The biggest change in the online portion is the introduction of BO3 matches in the Closed Qualifier, the last stage preceding the Minors.

FACEIT, the host of the upcoming CS:GO Major, have released an outline of the qualifying process for the prestigious tournament that will be held in London at the end of September.

The road to London will, of course, start with Open Qualifiers which will be held for nine different regions. Europe, CIS and North America will all feature four open qualifiers, with eight teams advancing to the closed stage, where eight more invited ones will join them.

The remaining six regions, which include the likes of South America, Oceania, and China, will have Open Qualifiers leading directly to their respective Minor Championships.

The qualifiers for the Major in September will start in May

The Open Qualifiers will take place between May 14 and June 17, with up to 1024 teams able to compete in the single-elimination bracket. The exact dates for the individual qualifiers and signups are available here.

You can find the outline of the Open Qualifiers for different regions below:

Europe 4x Quals 8 teams to EU Closed Qual. CIS 4x Quals 8 teams to CIS Closed Qual. N. America 4x Quals 8 teams to NA Closed Qual. S. America 2x Quals 2 teams to the Minor India + SEA 1x Quals 2 teams to the Minor East Asia 1x Quals 1 team to the Minor ME. Asia 1x Quals 1 team to the Minor Oceania 1x Quals 1 team to the Minor China 1x Quals 1 team to the Minor

In total, the following number of teams will be found through the Open Qualifiers, while the rest is expected to be filled through invites:

Europe 8 teams EU Closed Qualifier CIS 8 teams CIS Closed Qualifier N. America 8 teams NA Closed Qualifier S. America 2 teams Americas Minor Asia 6 teams Asia Minor

As outlined in the table above, South America and Asia won't feature Closed Qualifiers, they will only be used three regions: Europe, CIS, and North America. All three tournaments will use the same format, the Swiss system with all matches being played as BO3, and will feature 16 teams—eight qualified and eight invited ones.

The only difference to note is that the North American Closed Qualifier will only have six teams advancing to the Minor, with the last two spots being filled through the South American Open qualifier.

The Closed Qualifiers will be held as follows:

CIS North America Europe 1-3 June 22-24 June 29 June - 1 July Swiss BO3 Swiss BO3 Swiss BO3 8 qual. + 8 inv. teams 8 qual. + 8 inv. teams 8 qual. + 8 inv. teams Top 8 to CIS Minor Top 6 to Am. Minor Top 8 to EU Minor

Details about the Minors and the Challengers, Legends, and Champions stage have not yet been released, but will be announced on FACEIT Major's tournament info hub. Tickets for the live event, which will be held in the SSE Arena in London, are available for purchase here.