Esports tournament organiser BLAST has revealed the dates for its Counter-Strike 2 Major taking place in Austin, Texas later this year.
The 2025 BLAST.tv Austin Major takes place from June 3rd to 22nd at the Moody Center. Prior to the Major, the organiser has also revealed details on its Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQ).
Invites to teams competing in the Major and the MRQ will be sent on April 7th, 2025 ahead of MRQs taking place for Europe the Americas, and Asia taking place between April 14th to 17th.
Invites to the Major and MRQ will be determined using Valve’s Ranking Standings (VRS) from April 7th. The top 16 teams based on VRS will begin the tournament in the second and third stages of the tournament.
In total, 32 teams will compete at the Austin Major across three stages and the playoffs for a chance to earn a share of a $1.25m (~£1m) prize pool. As a result, the remaining 16 teams will qualify through the MRQs.
The Austin Major will be the first Counter-Strike Major to feature 32 teams after Valve confirmed the expansion in July 2024.
At the time of writing, the BLAST.tv Austin Major is the only Major confirmed to take place in 2025.
BLAST Austin Major 2025 format
The BLAST.Ttv Austin Major is the second Valve-sanctioned Major run by BLAST, the first being CS:GO’s final Major, the BLAST.tv Paris 2023.
The format of the BLAST.tv Austin Major consists of three stages and playoffs.
The first three stages use the Swiss system where 16 teams compete in best-of-one (BO1) and best-of-three (BO3) matches.
For Stage One, the top eight teams advance to Stage Two while the bottom eight teams are eliminated.
The format is repeated in Stage Two. The top eight teams advance to Stage Three. The third and final stage will see the top eight teams qualify for the Playoffs.
The Playoffs will use a single-elimination bracket and best-of-three matches to determine the eventual winner.
