. This was determined by adding up opponent wins from the New Legends stage.[6]

Map pool

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On April 20, 2018, Valve announced that the revamped Dust II would be replacing Cobblestone in the Active Duty map pool, changing the map pool from Boston 2018.[8]

Maps
  • Cache
  • Dust II
  • Inferno
  • Mirage
  • Nuke
  • Overpass
  • Train

Regional qualifiers

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Each regional qualifier, called "Minors", featured eight teams, whether through direct invitation or through qualifiers. Each minor featured two groups of four teams; these groups were in GSL double elimination formats, which was the format used at every major until the ELEAGUE Major, with the initial matches and winners match being best of ones and the losers and decider series being best of three. Two teams of each group qualify for the bracket phase, which is a four team, double elimination, best of three bracket. Two teams qualify for the major qualifier from each minor.

Each minor also had a US$50,000 prize pool with first place receiving US$30,000, second place taking in US$15,000, and third place raking in the last US$5,000.[9] In addition, all four minors will be held in London at the Twickenham Stadium to combat any last minute visa issues before the actual Major starts.[10]

Asia Minor

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The Asia Minor ran from July 16 to July 20. Two teams were invited to the Asia Minor, unlike the last Asia Minor, in which all eight teams were invited. Two teams qualified from the Southeast Asia qualifier (which includes India), one team from the East Asia qualifier, one team from the Middle East qualifier, one team from the Oceania qualifier, and one team from the China qualifier. Each open Asian regional qualifier was a single elimination bracket.[11]

Controversy ensued in the China qualifier. Fierce Tiger had won the China qualifier via forfeit from VG.FlashGaming due to the latter's internet issues. VG.Flash suspected that its internet had been "sabotaged" before the match was about to start. FACEIT decided that the match would be replayed. Fierce Tiger was unhappy with the decision, saying that VG.Flash should be held accountable for its own issues and that its players were already on vacation. Fierce Tiger later said that it would not surrender its China qualifier win and hoped that FACEIT would could reach a "verdict with fair play in mind."[12] FACEIT administrators also realized that three of Fierce Tiger's four matches resulted in forfeits, with the other match being a 16–0 against Team MAX, making a possibility of a denial-of-service attack or match fixing likely. After speculations arose about the mysterious new fifth player Fierce Tiger brought on to the team who went by the alias "tbgirl", FACEIT learned and eventually confirmed with Valve that "tbgirl" was actually a player named Kun "LEo" Hou. LEo had recently been banned by Valve with a VAC ban. A VAC ban is an official ban by Valve if a player is caught cheating with Valve's anti-cheat system and any player with a VAC ban would be ineligible to play at a Valve-sponsored tournament and would last a lifetime. Fierce Tiger tried to hide "LEo"'s new identity and knowingly let the banned player play. In the end, FACEIT disqualified Fierce Tiger and Roar eSports would face off against VG.Flash in the final.[13]

Teams
  • Renegades (Invited)
  • TyLoo (Invited)
  • 5Power Club[a][14] (Southeast Asia)
  • B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape[b][15] (Southeast Asia)
  • SCARZ Absolute (East Asia)
  • Uniquestars (Middle East)
  • Tainted Minds (Oceania)
  • ViCi.Flash Gaming (China)
Bracket
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1SCARZ Absolute0
B2Tainted Minds2
B2Tainted Minds0
B1TyLoo2
B1TyLoo2
A2Renegades1
B1TyLoo0
A2Renegades2
Lower round 1Lower final
B2Tainted Minds0
A1SCARZ Absolute1A2Renegades2
A2Renegades2

CIS Minor

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The CIS Minor ran from July 10 to July 13. All eight teams in the CIS Minor came from the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, eight teams were invited and another eight teams qualified from four separate open qualifiers. The closed qualifier was a sixteen team, best of three, Swiss system format and the top eight teams moved on to the CIS Minor.[16]

Before the Minor even started, Nemiga Gaming was denied visas to the United Kingdom, so the team was unable to attend the Minor. Instead of finding a replacement, FACEIT decided to run the event with seven teams.[17] Visa denial issues also forced two additional teams (PLINK-TECH and Monolith Gaming) to play with stand-ins.[18] This Minor was notable in that it would be the first Major in which Yegor "markeloff" Markelov would not participate in after his FlipSid3 Tactics team lost to three unknown teams in the CIS closed qualifier.

Teams
  • HellRaisers (Closed #1–2)
  • Team Spirit (Closed #1–2)
  • AVANGAR (Closed #3–5)
  • Nemiga Gaming (Closed #3–5)
  • pro100 (Closed #3–5)
  • forZe (Closed #6–8)
  • PLINK-TECH (Closed #6–8)
  • Monolith Gaming (Closed #6–8)
Bracket
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1HellRaisers2
B2AVANGAR0
A1HellRaisers2
A2pro1000
B1Team Spirit0
A2pro1002
A1HellRaisers2
B1Team Spirit1
Lower round 1Lower final
A2pro1000
B2AVANGAR1B1Team Spirit2
B1Team Spirit2

Europe Minor

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The Europe Minor ran from July 19 to July 22. The Europe Minor will be exactly like the CIS Minor. All eight teams in the Europe Minor will come from the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, eight teams will be invited and another eight teams will qualify from four separate open qualifiers. The closed qualifier will be a sixteen team, best of three, Swiss system format and the top eight teams move on to the Europe Minor.[19] Notably, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to qualify for a Major for the first time in over two years.

Teams
  • OpTic Gaming (Closed #1–2)
  • Team Kinguin (Closed #1–2)
  • ENCE eSports (Closed #3–5)
  • Ninjas in Pyjamas (Closed #3–5)
  • Red Reserve (Closed #3–5)
  • 3DMAX (Closed #6–8)
  • LeftOut (Closed #6–8)
  • Sprout Esports (Closed #6–8)
Bracket
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1OpTic Gaming2
B2Ninjas in Pyjamas1
A1OpTic Gaming2
A2ENCE eSports1
B1Sprout Esports0
A2ENCE eSports2
A1OpTic Gaming0
B2Ninjas in Pyjamas2
Lower round 1Lower final
A2ENCE eSports0
B2Ninjas in Pyjamas2B2Ninjas in Pyjamas2
B1Sprout Esports1

Americas Minor

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The Americas Minor ran from July 7 to July 11. Unlike the previous America Minors, no team was directly invited to the Americas Minor. This time, six teams will come from the North American closed qualifier and two teams will come from the South American open qualifier. In the North American closed qualifier, eight teams will be invited and another eight teams will come from four separate open qualifiers. These teams will play in a sixteen teams, best of three Swiss system format and the top six teams will move on to the Americas Minor. The South American open will have two open qualifiers and each will be a single elimination, 1024 team bracket.[20]

Teams
  •   compLexity Gaming (North America #1–2)
  • NRG Esports (North America #1–2)
  • eUnited (North America #3–5)
  • Rogue (North America #3–5)
  • Team Dignitas (North America #3–5)
  • Swole Patrol[c] (North America #6)
  • Não Tem Como (South America 1)
  • Furia eSports (South America 2)
Bracket
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1NRG Esports1
B2  compLexity2
B2  compLexity0
B1Rogue2
B1Rogue2
A2eUnited1
B1Rogue0
B2  compLexity2
Lower round 1Lower final
B2  compLexity2
A1NRG Esports1A2eUnited0
A2eUnited2

Broadcast talent

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Desk host

  • Alex "Machine" Richardson

Stage host

  • Freya Spiers

Interviewer

  • Pala Gilroy Sen

Commentators

  • James Bardolph
  • Anders Blume
  • Henry "HenryG" Greer
  • Vince Hill
  • Daniel "ddk" Kapadia
  • Jason "moses" O'Toole
  • Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett

Analysts

Observers

  • Connor "Sliggy" Blomfield

Broadcasts

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The major was streamed in various languages across Twitch. China streamed its broadcast on Douyu. Streams were also shown on FACEIT's YouTube's channel and on Steam.tv.

  • FACEIT TV
  • 1PV
  • 500bros
  • 99Damage
  • Douyu
  • GamerTV
  • GamerTV
  • Hitpoint
  • IZAKOO
  • RTP Arena
  • StarLadder

Teams competing

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Legends
Boston 2018 9th–16th
Regional Qualifiers

Pre-major ranking

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HLTV.org rank teams based on results of teams' performances. The rankings shown below reflect the September 3, 2018 rankings.[22]

Teams that were in the top 30 but failed to qualify for the major include NRG eSports (#9, United States), Heroic (#13, Denmark), ENCE eSports (#18, Finland), Ghost Gaming (#22, Canada), Luminosity Gaming (#23, Brazil), Imperial Esports (#24, Lithuania), AGO Esports (#25, Poland), Fragsters (#26, Denmark), AVANGAR (#27, Kazakhstan), and Team Kinguin (#28, Poland).

HLTV.org pre-major ranking
World ranking
Place Team Points Move1 Peak2 Low2 Best Major placing3 Best achievements2
1 Astralis 982   1 8 1st at Atlanta 2017 ECS Season 5 winner
ELEAGUE Premier 2018 winner
ESL Pro League Season 7 winner
2 Natus Vincere 709   2 10 2nd at Cluj-Napoca 2015
2nd at Columbus 2016
SL i-League Season 5 winner
ESL One Cologne 2018 winner
3 Team Liquid 482   3 14 2nd at Cologne 2016 cs_summit 2 winner
ECS Season 5 runner-up
ELEAGUE Premier 2018 runner-up
4 North 477   6 4 17 5th at Atlanta 2017
5th at Kraków 2017
DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 winner
DreamHack Open Valencia 2018 winner
5 mousesports 472   2 8 5th at Boston 2018 SL i-League Season 4 winner
V4 Future Sports Festival winner
6 FaZe Clan 457   2 1 6 2nd at Boston 2018 ELEAGUE Premier 2018 winner
IEM Sydney 2018 winner
ESL Belo Horizonte 2018 winner
7 MIBR 358   1 8 1st at Columbus 2016
1st at Cologne 2016
Adrenaline Cyber League 2018 winner
Moche XL Esports winner
ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018 winner
8 Ninjas in Pyjamas 271   6 6 14 1st at Cologne 2014 5th at SL i-League S5
3rd at DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018
10 Fnatic 220   2 2 10 1st at Winter 2013
1st at Katowice 2015
1st Cologne 2015
Intel Extreme Masters XII – World Championship winner
World Electronic Sports Games 2017 winner
11 BIG 277   5 6 31 5th at Kraków 2017 ESEA Season 27 winner
ESL One Cologne 2018 runner-up
12 TyLoo 178   10 30 2nd at Boston 2018 Asia Minor SL & ImbaTV Chongqing winner
Qi Invitational runner-up
14 G2 Esports 136   3 4 25 5th at Boston 2018 5th at SL i-League Season 4
5th at ECS Season 5
5th at ESL One Cologne 2018
15 HellRaisers 128   1 13 21 5th at Katowice 2014
5th at Winter 2014
DreamHack Open Tours 2018 runner-up
Moche XL Esports runner-up
16 Renegades 128   1 10 19 9th at Cologne 2015 5th at SL i-League S4
5th at IEM Sydney 2018
17 OpTic Gaming 115   3 15 48 2nd at London 2018 Europe Minor DreamHack Summer 2018 runner-up
5th at ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018
19 Gambit Esports 108   1 10 21 1st at Kraków 2017 3rd at DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018
3rd at DreamHack Open Tours 2018
20 Virtus.pro 102   1 10 22 1st at Katowice 2014 V4 Future Sports Festival runner-up
CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 runner-up
21 Cloud9 99   4 2 21 1st at Boston 2018 5th at World Electronic Sports Games 2017
cs_summit 2 runner-up
29 compLexity Gaming 70   3 21 55 3rd at Winter 2013 5th at DreamHack Open Summer 2018
30 Rogue 70   8 22 63 2nd at London 2018 Americas Minor DreamHack Open Austin 2018 runner-up
31 Space Soldiers   3 12 31 9th at Boston 2018 World Electronic Sports Games 2017 runner-up
DreamHack Open Austin 2018 winner
36 Team Spirit   1 23 37 2nd at London 2018 CIS Minor SL & ImbaTV Chongqing 2018 runner-up
ESEA Season 27 runner-up
47 Winstrike Team   1 12 51 5th at Boston 2018 M.Game League #2 winner
3rd at World Cyber Arena 2017
211 Vega Squadron   133 14 211 9th at Boston 2018 5th at SL & ImbaTV Chongqing 2018

1Change since August 27, 2018 ranking

2Since end of ELEAGUE Boston Major

3Best major placements may not necessarily reflect teams' current rosters

New Challengers stage

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The New Challengers stage took place from September 5 to September 9, 2018. The Challengers stage, also known as the Preliminary stage and formerly known as the offline qualifier, will be a sixteen team swiss tournament: after the randomly-drawn Day 1 games, teams will play other teams with the same win–loss record. Every round will consist of one game. In addition, teams will not play the same team twice unless necessary and teams will be randomly chosen for the first two rounds; afterwards, rounds three through five will use the Buchholz system, meaning that seeding will take place for next matchups. In addition, round five matchups will be a best of three rather than a best of one. Any team with three wins would qualify for the New Legends stage, and any team with three losses would be eliminated.

In the first round, teams from pool one will be matched up against teams in pool four. Teams in pool two will play teams in pool three. One team from a pool is randomly decided to face off against a randomly decided team in another pool. Teams in pool one are Gambit Esports, Space Soldiers, Vega Squadron, and a randomly decided team among Astralis, BIG, and Team Liquid. Teams in pool two are the two other teams from Astralis, BIG, and Team Liquid; North; and Virtus.pro. Teams in pool three are the Minor winners: Renegades, HellRaisers, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and compLexity Gaming. Teams in pool four are the Minor runner-ups: TyLoo, Team Spirit, OpTic Gaming, and Rogue.

In the second round, the winners in the first round will face each other in the "high" matches, in which teams with a 1–0 record will play against each other; the losers will face each other in the "low" matches, in which teams with a 0–1 record will play each other.

In the third round, the winners of the high matches (teams with 2–0 records) from round two will face each other. The winners of these two matches will qualify for the major. The losers of the high round and the winners of the low round (teams with 1–1 records) will face each other in the "mid" matches. The losers from the previous low matches (teams with 0–2 records) will face each other in round three's low matches. The losers of these low matches are eliminated. Twelve teams remain in the Challengers stage.

In the fourth round, the losers of the high matches and the winners of the mid matches (teams with 2–1 records) will face each other in round four's high matches. The winners of those high matches qualify for the next phase of the Major. The losers of the mid matches and the winners of the low matches (teams with 1–2 records) will face each other in the low matches of round four. The losers of these matches are eliminated from the Major. Six teams remain.

In the last round, the remaining teams will face off (teams with 2–2 records). The winners of these matches will qualify for the New Legends stage and the losing teams will be eliminated from the Major. Instead of a best of one, these games will be a best of three. In the most ideal of situations, the Swiss format should allow teams to have a harder time each time they win and have an easier time each time they lose.

Place Team Record RD Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
1–2 Team Liquid 3–0 +20 OpTic Gaming
16–4

Mirage
High match
HellRaisers
16–9

Inferno
High match
Vega Squadron
19–17

Cache
New Legends stage New Legends stage
Ninjas in Pyjamas 3–0 +17 Virtus.pro
16–5

Mirage
High match
TyLoo
16–12

Train
High match
Astralis
28–26

Mirage
New Legends stage New Legends stage
3–5 Astralis 3–1 +26 compLexity Gaming
16–4

Inferno
High match
Rogue
16–13

Inferno
High match
Ninjas in Pyjamas
26–28

Mirage
High match
Team Spirit
16–3

Dust II
New Legends stage
compLexity Gaming 3–1 +1 Astralis
4–16

Inferno
Low match
Space Soldiers
16–11

Inferno
Mid match
BIG
16–12

Inferno
High match
Vega Squadron
19–15

Inferno
New Legends stage
HellRaisers 3–1 −1 North
19–17

Overpass
High match
Team Liquid
9–16

Inferno
Mid match
Gambit Esports
16–14

Overpass
High match
OpTic Gaming
25–23

Train
New Legends stage
6–8 BIG 3–2 +23 Renegades
16–6

Overpass
High match
Vega Squadron
16–19

Train
Mid match
compLexity Gaming
12–16

Inferno
Low match
Gambit Esports
16–8

Nuke
OpTic Gaming
2–0
Vega Squadron 3–2 +10 Team Spirit
16–14

Mirage
High match
BIG
19–16

Train
High match
Team Liquid
17–19

Cache
High match
compLexity Gaming
15–19

Inferno
North
2–0
TyLoo 3–2 +8 Gambit Esports
19–17

Inferno
High match
Ninjas in Pyjamas
16–12

Train
Mid match
OpTic Gaming
26–28

Inferno
Low match
Renegades
16–10

Inferno
Team Spirit
2–0
9–11 North 2–3 −4 HellRaisers
17–19

Overpass
Low match
Team Spirit
13–16

Nuke
Low match
Virtus.pro
16–6

Mirage
Low match
Rogue
25–23

Inferno
Vega Squadron
0–2
Team Spirit 2–3 −6 Vega Squadron
14–16

Mirage
Low match
North
16–13

Nuke
Mid match
Rogue
16–4

Overpass
High match
Astralis
3–16

Dust II
TyLoo
0–2
OpTic Gaming 2–3 −21 Team Liquid
4–16

Mirage
Low match
Virtus.pro
16–13

Mirage
Mid match
TyLoo
28–26

Inferno
High match
HellRaisers
23–25

Train
BIG
0–2
12–14 Gambit Esports 1–3 −6 Tyloo
17–19

Inferno
Low match
Renegades
16–10

Train
Mid match
HellRaisers
14–16

Overpass
Low match
BIG
8–16

Nuke
Eliminated
Rogue 1–3 −11 Space Soldiers
16–10

Inferno
High match
Astralis
13–16

Inferno
Mid match
Team Spirit
4–16

Overpass
Low match
North
23–25

Inferno
Eliminated
Renegades 1–3 −18 BIG
6–16

Overpass
Low match
Gambit Esports
10–16

Train
Low match
Space Soldiers
19–15

Inferno
Low match
TyLoo
10–16

Inferno
Eliminated
15–16 Space Soldiers 0–3 −15 Rogue
10–16

Inferno
Low match
compLexity Gaming
11–16

Inferno
Low match
Renegades
15–19

Inferno
Eliminated Eliminated
Virtus.pro 0–3 −24 Ninjas in Pyjamas
5–16

Mirage
Low match
OpTic Gaming
13–16

Mirage
Low match
North
6–16

Mirage
Eliminated Eliminated
Round 5 scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Team Spirit 12 Overpass 16 TyLoo
Team Spirit 23 Inferno 25 TyLoo
Team Spirit Mirage TyLoo
OpTic Gaming 6 Dust II 16 BIG
OpTic Gaming 14 Train 16 BIG
OpTic Gaming Nuke BIG
Vega Squadron 16 Inferno 8 North
Vega Squadron 16 Mirage 13 North
Vega Squadron Train North

New Legends stage

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The New Legends stage, formerly known as the Group stage, used the same format as the Challengers stage. This stage takes place from September 12 to September 16, 2018.

Cloud9, FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, and MIBR were teams in pool one based on their top four placement at the Boston Major. Fnatic, G2 Esports, mousesports, and Winstrike Team were teams in pool two based on their quarterfinals finish at the Boston Major. Team Liquid and Ninjas in Pyjamas were placed in a third pool for going undefeated in the New Challengers stage. Astralis, compLexity Gaming, and HellRaisers were in a fourth pool after going 3–1. BIG, TyLoo, and Vega Squadron were in a fifth pool for going 3–2. The two teams in pool three were randomly drawn to play two teams from pool two. Two randomly selected teams from pool four were drawn to play the other two teams from pool two. The remaining team from pool four was matched against a randomly selected team from pool one. The three teams from pool five were randomly selected to play a randomly selected team from the three remaining teams in pool one.[23]

Place Team Record RD Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
1–2 compLexity Gaming 3–0 +25 Fnatic
16–4

Inferno
High match
G2 Esports
16–11

Cache
High match
BIG
16–8

Nuke
New Champions stage New Champions stage
Team Liquid 3–0 +19 Winstrike Team
16–7

Mirage
High match
Ninjas in Pyjamas
16–10

Mirage
High match
Astralis
19–15

Inferno
New Champions stage New Champions stage
3–5 Astralis 3–1 +26 Natus Vincere
16–14

Inferno
High match
Vega Squadron
16–4

Inferno
High match
Team Liquid
15–19

Inferno
High match
MIBR
16–0

Dust II
New Champions stage
Natus Vincere 3–1 +19 Astralis
14–16

Inferno
Low match
FaZe Clan
16–12

Overpass
Mid match
Ninjas in Pyjamas
16–6

Train
High match
Fnatic
16–9

Mirage
New Champions stage
BIG 3–1 +19 FaZe Clan
16–5

Dust II
High match
TyLoo
16–7

Train
High match
compLexity Gaming
8–16

Nuke
High match
HellRaisers
16–9

Train
New Champions stage
6–8 FaZe Clan 3–2 +22 BIG
5–16

Dust II
Low match
Natus Vincere
12–16

Overpass
Low match
mousesports
16–8

Mirage
Low match
TyLoo
16–4

Mirage
G2 Esports
2–0
HellRaisers 3–2 +19 G2 Esports
20–22

Dust II
Low match
Cloud9
19–16

Overpass
Mid match
TyLoo
16–10

Overpass
High match
BIG
9–16

Train
Fnatic
2–1
MIBR 3–2 +6 TyLoo
13–16

Inferno
Low match
mousesports
16–6

Dust II
Mid match
G2 Esports
16–4

Inferno
High match
Astralis
0–16

Dust II
Ninjas in Pyjamas
2–1
9–11 Ninjas in Pyjamas 2–3 −10 mousesports
16–12

Mirage
High match
Team Liquid
10–16

Mirage
Mid match
Natus Vincere
6–16

Train
Low match
Vega Squadron
16–11

Train
MIBR
1–2
Fnatic 2–3 −27 compLexity Gaming
4–16

Inferno
Low match
Winstrike Team
16–7

Inferno
Mid match
Vega Squadron
16–14

Inferno
High match
Natus Vincere
9–16

Mirage
HellRaisers
1–2
G2 Esports 2–3 −29 HellRaisers
22–20

Dust II
High match
compLexity Gaming
11–16

Cache
Mid match
MIBR
4–16

Inferno
Low match
Cloud9
22–19

Inferno
FaZe Clan
0–2
12–14 Vega Squadron 1–3 −7 Cloud9
16–4

Mirage
High match
Astralis
4–16

Inferno
Mid match
Fnatic
14–16

Inferno
Low match
Ninjas in Pyjamas
11–16

Train
Eliminated
Cloud9 1–3 −15 Vega Squadron
4–16

Mirage
Low match
HellRaisers
16–19

Overpass
Low match
Winstrike Team
19–16

Inferno
Low match
G2 Esports
19–22

Inferno
Eliminated
TyLoo 1–3 −24 MIBR
16–13

Inferno
High match
BIG
7–16

Train
Mid match
HellRaisers
10–16

Overpass
Low match
FaZe Clan
4–16

Mirage
Eliminated
15–16 Winstrike Team 0–3 −21 Team Liquid
7–16

Mirage
Low match
Fnatic
7–16

Inferno
Low match
Cloud9
16–19

Inferno
Eliminated Eliminated
mousesports 0–3 −22 Ninjas in Pyjamas
12–16

Mirage
Low match
MIBR
6–16

Dust II
Low match
FaZe Clan
8–16

Mirage
Eliminated Eliminated
Round 5 Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Fnatic 19 Mirage 17 HellRaisers
Fnatic 9 Dust II 16 HellRaisers
Fnatic 2 Cache 16 HellRaisers
G2 Esports 2 Mirage 16 FaZe Clan
G2 Esports 22 Dust II 25 FaZe Clan
G2 Esports Overpass FaZe Clan
Ninjas in Pyjamas 15 Cache 19 MIBR
Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 Mirage 10 MIBR
Ninjas in Pyjamas 11 Train 16 MIBR

New Champions stage

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The New Champions Stage was a best-of-three single elimination bracket, with teams playing until a winner was decided. This stage took place at the Wembley Arena between September 20, 2018 and September 23, 2018. Brackets were revealed shortly after MIBR defeated NIP in the last map of the group stages. Teams were seeded first based on their record in the New Legends stage and then based on strength of schedule.[24]

Bracket

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Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                  
1 Complexity 4 12 0
8 MIBR 16 16 2
8 MIBR 10 5 0
4 Natus Vincere 16 16 2
5 BIG Clan 2 6 0
4 Natus Vincere 16 16 2
4 Natus Vincere 6 9 0
3 Astralis 16 16 2
2 Team Liquid 16 10 16 2
7 HellRaisers 10 16 8 1
2 Team Liquid 8 7 0
3 Astralis 16 16 2
3 Astralis 16 16 2
6 FaZe Clan 14 12 0

Quarterfinals

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BIG vs. Natus Vincere

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Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

BIG vs. Natus Vincere Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
BIG 2 Dust II 16 Natus Vincere
BIG 6 Nuke 16 Natus Vincere
BIG Overpass Natus Vincere

compLexity Gaming vs. MIBR

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Casters: HenryG & Sadokist

compLexity Gaming vs. MIBR Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
compLexity Gaming 4 Train 16 MIBR
compLexity Gaming 12 Inferno 16 MIBR
compLexity Gaming Cache MIBR

Team Liquid vs. HellRaisers

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Casters: HenryG & Vince Hill

Team Liquid vs. HellRaisers Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Team Liquid 16 Mirage 10 HellRaisers
Team Liquid 10 Dust II 16 HellRaisers
Team Liquid 16 Cache 8 HellRaisers

Astralis vs. FaZe Clan

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Casters: Anders Blume & moses

Astralis vs. FaZe Clan Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Astralis 16 Mirage 14 FaZe Clan
Astralis 16 Inferno 12 FaZe Clan
Astralis Overpass FaZe Clan

Semifinals

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Natus Vincere vs. MIBR

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Casters: Anders Blume & moses

Natus Vincere vs. MIBR Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Natus Vincere 16 Overpass 10 MIBR
Natus Vincere 16 Dust II 5 MIBR
Natus Vincere Train MIBR

Team Liquid vs. Astralis

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Casters: HenryG & Sadokist

Team Liquid vs. Astralis Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Team Liquid 8 Nuke 16 Astralis
Team Liquid 7 Mirage 16 Astralis
Team Liquid Dust II Astralis

Finals

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Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

No official MVP was given, but HLTV.org deemed dev1ce as the MVP. Astralis became the fourth squad to win multiple Major titles.

Natus Vincere vs. Astralis Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Natus Vincere 6 Nuke 16 Astralis
Natus Vincere 9 Overpass 16 Astralis
Natus Vincere Inferno Astralis

Final standings

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The final placings are shown below. In addition, the prize distribution, seed for the next major, roster, and coaches are shown. Each team's in-game leader is shown first.

Place Prize Money Team Seed Roster Coach
1st US$500,000 Astralis IEM Katowice 2019 New Legends gla1ve, dev1ce, dupreeh, Magisk, Xyp9x zonic
2nd US$150,000 Natus Vincere Zeus, Edward, s1mple, electronic, flamie kane
3rd – 4th US$70,000 MIBR FalleN, coldzera, fer, Stewie2K, tarik YNk
Team Liquid nitr0, ELiGE, NAF, Twistzz, TACO zews
5th – 8th US$35,000 BIG gob b, nex, tabseN, tiziaN, smooya LEGIJA
compLexity Gaming stanislaw, ANDROID, ShahZaM, yay, dephh Rambo
FaZe Clan karrigan, GuardiaN, NiKo, olofmeister, rain RobbaN
HellRaisers ANGE1, bondik, DeadFox, woxic, ISSAA Johnta
9th – 11th US$8,750 Fnatic IEM Katowice 2019 New Challengers Xizt, draken, flusha, JW, KRiMZ Jumpy
G2 Esports Ex6TenZ, bodyy, kennyS, shox, SmithZz NiaK
Ninjas in Pyjamas Lekr0, dennis, f0rest, GeT RiGhT, REZ pita
12th – 14th US$8,750 Cloud9 Golden, autimatic, RUSH, Skadoodle, STYKO valens
TyLoo BnTeT, captainMo, DD, somebody, xccurate CruSad3
Vega Squadron jR, chopper, hutji, tonyblack, crush Fierce
15th – 16th US$8,750 mousesports chrisJ, ropz, oskar, Snax, suNny lmbt
Winstrike Team waterfaLLZ, balbina, Boombl4, jmqa, Kvik iksou
17th – 19th North MSL, aizy, Kjaerbye, niko, v4lde ave
OpTic Gaming Snappi, cajunb, gade, JUGi, k0nfig ruggah
Team Spirit S0tF1k, DavCost, Dima, COLDYY1, somedieyoung Certus
20th – 22nd Gambit Esports Dosia, AdreN, HObbit, mou, mir B1ad3
Renegades Nifty, AZR, jks, USTILO, jkaem Ryu
Rogue Rickeh, Hiko, SicK, vice, cadiaN mCe
23rd – 24th Space Soldiers hardstyle, Calyx, MAJ3R, paz, XANTARES
Virtus.pro NEO, byali, MICHU, pashaBiceps, snatchie kuben

Post-Major rankings

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The rankings shown below reflect the September 24, 2018 rankings, the first ranking after the Major.[25]

HLTV.org post-major ranking
World ranking
Place Team Points Move1
1 Astralis 1000  
2 Natus Vincere 734  
3 Team Liquid 504  
4 MIBR 415   3
5 FaZe Clan 413   1
6 North 387   2
7 mousesports 326   2
8 BIG 318   3
9 Ninjas in Pyjamas 277   1
10 HellRaisers 212   5
11 compLexity Gaming 182   18
12 TyLoo 180  
14 Fnatic 130   4
15 G2 Esports 129   1
18 Vega Squadron 114   193
20 Gambit Esports 92   1
21 Cloud9 87  
23 Renegades 83   7
24 OpTic Gaming 82   7
28 Virtus.pro 66   8
34 Team Spirit   2
35 Rogue   5
39 Space Soldiers   8
Winstrike Team2

1Change since September 3, 2018 ranking

2Winstrike Team released four players. HLTV.org requires at least three members of a team to be included in the rankings.

Notes

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  1. ^ 5Power Club had three players with visa issues, so the team was forced to gather three players with visas to the United Kingdom quickly before the event started.
  2. ^ Signature Gaming's visa applications were denied by the British embassy. FACEIT decided to find a replacement instead of running the event with seven teams like the CIS Minor. The semifinalists runner-ups at the Southeast Asia qualifier, B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape and Devious, played to replace Signature. B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape would stroll its way into the Asia Minor.
  3. ^ Three teams were tied for sixth place at the North American closed qualifier. The tiebreaker was determined by whichever team had the best map win to loss difference. Swole Patrol (8–5) was able to beat out Luminosity Gaming (6–5) and Team One (6–6) to take the last spot in the Americas Minor.
  4. ^ Immortals acquire the MIBR (Made in Brazil) brand. The SK Gaming players' contracts expired and Immortals picked up the roster. Immortals announced that they would be playing under the MIBR tag.
  5. ^ Quantum Bellator Fire sold its team to a newly formed organization called Winstrike Team.

References

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  1. ^ Steiner, Dustin (22 February 2018). "FACEIT to Host Next CS:GO Major in London Sept 20–23". Unikrn. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b Mira, Luis (13 December 2017). "VALVE REVAMPS MAJOR STAGE NAMES TO INCLUDE QUALIFIER; ALL 24 TEAMS TO HAVE STICKERS". HLTV.org. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. ^ Chiu, Stephen. "Retrospective of the Majors: Lineups with 2 Major Wins and Players with 3". VPEsports. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  4. ^ Kovanen, Tomi. "Why CS:GO needs major events". HLTV.org. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  5. ^ Mira, Luis (5 October 2017). "ELEAGUE TO HOST NEXT MAJOR, WITH PLAYOFFS IN BOSTON". HLTV.org. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Jarek (30 July 2018). "FACEIT London Major Format Slightly Tweaked From Past Majors". DBLTAP. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  7. ^ Mira, Luis (1 August 2018). "FACEIT Major to feature Buchholz system, BO3 fifth Swiss round". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. ^ Villanueava, Jamie (20 April 2018). "Dust II returns to Active Duty map pool, Cobblestone removed". Dot eSports. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  9. ^ Burazin, Zvonimir (2 April 2018). "FACEIT reveal Major qualifier details". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  10. ^ Stubbs, Mike (10 May 2018). "FACEIT To Host 'CS:GO' Minors At Iconic Twickenham Stadium In London". Forbes. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Asia Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  12. ^ Mira, Luis (24 May 2018). "VG.Flash, Fierce Tiger to replay Asia Minor qualifier match". Twitter. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  13. ^ Mira, Luis (26 May 2018). "Fierce Tiger disqualified from Asia Minor qualifier". HLTV.org. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  14. ^ Mira, Luis (13 July 2018). "SIGNATURE TO MISS ASIA MINOR; 5POWER TO FIELD THREE STAND-INS". HLTV.org. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  15. ^ Deng, Alex (14 July 2018). "B.O.OT-d[S] replaces Signature at Asia Minor". HLTV.org. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  16. ^ "CIS Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  17. ^ Aznar Miles, Lucas (5 July 2018). "Nemiga confirmed out of CIS Monor". HLTV.org. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  18. ^ Mira, Luis (9 July 2018). "CIS MINOR TO FEATURE JUST SEVEN TEAMS; PLINK, MONOLITH WITH STAND-INS". HLTV.org. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Europe Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  20. ^ "America Minor – FACEIT Major 2018 overview". HLTV.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  21. ^ Patterson, Calum (23 June 2018). "Former SK Gaming CS:GO Roster Officially Move to 'Made in Brazil' (MIBR), Partner with Tinder and Betway". Dexerto. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  22. ^ "CS:GO Ranking – World Ranking". HLTV.org. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  23. ^ Švejda, Milan (9 September 2018). "FACEIT Major New Legends stage first round matchups drawn". HLTV.org. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  24. ^ Švejda, Milan (16 September 2018). "FACEIT Major quarter-final pairs determined". HLTV.org. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  25. ^ "CS:GO Ranking – World Ranking". HLTV.org. Retrieved 25 September 2018.