ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018

Last updated
ELEAGUE Major 2018
2018
ELEAGUE Major 2018 logo.png
The ELEAGUE Major 2018 logo
Tournament information
Sport Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Location Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
DatesJanuary 12, 2018–January 28, 2018
Administrator Valve
ELEAGUE
Tournament
format(s)
Two 16 team swiss-system group stages
8 team single-elimination playoff
Venue Agganis Arena
Teams24 (one withdrew) [1]
Purse$1,000,000 USD
Final positions
Champions Cloud9 (1st title)
1st runners-up FaZe Clan
2nd runners-up Natus Vincere
SK Gaming
MVP Tarik "tarik" Celik [2]

The ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, also known as ELEAGUE Major 2018 or Boston 2018, was the twelfth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and the second organized by ELEAGUE. The group stage was held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States from January 12 to January 22, 2018, and the playoff stage took place at the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States from January 26 to January 28, 2018. It featured 24 professional teams from around the world, as ELEAGUE and Valve agreed to expand the Major from the usual 16. [3] All 16 teams from the previous major, PGL Major: Kraków 2017, directly qualified for the Major, while another eight teams qualified through their respective regional qualifiers. Boston 2018 was the fifth consecutive Major with a prize pool of $1,000,000. This was also the first CS:GO Major to take place in two cities. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

SK Gaming and Fnatic were the only entering Legends to advance to the playoff stage and retain their Legend status: the fewest in Major history. The two teams continued their respective streaks of making the playoffs at all Majors attended, with Fnatic's run starting at Dreamhack Winter 2013 and SK Gaming's run starting at ESL One Katowice 2015 as Keyd Stars. The new Legends at Boston 2018 were FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, Natus Vincere, Quantum Bellator Fire, Cloud9, and mousesports. Defending champions Gambit Esports, along with 100 Thieves (formerly Immortals), Astralis, BIG, North, and Virtus.pro, lost their Legend status. This marked the first time in Major history that Astralis's core – Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, Peter "dupreeh" Rothmann, and Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth – did not make the playoffs. This left Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer of FaZe Clan and Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson of Fnatic the two remaining players to have been Legends at all twelve majors.

The grand finals featured FaZe Clan, the favorite to win the tournament, and Cloud9, the second North American team to reach a Major final. FaZe defeated mousesports and Natus Vincere to reach the finals, while Cloud9 pulled off two upsets with wins against G2 Esports and SK Gaming. Cloud9 etched out the win over FaZe Clan to become the first North American team to win a Major. It would also mark just the fourth time in CS:GO history in which a North American team won a premier international event, after iBUYPOWER winning the ESEA Global Finals Season 15, Cloud9 winning ESL Pro League Season 4, and OpTic Gaming winning ELEAGUE Season 2.

Background

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. [7] [8]

The defending champion was Gambit Esports, which became the first Asian team, and just the second non-European team, to win a Major with their win at Kraków 2017. The Swedish team Fnatic attended as the most decorated CS:GO team in Major history, with three wins.

Format

On December 13, 2017, ELEAGUE announced a revamp of the Major format, designed by Valve and ELEAGUE. The offline qualifier preceding the Major would be rebranded as part of the main Major and be called the "New Challengers stage." The teams in this qualifier would be given in-game stickers and receive the associated revenue. [9] Four regional Minors – Americas, Asia, CIS, and Europe – sent two teams each to the New Challengers stage, competing against the bottom eight teams from the previous Major, Kraków 2017. The New Challengers stage was a Swiss-system tournament that took place in Atlanta from January 19, 2018, to January 22, 2018. [10]

The top eight teams moved on to the "New Legends stage", which replaced the group stages of previous Majors. This stage also included the eight Legends from the previous Major, creating a 16-team group stage similar to previous Majors. Like the Challengers stage, the Legends stage used a Swiss-system format, and the top eight teams from this stage moved on to the playoff round. The playoffs, now known as the "Champions stage", remained a single elimination, best-of-three bracket. [3]

Map pool

The map pool remained the same as at the previous major, even though Valve released the new version of Dust II in October 2017. [11]

Maps
  • Cache
  • Cobblestone
  • Inferno
  • Mirage
  • Nuke
  • Overpass
  • Train

Regional qualifiers

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.

Asia Minor

The Asia Minor took place shortly after the major announcement. Eight teams were invited to the qualifier in Seoul, South Korea and no online, open, or closed qualifier took place. This caused some controversy as minors were intended for all teams to be able to qualify and had no chance to prove themselves; top Asian teams such as Recca eSports, Grayhound Gaming, and Risky Gaming had more success than the likes of The MongolZ and other teams in the minor but were not invited. The Asia Minor took place on October 26, 2017, to October 29, 2017. [12]

Teams
  • B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape
  • Flash Gaming
  • Kings Gaming Club
  • MVP PK
  • Renegades
  • Tainted Minds
  • The MongolZ
  • TyLoo
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1 Renegades 2
B2Flash Gaming0
A1Renegades2
B1TyLoo1
B1TyLoo2
A2MVP PK0
A1Renegades2
B1TyLoo0
Lower round 1Lower final
B1TyLoo2
B2Flash Gaming2B2Flash Gaming1
A2MVP PK0

CIS Minor

The Commonwealth of Independent States Minor took place on the same dates as the Asia Minor in Bucharest, Romania and used the same format as the Asia Minor.

Teams
  • Team Spirit (Invited)
  • Tengri (Invited)
  • AVANGAR (Open 1st–4th)
  • NOTBAD (Open 1st–4th)
  • pro100 (Open 1st–4th)
  • Quantum Bellator Fire (Open 1st–4th)
  • Nemiga Gaming (Open 7th–8th)
  • forZe (Last Chance)
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1pro1000
B2Q.B. Fire2
B2Q.B. Fire1
B1AVANGAR2
B1AVANGAR2
A2Team Spirit0
B1AVANGAR2
B2Q.B. Fire1
Lower round 1Lower final
B2Q.B. Fire2
A1pro1000A2Team Spirit1
A2Team Spirit2

Europe Minor

The Europe Minor took place on November 2, 2017, and ended on November 5, 2017. No team was invited to the minor, but eight teams – GODSENT, HellRaisers, Heroic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, OpTic Gaming, Space Soldiers, Team EnVyUs, and Team LDLC.com – were invited to the closed qualifier. Another eight teams qualified through an open qualifier, which was a 512 team bracket. There, the sixteen teams played in a Swiss group stage, with all matches played online. The final eight teams went on to go to Bucharest to determine which two teams would move on to the New Challenger stage.

The open qualifiers were played on the platform CEVO, as opposed to the more popular ESEA, which is run by ESL, and FACEIT as both had been used for the qualifiers in the past. However, ELEAGUE's decision to use CEVO spurred controversy in the community as CEVO's anti-cheat system was not as well developed as ESL or FACEIT, leading to many players, particularly in the Europe open qualifier, to play with cheats on. Many of these cheaters were banned mid-match, causing many forced forfeits in the 512 team bracket. [13]

Teams
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1 Team EnVyUs 1
B2 Space Soldiers 2
B2 Space Soldiers 2
B1OpTic Gaming1
B1OpTic Gaming2
A2AGO Gaming0
B2 Space Soldiers 2
A1Team EnVyUs0
Lower round 1Lower final
B1OpTic Gaming0
A1Team EnVyUs2A1Team EnVyUs2
A2AGO Gaming1

Americas Minor

The Americas Minor took place on the same dates as the Europe Minor in Toronto, Canada. Two teams were automatically invited to the minor: Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming. One team from the South American open also qualified for the tournament. The remaining five spots went to the top five teams in the North American open qualifier. There, eight teams were invited – compLexity Gaming, Ghost Gaming, Immortals, Luminosity Gaming, Misfits, NRG Esports, Rogue, and Splyce – and another eight teams qualified through an open qualifier.

Teams
Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
A1 Team Liquid 1
B2 Misfits 2
B2Misfits2
B1Counter Logic G.1
B1Counter Logic G.2
A2 compLexity G. 0
B2Misfits1
A1Team Liquid2
Lower round 1Lower final
B1Counter Logic G.0
A1Team Liquid2A1Team Liquid2
A2compLexity G.0

Broadcast talent

The broadcast talent of the Boston major was announced on the same day as the preliminary group stage. [14]

Desk host

Stage host

Master of Ceremonies

Commentators

Analysts

The casters also served as analysts when not casting
Observers

Broadcasts

The major was streamed in various languages across Twitch. ELEAGUE also streamed the major on its website and YouTube.

  • ELEAGUE TV
  • 1PV
  • 99Damage
  • Brekan
  • Gamers Club
  • GamerHUTV
  • GamerTV
  • Hitpoint
  • Huomao
  • Moreira
  • Pitu Herranz
  • Starladder
  • wiizz

Teams competing

Legends
Kraków 2017 Bottom 8
Regional Qualifiers
  1. ↑ On December 12, 2017, the organization 100 Thieves, founded by professional Call of Duty player Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag and backed by the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers, acquired the Immortals roster that had finished second at the previous Major. [15] At the end of the first day of the ELEAGUE Major, 100 Thieves announced that due to immigration issues, the team would not be able to attend. [16]
  2. ↑ After two of PENTA Sports' players transferred to other teams, PENTA Sports released the remaining three players of kRYSTAL, innocent, and zehN. kRYSTAL later announced that the team would go under the name Seed until picked up by an organization. [17] Seed was later acquired by Sprout Esports. [18]
  3. ↑ TyLoo's star player Hansel "BnTet" Ferdinand was not able to make the Major because he was unable to acquire a US visa. TyLoo's former coach Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu was set to take BnTeT's place, but disagreements between peacemaker and the TyLoo organization forced TyLoo to drop out from the Major. Flash Gaming, the second runner-up at the Asia Minor, took TyLoo's spot. [19] [20] [21]

Controversy

Several problems arose from the Major. The most common complaint was that the announcement of the Major was announced so late that several players were not able to obtain visas to their Minors or the Major itself. In addition, Valve did not allow coaches Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu of TyLoo and Wilton "zews" Prado of Team Liquid to have their own stickers despite peacemaker standing in for Hansel "BnTeT" Ferdinand, who had visa issues, and zews standing in for Lucas "steel" Lopes, who had to sit out due to rules regarding roster locks. peacemaker said on Twitter that he was unhappy with the way ELEAGUE and Valve were handling player roster locks and the sticker situation – as player situations, handled by ELEAGUE, amounted to teams having to play with their original rosters and fifty percent of sticker sales went directly to the players and organization – and the team was considering to forfeit its spot in the major since peacemaker's role was a coach and not a player. In addition, peacemaker left TyLoo beforehand to become the coach of the Danish organization Heroic. [22] [23] TyLoo later confirmed its absence at the major as Flash Gaming, the third-place finisher from the Asia Minor, set to take its place as peacemaker and TyLoo could not work out a deal together. [24]

Another big complication in the Major were the aforementioned the rules on roster locks. Valve said that the tournament organizers, not Valve, were responsible for the rules on roster locks, and ELEAGUE rules stated that players that competed in any Minor or the Americas Minor closed qualifier cannot compete on a team that would participate in the Major. The roster locks themselves were not the issue; the main issue was why the roster locks were placed months in advance of the major. SK Gaming had placed João "felps" Vasconcellos on the inactive roster by his own request and brought in Ricardo "boltz" Prass in October; Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz of Astralis had medical issues in late November; and Team Liquid brought in Lucas "steel" Lopes in place of Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz in mid November, but these teams had to be forced to play with stand-ins. Most of the community and players were dissatisfied with the situation. This raised the question as to why Joakim "disco doplan" Gidetun was allowed to play with Epsilon eSports during the European qualifier and then played with Fnatic at the last ELEAGUE Major, but that situation doesn't apply with a few teams at the Boston 2018 Major. Shortly after losing to SK Gaming at ESL Pro League Season 6, FaZe Clan's Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács said that the Major would be devalued if teams such as SK Gaming would have to play with a stand-in rather than their complete rosters. [25] SK Gaming's Epitácio "TACO" de Melo said the rule was "ridiculous" and went on to say that "I don't think majors are a big deal in CS:GO anymore." [26] Journalist Jarek "DeKay" Lewis said that he tried to reach out to ELEAGUE in an effort for an explanation "to try and find out when and why the roster lock rule changed" but the organization never responded. A couple of weeks later, SK Gaming's captain Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo also wanted an explanation as to why ELEAGUE won't say anything about the roster locks, but ELEAGUE continued to stay quiet. Journalist Richard Lewis, who worked as the host for ELEAGUE at the time, said in one of his podcasts with Duncan "Thorin" Shields that roster locks are necessary in order for teams to not make changes before the Major to benefit them for the tournament. [27] [28] According to SK Gaming's analyst Jan "Swani" Müller, FalleN, and TACO, SK Gaming said that the Major has had a massive drop in prestige, as the team had not been practicing with felps, the player the team would be using for the Major, and had rather been practicing with boltz, felps's permanent replacement after the Major. [29] [30] After defeating SK Gaming in the semifinals, Cloud9 lurker Timothy "autimatic" Ta also claimed that the system wasn't fair. [31]

In the New Champions stage, the continuing argument of why the fourth quarterfinal series was played on the same day as the two semifinals was asked, as the first team in the second semifinals was much more rested than the second team in the semifinals, who only had a few hours of rest. After Cloud9 defeated SK Gaming in that second semifinals, SK's captain FalleN, [32] SK's entry fragger Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, [33] Fnatic's coach Jimmy "Jumpy" Berndtsson, [34] and Cloud9's support player Will "RUSH" Wierzba [35] all said that the system was unfair to the team who had to play two series in a day compared to the team who only needed to play one. Out of the seven Majors in which the fourth quarterfinal match was played in the same day as the semifinals, the winner of that quarterfinal lost five times in the semifinals.

Pre-major ranking

HLTV.org rank teams based on results of teams' performances. The rankings shown below reflect the January 8, 2018 rankings. [36]

HLTV.org pre-major ranking
World ranking
PlaceTeamPointsBest Major placing
1 SK Gaming 9981st at Columbus 2016 (as Luminosity)
1st at Cologne 2016
2 FaZe Clan 9465th at Atlanta 2017
3 Astralis 5701st at Atlanta 2017
5 Cloud9 4005th at Cologne 2014
6 Fnatic 3461st at Winter 2013
1st at Katowice 2015
1st Cologne 2015
7 G2 Esports 3461st at Cluj-Napoca 2015 (as EnVyUs)
8 mousesports 3269th at Cluj-Napoca 2015
9th at Columbus 2016
9th at Cologne 2016
9 North 2865th at Atlanta 2017
5th at Kraków 2017
10 Virtus.pro 2391st at Katowice 2014
11 Gambit Esports 2221st at Kraków 2017
13 Misfits Gaming 1932nd at Boston 2018 Americas Minor
14 Natus Vincere 1862nd at Cluj-Napoca 2015
2nd at Columbus 2016
15 Team EnVyUs 1572nd at Boston 2018 Europe Minor
17 Team Liquid 1462nd at Cologne 2016
20 Renegades 1239th at Cologne 2015
22BIG855th at Kraków 2017
23Space Soldiers791st at Boston 2018 Europe Minor
24Vega Squadron6615th at Kraków 2017
27 100 Thieves 452nd at Kraków 2017 (as Immortals)
29Sprout Esports435th at Winter 2014 (as PENTA)
5th at Katowice 2015 (as PENTA)
37AVANGAR–1st at Boston 2018 CIS Minor
60Quantum Bellator Fire–2nd at Boston 2018 CIS Minor
61Flash Gaming–3rd at Boston 2018 Asia Minor
NR FlipSid3 Tactics –5th at Cologne 2016

New Challengers stage

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. Any team with three wins would qualify for the major, and any team with three losses would be eliminated. The Challenger stage will be played in Atlanta, Georgia, United States at the Turner Studios.

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. Cloud9, FlipSid3 Tactics, G2 Esports, and Natus Vincere (Na'Vi) were in pool one based on Cloud9, FlipSid3, and G2's ninth-place finish and Na'Vi's eleventh-place finish at the PGL Major; Na'Vi had the higher seed over Sprout Esports and mousesports as Na'Vi was already a Legend going into the PGL Major. Sprout, mousesports, FaZe Clan, and Vega Squadron were in pool two based on the eleventh-place finish or the last place finish at the PGL Major. Renegades, AVANGAR, Space Soldiers, and Team Liquid were in pool three based on winning their respective minor qualifiers. Flash Gaming, Quantum Bellator Fire, Team EnVyUs, and Misfits Gaming were in pool four based on being the runners-up in their respective minor qualifiers.

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 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 Legends stage and the losing teams will be eliminated from the major. 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.

The first round matchups were announced on January 9, 2018. [14] The New Challengers stage took place from January 12 to January 15.

PlaceTeamRecordRDRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5
1–2 Cloud9 3–0+27Team EnVyUs
16–11
Cache		High match
Sprout Esports
16–5
Inferno		High match
mousesports
16–5
Train		New Legends StageNew Legends Stage
G2 Esports 3–0+20Flash Gaming
16–11
Inferno		High match
Misfits Gaming
16–5
Cobblestone		High match
Vega Squadron
19–16
Overpass		New Legends StageNew Legends Stage
3–5 FaZe Clan 3–1+14Team Liquid
16–14
Overpass		High match
Vega Squadron
6–16
Inferno		Mid match
Quantum Bellator Fire
16–6
Mirage		High match
Natus Vincere
16–4
Train		New Legends stage
Vega Squadron3–1+11Renegades
16–14
Mirage		High match
FaZe Clan
16–6
Inferno		High match
G2 Esports
16–19
Overpass		High match
Team Liquid
16–14
Mirage		New Legends Stage
Space Soldiers 3–1+7Sprout Esports
12–16
Cobblestone		Low match
AVANGAR
16–9
Mirage		Mid match
Misfits Gaming
16–13
Train		High match
mousesports
19–17
Mirage		New Legends stage
6–8 mousesports 3–2+19AVANGAR
16–12
Mirage		High match
Natus Vincere
16–2
Mirage		High match
Cloud9
5–16
Train		High match
Space Soldiers
17–19
Mirage		Renegades
16–4
Mirage
Natus Vincere 3–2+5Quantum Bellator Fire
16–8
Inferno		High match
mousesports
2–16
Mirage		Mid match
Sprout Esports
3–16
Mirage		High match
FaZe Clan
4–16
Train		Team Liquid
16–5
Inferno
Quantum Bellator Fire3–2+1Natus Vincere
8–16
Inferno		Low match
Flash Gaming
16–13
Inferno		Mid match
FaZe Clan
6–16
Mirage		Low match
Team EnVyUs
16–12
Inferno		AVANGAR
16–6
Train
9–11 Renegades 2–30Vega Squadron
14–16
Mirage		Low match
Team EnVyUs
16–6
Cache		Mid match
Team Liquid
14–16
Cobblestone		Low match
Sprout Esports
16–10
Cobblestone		mousesports
4–16
Mirage
Team Liquid 2–3−7FaZe Clan
14–16
Overpass		Low match
FlipSid3 Tactics
16–10
Cobblestone		Mid match
Renegades
16–14
Cobblestone		High match
Vega Squadron
14–16
Mirage		Natus Vincere
5–16
Inferno
AVANGAR2–3−9mousesports
12–16
Mirage		Low match
Space Soldiers
9–16
Mirage		Low match
FlipSid3 Tactics
16–7
Train		Low match
Misfits Gaming
16–13
Cache		Quantum Bellator Fire
6–16
Train
12–14 Misfits Gaming 1–3−5FlipSid3 Tactics
16–4
Overpass		High match
G2 Esports
5–16
Cobblestone		Mid match
Space Soldiers
13–16
Train		Low match
AVANGAR
13–16
Cache		Eliminated
Team EnVyUs 1–3−16Cloud9
11–16
Cache		Low match
Renegades
6–16
Cache		Low match
Flash Gaming
16–13
Inferno		Low match
Quantum Bellator Fire
12–16
Inferno		Eliminated
Sprout Esports1–3−25Space Soldiers
16–12
Cobblestone		High match
Cloud9
5–16
Inferno		Mid match
Natus Vincere
3–16
Mirage		Low match
Renegades
10–16
Cobblestone		Eliminated
15–16Flash Gaming0–3−11G2 Esports
11–16
Inferno		Low match
Quantum Bellator Fire
13–16
Inferno		Low match
Team EnVyUs
13–16
Inferno		EliminatedEliminated
FlipSid3 Tactics 0–3−27Misfits Gaming
4–16
Overpass		Low match
Team Liquid
10–16
Cobblestone		Low match
AVANGAR
7–16
Train		EliminatedEliminated

Decider

After the conclusion of the first day, ELEAGUE and 100 Thieves, the runners-up of the last major, announced that the Brazilian roster would not attend due to immigration issues. [16] To complete the sixteen team group stage for the New Legends stage, ELEAGUE decided to have one of the three ninth place teams take the open spot. The two teams with the easiest schedule from the three would face off in a best of one and then the winner of that match would go on to face off against the team that had the hardest schedule. The strength of schedule was determined by which how many wins the teams' opponents got. In the event in which the strength of schedule is the same, the tie breaker would be the head-to-head game. If the teams never played, then a random draw would take place. [37]

Seeding
RenegadesAVANGARTeam Liquid
Vega Squadron (3)mousesports (3)FaZe Clan (3)
Team EnVyUs (1)Space Soldiers (3)FlipSid3 Tactics (0)
Team Liquid (2)FlipSid3 Tactics (0)Renegades (2)
Sprout Esports (1)Misfits Gaming (1)Vega Squadron (3)
mousesports (3)Quantum Bellator Fire (3)Natus Vincere (3)
101011

Renegades and AVANGAR faced off in the first match after round 5. Karlo "USTILO" Pivac had a back and forth major performance, but as he stepped up, Jame bettered the Renegades with a 30 bomb as AVANGAR pulled off yet another upset despite a last minute heroic play from NAF. AVANGAR went back to Mirage. Jame went stale against the Americans, but buster and qikert were able to step up to shoot down Liquid. However, Liquid made it close late into the game as the Americans were able to punish the aggression of the Kazakhs on their Terrorist side and Liquid defeated the underdogs in overtime.

Winner moves on to New Legends stage
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
Renegades10 Mirage 16AVANGAR
Team Liquid19 Mirage 15AVANGAR

New Legends stage

The Legends stage, formerly known as the Group stage, used the same format as the Challengers stage. This took place from January 19 to January 22.

Gambit Esports, Virtus.pro, Astralis, BIG were teams in pool one based on their top four placement at the PGL Major; BIG was in pool one because of its first-place finish in the Swiss stage last major. Fnatic, North, SK Gaming, and Cloud9 were teams in pool two based on their quarterfinals finish at the PGL Major; Cloud9 was randomly chosen between it and G2 Esports based on its first-place finish in the Challengers stage. G2 Esports, Vega Squadron, Space Soldiers, and FaZe Clan were in pool three. mousesports, Natus Vincere, Quantum Bellator Fire, and Team Liquid were in pool four.

PlaceTeamRecordRDRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5
1–2 G2 Esports 3–0+28Cloud9
16–8
Cache		High match
Team Liquid
16–8
Inferno		High match
Quantum Bellator Fire
16–4
Cache		New Champions stageNew Champions stage
FaZe Clan 3–0+25Fnatic
16–8
Cache		High match
Vega Squadron
16–3
Train		High match
SK Gaming
16–12
Cache		New Champions stageNew Champions stage
3–5 Natus Vincere 3–1+20Gambit Esports
5–16
Nuke		Low match
BIG
16–1
Inferno		Low match
Team Liquid
16–9
Overpass		High match
Fnatic
16–7
Inferno		New Champions stage
SK Gaming 3–1+9Space Soldiers
16–13
Mirage		High match
mousesports
16–12
Mirage		High match
FaZe Clan
12–16
Cache		High match
Gambit Esports
16–10
Overpass		New Champions stage
Quantum Bellator Fire3–1+6Virtus.pro
16–3
Cache		High match
Gambit Esports
19–16
Inferno		High match
G2 Esports
4–16
Cache		High match
mousesports
16–14
Train		New Champions stage
6–8 mousesports 3–2+24Astralis
16–2
Cache		High match
SK Gaming
12–16
Mirage		Mid match
Vega Squadron
16–3
Mirage		High match
Quantum Bellator Fire
14–16
Train		Space Soldiers
16–13
Mirage
Cloud9 3–2+20G2 Esports
8–16
Cache		Low match
Space Soldiers
13–16
Cobblestone		Low match
Virtus.pro
16–7
Mirage		Low match
Astralis
16–6
Train		Vega Squadron
16–4
Mirage
Fnatic 3–2+15FaZe Clan
8–16
Cache		Low match
Virtus.pro
16–6
Inferno		Mid match
Astralis
16–8
Mirage		High match
Natus Vincere
7–16
Inferno		Gambit Esports
16–2
Mirage
9–11 Space Soldiers 2–3+2SK Gaming
13–16
Mirage		Low match
Cloud9
16–13
Cobblestone		Mid match
Gambit Esports
13–16
Train		Low match
BIG
16–8
Cobblestone		mousesports
13–16
Mirage
Gambit Esports 2–3−9Natus Vincere
16–5
Nuke		High match
Quantum Bellator Fire
16–19
Inferno		Mid match
Space Soldiers
16–13
Train		High match
SK Gaming
10–16
Overpass		Fnatic
2–16
Mirage
Vega Squadron2–3−28North
16–10
Overpass		High match
FaZe Clan
3–16
Train		High match
mousesports
3–16
Mirage		Low match
Team Liquid
16–12
Inferno		Cloud9
4–16
Mirage
12–14 Team Liquid 1–3−8BIG
16–5
Inferno		High match
G2 Esports
8–16
Inferno		High match
Natus Vincere
9–16
Overpass		Low match
Vega Squadron
12–16
Inferno		Eliminated
BIG1–3−28Team Liquid
5–16
Inferno		Low match
Natus Vincere
1–16
Inferno		Low match
North
16–12
Cobblestone		Low match
Space Soldiers
8–16
Cobblestone		Eliminated
Astralis 1–3−30mousesports
2–16
Cache		Low match
North
16–14
Train		Mid match
Fnatic
8–16
Mirage		Low match
Cloud9
6–16
Train		Eliminated
15–16 North 0–3−12Vega Squadron
10–16
Overpass		Low match
Astralis
14–16
Train		Low match
BIG
12–16
Cobblestone		EliminatedEliminated
Virtus.pro 0–3−32Quantum Bellator Fire
3–16
Cache		Low match
Fnatic
6–16
Inferno		Low match
Cloud9
7–16
Mirage		EliminatedEliminated

New Champions stage

The New Champions Stage is a best of three single elimination bracket. Teams play into overtime until a winner is decided. This stage took place at the Agganis Arena between January 26 and January 28.

Bracket

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                  
2 FaZe Clan1916– 2
6 mousesports 16 9 – 0
2 FaZe Clan1616– 2
3 Natus Vincere 9 7 – 0
3 Natus Vincere1616– 2
5 Quantum Bellator Fire 4 7 – 0
2 FaZe Clan 1610 19 1
7 Cloud914 16222
1 G2 Esports 8 7 – 0
7 Cloud91616– 2
7 Cloud9168 162
4 SK Gaming 3 169 1
4 SK Gaming19 16162
8 Fnatic 2214 12 1

Quarterfinals

FaZe Clan vs. mousesports

Casters: Sadokist & HenryG

FaZe Clan vs. mousesports Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
FaZe Clan19 Nuke 16mousesports
FaZe Clan16 Cache 9mousesports
FaZe Clan–Train–mousesports

Natus Vincere vs. Quantum Bellator Fire

Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

Natus Vincere vs. Quantum Bellator Fire Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
Natus Vincere16 Mirage 4Quantum Bellator Fire
Natus Vincere16 Inferno 7Quantum Bellator Fire
Natus Vincere–Train–Quantum Bellator Fire

G2 Esports vs. Cloud9

Casters: Anders Blume & moses

G2 Esports vs. Cloud9 Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
G2 Esports8 Mirage 16Cloud9
G2 Esports7 Overpass 16Cloud9
G2 Esports–Cobblestone–Cloud9

SK Gaming vs. Fnatic

Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

SK Gaming vs. Fnatic Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
SK Gaming19 Inferno 22Fnatic
SK Gaming16 Overpass 14Fnatic
SK Gaming16 Mirage 12Fnatic

Semifinals

FaZe Clan vs. Natus Vincere

Casters: Sadokist & HenryG

FaZe Clan vs. Natus Vincere Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
FaZe Clan16 Inferno 9Natus Vincere
FaZe Clan16 Mirage 7Natus Vincere
FaZe Clan–Train–Natus Vincere

Cloud9 vs. SK Gaming

Casters: Anders Blume & moses

Cloud9 vs. SK Gaming Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
Cloud916 Mirage 3SK Gaming
Cloud98 Cobblestone 16SK Gaming
Cloud916 Inferno 9SK Gaming

Finals

Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

Skadoodle was named the U.S. Air Force MVP of the tournament by ELEAGUE, [38] while HLTV.org gave the MVP to tarik. [39]

The final map broke a new record with more than 1.8 million viewers, including more than 1.3 million viewers on Twitch. [40]

Cloud9 became the first ever North American team to win a Major and it was the fourth Major in which a non-European team won the Major in five Major tournaments.

FaZe Clan vs. Cloud9 Scores
TeamScoreMapScoreTeam
FaZe Clan16 Mirage 14Cloud9
FaZe Clan10 Overpass 16Cloud9
FaZe Clan19 Inferno 22Cloud9

Final standings

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.

PlacePrize MoneyTeamSeedRosterCoach
1stUS$500,000 Cloud9 London 2018 Legends tarik, autimatic, RUSH, Skadoodle, Stewie2K valens
2ndUS$150,000 FaZe Clan karrigan, GuardiaN, NiKo, olofmeister, rain RobbaN
3rd – 4thUS$70,000 Natus Vincere Zeus, Edward, s1mple, electronic, flamiekane
SK Gaming FalleN, coldzera, felps, fer, TACOdead
5th – 8thUS$35,000 Fnatic Golden, flusha, JW, KRiMZ, Lekr0Jumpy
G2 Esports shox, apEX, bodyy, kennyS, NBK- SmithZz
mousesports chrisJ, oskar, ropz, STYKO, suNnylmbt
Quantum Bellator FirewaterfaLLZ, balblna, Boombl4, jmqa, Kvikiksou
9th – 11thUS$8,750 Gambit Esports London 2018 New Challengers Dosia, AdreN, fitch, HObbit, mouAndi
Space Soldiers MAJ3R, Calyx, ngiN, paz, XANTARES hardstyle
Vega SquadronjR, chopper, hutji, keshander, mirFierce
12th – 14thUS$8,750 Astralis gla1ve, dev1ce, dupreeh, Kjaerbye, Xyp9x zonic
BIGgob b, keev, nex, tabseN, LEGIJAkakafu
Team Liquid zews, ELiGE, jdm64, nitr0, Twistzz –
15th – 16thUS$8,750 North MSL, aizy, cajunb, k0nfig, valderuggah
Virtus.pro TaZ, byali, NEO, pashaBiceps, Snaxkuben
17th–AVANGAR–Jame, buster, dimasick, KrizzeN, qikertdastan
18th Renegades Nifty, AZR, jks, USTILO, NAFkassad
19th – 21st– Misfits Gaming seang@res, ShahZaM, SicK, AmaNeK, devoduvek–
Sprout EsportskRYSTAL, denis, Spiidi, innocent, zehNtow b
Team EnVyUs Happy, Rpk, SIXER, xms, ScreaMmaLeK
22nd – 23rd–Flash Gamingkarsa, AttackeR, LOVEYY, Summer, kazez8z
FlipSid3 Tactics B1ad3, markeloff, seized, WorldEdit, wayLander–
DQ– 100 Thieves BIT, fnx, HEN1, kNgV-, LUCAS1bLecker

Post-major ranking

HLTV.org rank teams based on results of teams' performances. The rankings shown below reflect the January 29, 2018 rankings, the first ranking after the major. [41]

HLTV.org post-major ranking
World ranking
PlaceTeamPointsMove1
1 SK Gaming 916Steady2.svg
2 FaZe Clan 914Steady2.svg
3 Cloud9 609Increase2.svg 2
4 G2 Esports 408Increase2.svg 3
5 Astralis 407Decrease2.svg 2
6 Fnatic 358Steady2.svg
7 mousesports 350Increase2.svg 1
9 Natus Vincere 287Increase2.svg 5
10 Virtus.pro 204Steady2.svg
11 Gambit Esports 190Steady2.svg
12 North 286Decrease2.svg 3
14 Team Liquid 145Increase2.svg 3
15 Misfits Gaming 140Decrease2.svg 2
16Quantum Bellator Fire130Increase2.svg 44
17Vega Squadron121Increase2.svg 7
18 Space Soldiers 119Increase2.svg 5
19 Renegades 114Increase2.svg 1
20 Team EnVyUs 109Decrease2.svg 5
24BIG75Decrease2.svg 2
27AVANGAR56Increase2.svg 10
28Sprout Esports43Increase2.svg 1
54Flash Gaming–Increase2.svg 7
60 FlipSid3 Tactics –Increase2.svg ?

1Change since January 8, 2018 ranking

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References

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  2. ↑ "TARIK CLAIMS ELEAGUE MAJOR MVP AWARD". HLTV. January 29, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Mira, Luis (December 13, 2017). "VALVE REVAMPS MAJOR STAGE NAMES TO INCLUDE QUALIFIER; ALL 24 TEAMS TO HAVE STICKERS". HLTV.org. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  4. ↑ "ELEAGUE Major – Boston, 2018". Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "ELEAGUE to Host Next Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship, January 26–28, 2018 in Boston". Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Wolf, Jacob (October 5, 2017). "ELeague to host first two-city CS:GO Major in Atlanta and Boston". ESPN . Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  7. ↑ Chiu, Stephen. "Retrospective of the Majors: Lineups with 2 Major Wins and Players with 3". VPEsports. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Kovanen, Tomi. "Why CS:GO needs major events". HLTV.org. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
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  11. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (October 11, 2017). "Valve unveils new version of Counter-Strike's Dust 2 map". Polygon . Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  12. ↑ Hathi, Nikhil (October 6, 2017). "NO QUALIFIERS FOR ASIA MINOR, AND PEOPLE ARE FREAKING OUT". CSGO2Asia. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
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  14. 1 2 Mallow, Max (January 9, 2018). "ELEAGUE Reveals First-Round Matches and Talent for Boston Major". DBLTAP. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  15. ↑ Goldstein, DG (December 12, 2017). "100 Thieves Reveal Inaugural Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Roster". Dexerto. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Kent, Mike (January 12, 2018). "100 Thieves CS:GO Team Announce They're Unable to Attend the Boston Major". Dexerto. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  17. ↑ Dozsa, Preston (October 4, 2017). "PENTA Sports releases CS:GO roster". The Score eSports. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  18. ↑ Mira, Luis. "SEED SIGN WITH SPROUT". HLTV.org. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  19. ↑ Rosen, Daniel (December 13, 2017). "theScore esports Daily (Dec. 13): BnTeT to miss Boston Major Offline Qualifier, HellRaisers drop Dota roster, ROCCAT sign Blanc". The Score eSports. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  20. ↑ Švejda, Milan (January 4, 2018). "ELEAGUE confirm Flash replacing TyLoo at Major". HLTV.org. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  21. ↑ Villanueva, Jaimie (January 4, 2018). "Flash Gaming to replace TyLoo at the Boston Major". Dot eSports. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
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  23. ↑ Lewis, Jarek (December 23, 2017). "TyLoo to withdraw from Boston Major, per sources". Per Sources. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  24. ↑ Mira, Luis (January 2, 2017). "TyLoo confirm Major absence, replacement to come from Asia Minor". HLTV.org. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  25. ↑ Deason, Ross (December 11, 2017). "FaZe Clan's GuardiaN on ELEAGUE and Valve Roster Lock Rules: "Devaluing of the major"". Dexerto. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  26. ↑ Louchnikov, Aleksei (December 14, 2017). "TACO on roster locks: "This rule is ridiculous, it's just a shame that a Major has this kind of rule."". Cybersport. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  27. ↑ Deason, Ross (December 12, 2017). "FalleN Wants ELEAGUE to Explain Their Stance on the Current Roster Lock Issue". Dexerto. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  28. ↑ Samal, Rohan (November 27, 2017). "Eleague maintain their silence on Roster Lock rule change". Esports Junkie. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  29. ↑ Müller, Jan (December 28, 2017). "99Swani comments on SK won't practice with Felps!". Reddit. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  30. ↑ de Melo, Epitácio (December 28, 2017). "Epitácio on Twitter: "@Thooorin @mateusgmaia that's true! we aren't gonna practice with felps!"". Twitter. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  31. ↑ Ta, Timothy (January 27, 2018). "Timothy Ta (C9) on Twitter: "Super lame that @SKGaming wasn't able to play with their 5. Hope this doesn't happen again"". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  32. ↑ Toledo, Gabriel (January 27, 2018). "Gabriel Toledo on Twitter: "GgWP cloud9 you guys played very well! I honestly have no favorites for the final, I can see both teams winning it! GL faze and C9. Nothing to do with the defeat but please stop putting one quarters at saturday with semis!"". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  33. ↑ Alvarenga, Fernando (January 27, 2018). "Fernando Alvarenga on Twitter: "Ggwp @Cloud9 👍 U guys are playing so good! Good luck on finals! It's your time 👊 Also, it's not an excuse or something, but.. two bo3 in the same day it's not fair with anyone. Please, don't do it again. 😵"". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  34. ↑ Berndtsson, Jimmy (January 27, 2018). "Jimmy Berndtsson on Twitter: "My guys were exhausted after the game against SK.. a match that took 5.5h from that we joined the server until the last round was played. Crazy to be forced to play the semi-final the same day."". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  35. ↑ Wierzba, Will (January 27, 2018). "Will (C9) on Twitter: "Have to agree with how absurd it is that @SKGaming had to play a 5 hour bo3, then a 2–3 hour gap, and then play again. Hopefully it doesn't happen again."". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  36. ↑ "CS:GO Ranking – World Ranking". HLTV.org. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  37. ↑ Mira, Luis (January 14, 2018). "ELEAGUE UNVEILS 100 THIEVES REPLACEMENT PROCESS". HLTV.org. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  38. ↑ "Skadoodle – U.S. Air Force MVP – The ELEAGUE Major: Boston". ELEAGUE . January 30, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  39. ↑ "tarik claims ELEAGUE Major MVP award". HLTV. January 28, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  40. ↑ "ELEAGUE Major 2018 detailed stats". ESC. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  41. ↑ "CS:GO Ranking – World Ranking". HLTV.org. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
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