ESL has revealed the tournament format for the upcoming ESL One Cologne major.

From August 20-23, Cologne will once again stage a Valve-sponsored CS:GO major, with 16 teams from all over the world battling it out for a share of the $250,000 prize pool.

In recent weeks, ESL had hinted that it could change the format for the tournament following complaints that teams were eliminated from majors after playing just two best-of-one games.

ESL has now revealed that it will stick to the best-of-one format for the group stage while introducing a twist at the end of day one.



ESL One Cologne 2015 will feature a rather peculiar group format

On the first day of the tournament, all four groups will be played out in the Upper Bracket. The four winners will advance straight into the quarter-finals, and then the groups will be redrawn, pairing the 12 remaining sides against new opponents to determine the final teams that will make it to the playoffs.

The quarter-finals, which will be played in a best-of-three, single-elimination format, will be seeded to prevent potential group stage rematches before the grand finals.

Below you can find the scheduled for ESL One Cologne:

Thursday, August 20th - Group Stage Part 1

Per group: Both initial matches and the winners Match

At the end of Day 1, groups redrawn and quarterfinals seeded

Friday August 21st - Group Stage Part 2

Per group: Elimination match and decider Match

Saturday August 22nd - Quarter Finals

Sunday August 23rd - Semi Finals and Grand Finals