It's officla! Coming to the heart of South America, the competition is set to take place October 31-November 13, with fans being able to experience the spectacular action live at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the playoff stages which are 10-13th November.

With a great deal at stake, 24 of the world’s best CS:GO teams will face off in this 18th CS:GO Major in order to compete for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the winner of the very first CS:GO Major in South America. Moreover, the teams have a chance to take home their share of the US$1M total prize pool and a win towards their Intel® Grand Slam run.

The CS:GO Major consists of three stages, each its own format. During the first phase, the Challengers Stage will host 16 teams qualifying via IEM Road to Rio (the RMR series) to enter a Swiss bracket and face off in a best-of-one. The elimination and advancement matches will be played out as best-of-three, with the top eight teams proceeding to the Legends Stage. Here, these teams are joined by eight other teams coming through IEM Road to Rio while playing a similar format to the previous stage. The eight best teams in the Legends Stage will qualify for the Champions Stage that will be played out in a single-elimination playoff bracket and that will allow for the best team to eventually claim the coveted title.

“We couldn’t be more excited to finally bring the Major to Rio de Janeiro,” said Ulrich Schulze, SVP Product Management at ESL Gaming. “The ever-growing and passionate Brazilian esports community is amazing and for the past couple of years we have been hoping to provide the fans with one of the greatest esports experiences ever. Now the time is finally here and we can’t wait for the world’s best CS:GO teams to ultimately enter the Jeunesse Arena and have it shake to its foundations from the excitement from Brazil and beyond.”

This will be the first Major held by ESL since 2013, where DreamHack was chosen to host the Major. The previous MAjor concluded last Sunday, so FaZe will be hoping to keep the crown at the next Major!