All the PGL Major Antwerp qualifiers from the American RMR

The PGL Major Antwerp, the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major tournament of the year, is just around the corner. The Major starts May 9 and runs through May 22 with 24 of the best CS:GO teams in the world competing.

All the qualifiers are determined via regional qualifiers, and the six teams from North America and South America were determined via the American Regional Major Rankings (RMR) tournament that took place April 11-15. Not only do regional qualifiers determine the qualifiers from each region, but they also are used to seed teams as either Legends, Challengers or Contenders.

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The eight teams with Legends status will start the Major in the Challengers Stage and be one round away from reaching the playoffs which is the Championship Stage. The Challenger and Contenders teams will have to go through one round of competition to reach the Challengers Stage. For the Americas region, one team has Legend status, two have Challenger status and three are Contenders. Here are the six teams from the Americas that have qualified for the Antwerp Major.

FURIA Esports

Legend status

Photo credit: Adela Sznajder / ESL Gaming via ESPAT

FURIA beat fellow Brazilian team MIBR to qualify for the Antwerp Major as the one and only Legend team from the Americas region. FURIA followed up a 3rd-4th-place finish in the ESL Pro League with a relatively easy run through the American RMR. They went 3-0 without losing any maps and a +38 round differential. Then they beat MIBR 2-0 (16-9, 16-4) in the first-place tiebreaker. The other seven Legends teams will be European, but FURIA will give the Americas a fighting chance of coming out on top at the Major.

MIBR

Challenger status

MIBR had a strong performance in the American RMR, but their loss to FURIA in the first-place tiebreaker relegated them to Challenger status at the Major. Like most of the other teams from the Americas besides FURIA, MIBR have struggled against teams outside their region. However, they did beat Natus Vincere 16-12 during BLAST Premier: Spring Groups in January. It’s one of only five losses for the CS:GO powerhouse this year.

Imperial Esports

Challenger status

Led by Brazilian Counter-Strike legend Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, Imperial Esports went 3-1 in the American RMR to qualify for the Major. They went 3-1 like Complexity and Team Liquid, but using the Buchholz system as a tiebreaker gave Imperial a slight edge to grant them Challenger status rather than Contender. This team might not be one of the favorites in Antwerp, but the core of this roster has a storied legacy. FalleN, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and Lincoln "fnx" Lau were back-to-back Major champions in 2016, first with Luminosity Gaming at the MLG Major Championship: Columbus and then SK Gaming at ESL One: Cologne.

Complexity

Contender status

Photo credit: Adela Sznajder / ESL Gaming via ESPAT

Complexity have struggled when facing teams outside of North America. However, they’ve been very strong against teams from NA and Brazil which is all they needed to do to qualify for the Antwerp Major. After going undefeated against NA teams in the qualifier for the American RMR, they went 3-1 in the American RMR with wins over Brazilian teams to qualify as one of the Contender teams in Antwerp. This Complexity lineup came together in January with a core composed of three former Extra Salt members, including former VALORANT player Ricky "floppy" Kemery. All but one of the members of this roster will be playing in a CS:GO Major for the first time in their careers.

Team Liquid

Contender status

Photo credit: Adela Sznajder / ESL Gaming via ESPAT

TL stumbled out of the gate in their first American RMR matchup when they lost 16-8 to 00 Nation, a team that ultimately didn’t qualify for the Major. It’s a loss that might have cost them a higher seeding at the Major as a Challenger or perhaps even Legend team. Team Liquid did recover from their opening loss with decisive wins over Brazilian squads Team oNe and paiN Gaming followed by a victory over fellow NA team Evil Geniuses to qualify for Antwerp as a Contender team. Ranked at No. 14 in the world by HLTV, they’re the highest ranked NA team in the world, but Team Liquid will have a long way to go in Antwerp if they hope to qualify for the playoff bracket.

9z

Contender status

Snagging the sixth and final spot at the Major was no easy task for 9z. After playing five matches in the Swiss stage and going 3-2, 9z had to play two tiebreakers on the same day against the other 3-2 teams. First, they beat Evil Geniuses 2-1 and then they beat paiN Gaming 2-0 to qualify for the Major. This will be the biggest tournament by far for this South American team that features players from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile and a Brazilian coach. They are the first primarily non-Brazilian team from South America to qualify for a Major.

Lead photo credit: Adela Sznajder / ESL Gaming via ESPAT