Top CSGO Tournaments in 2022

The top CSGO tournaments of 2022 come in different colours, shapes, and sizes, but they all have a few things in common: millions of dollars in prize pools, some of the best Counter Strike: GO teams on the planet and esports’ most passionate fans.

Spread across the entire globe, from Europe to South America and Asia, 2022’s biggest CS:GO events list features some already established competitions but introduces a few new tournaments as well.

So, if you’re asking what are the unmissable CS:GO events of the year, read on…

The top CSGO Tournaments of this year:

1. BLAST Premier
2. Intel Extreme Masters Katowice
3. IEM Dallas
4. IEM Cologne
5. ESL Pro League – Seasons 15&16
6. PGL Major Antwerp 2022

Continue reading to find out when each premier CSGO tournament takes place, participating teams and prize pool. Keep an eye on the starting date and remember to check our CSGO odds page for real-time odds comparison from the top CS:GO gambling sites online.

1. BLAST Premier

• Date: 28th Feb – 18th Dec
• Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD 
• Teams: 24

BLAST Premier 2022 follows on the last year’s successes and returns with a new qualifying series. It is one of the longest tournaments of the year. BLAST Premier is on almost 12 months – starting in January and ending in December.

This year’s event will also be open to more CS:GO teams from around the world which will be able to join the event’s official teams through a new, worldwide, BLAST Premier Qualifying Series.

The teams that manage to come on top in these qualifying events, will be able to earn a spot in the BLAST Premier Spring and Fall Showdowns. BLAST Premier Spring this year has 2 Showdowns, one in America and one in Europe. 

From there, they could even reach the Spring and Fall Finals and World Final.

BLAST Premier’s 12 official teams are:

1. 100 Thieves
2. Astralis
3. Complexity Gaming
4. Evil Geniuses
5. FaZe Clan
6. G2 Esports
7. Team Liquid
8. MiBR
9. Natus Vincere
10. Ninjas in Pyjamas
11. OG
12. Team Vitality

Format, Schedule, and Prize Pool

As per its previous season, BLAST Premier will be divided into two Spring and Fall stages, each containing a Regular Season, a Showdown phase and a Final. At the end of the year, a Global Final event takes place with the top 8 teams.

Major Dates and Prize Pools for the 2022 season:

Event	Date	Prize Pool
Spring Groups	28th Jan-6th Feb	$177,498
Spring Showdown	20th-24th Apr	$135,000
Spring Finals	16th -19th Jun	$425,000
Fall Groups	19th – 28th Aug	$177,498
Fall Showdown	19th-23th Oct	$135,000
Fall Finals	22th -27th Nov	$425,000
World Final	14th – 18th Dec	$1,000,000

BLAST Premier tournaments will have a combined prize money of $2,475,000.

Read more about BLAST Premier at blastpremier.com and follow their Twitch and Twitter accounts for more info.   

Looking for the best odds for BLAST Premier 2022? Check this betting sites:

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2. IEM Katowice

• Date: 15th -27th February
• Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD
• Teams: 24

IEM Katowice is not only one of the top CSGO tournaments of 2022 but one of the world’s most popular esports events with a history that goes back 15 years.

The Intel Extreme Masters represents a series of major events organized by ESL that became synonymous with high-level, professional Counter Strike play.

IEM Katowice holds a special place among the Intel Masters, being by far the most popular and fan-loved tournament.

Past editions of IEM Katowice broke all previous audience records, both online and offline and, for a few weeks. They turned the Spodek Arena in Poland into a Mecca for CSGO fans worldwide.

The teams directly qualified for IEM Katowice 2022 are:

• Heroic
• Team Vitality
• NAVI
• G2 Esports
• Gambit
• Furia Esports
• Liquid
• Virtus.pro

Teams that will participate in the Play-in stage:

• Wisła Kraków
• Sprout
• Movistar Riders
• Fnatic
• ENCE
• Mouz
• CPH Flames
• OG
• MIBR
• BIG
• Entropiq
• GODSENT
• Renegades
• FaZe Clan
• NIP
• Astralis

Format, Schedule & Prize Pool

The 2022 event will feature a 3-stage format:

Play-In Stage: 15th – 16th February

16 teams in a Double Elimination Bracket. Opening Matches are Bo1, while all other matches are Bo3. 8 teams progress to main event.

Main Event

Group Stage: 17th – 20th February.

2 groups of 8 teams will play in single Elimination bracket with Bo3 matches. The top three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs. 

Play-Offs: 25th – 27th February

2 teams qualify directly to semifinals and 4 teams to quarter-finals. All matches are Bo3 except the Grand Final, which will be played as Best of 5.

IEM Katowice 2022 offers a total prize pool of $1,000,000 and as part of the Intel Grand Slam series. It offers the winning team $400,000 and 3200 Blast Premier Points.

Looking for the Best IEM Katowice 2022 Odds? Check these bookies:

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3. IEM Dallas 

• Date: 30th May – 5th June
• Prize Pool: $250,000 USD
• Teams: 16

IEM Dallas is somehow similar with IEM Katowice, but it’s a smaller competition with a smaller prize and fewer teams. This year’s sponsors for this top CSGO tournament, are Intel, Acer Predator, DHL, Monster Energy, 1xBet and Coinbase. 

Format and Prize pool

Group stage

Each group has eight teams, playing in BO3 format.

The top three teams of each group will advance to the Playoffs. The winners advance to the semifinals, the runners-up advance to the Quarter-finals. 3rd place teams advance to the Quarter-finals as the Low Seeds. 

Playoffs

The Playoffs will be a single-elimination bracket, with The Quarter-finals & Semifinals being played as Bo3. The Grand Final will be played as Bo5.

The total prize pool is $250,000 and the winner takes $100,000. 

Teams participating at IEM Dallas

• Heroic
• Team Vitality
• Astralis
• G2 Esports
• Furia Esports
• Liquid
• Virtus.Pro
• ENCE
• FaZe
• Complexity Gaming
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Cloud9
• LookingForOrg
• Imperial Esports
• 2 teams from the European Qualifications that are in progress right now

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4. IEM Cologne 

• Date: 5th -17th July
• Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD
• Teams: 24

IEM Cologne, formerly ESL Cologne, is another massive and beloved event, from our top CSGO tournaments list. The teams are not yet known because the qualifying matches are in progress. 

Format 

Play-In: 

The play-in will consist of a double-elimination bracket. The opening games will be played as Bo1 and the following matches as Bo3. 

Group stage

Each group has eight teams, playing in BO3 format.

The top three teams of each group will advance to the Playoffs (semifinals, quarterfinals).  

Playoffs

The Playoffs are a single-elimination bracket, with Bo3 matches in Quarter-finals & Semifinals, and The Grand Final has Bo5 format.

Prize Pool

The total prize pool for the event is the same as for Katowice $1,000,000 USD. First place takes almost the half of it: $400,000, and 1800 Circuit Points, second place will receive $180,000 and 1400 points. 

Want to bet on your favourite team? Compare ESL One Cologne odds

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5. ESL Pro League

• Date: Season 15: 9th March-10th April / Season 16: 31st August – 2nd October 2022
• Prize Pool: $823,000 USD each
• Teams: 24 each

ESL Pro League returns in 2022 with two major CS:GO tournaments: the Season 15 and Season 16. Season 15 takes place in Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany.  

The two top CSGO tournaments, each, offer a $190,000  prize pool to the winner and a ticket to the BLAST World Final 2022.

What teams will play in the ESL Pro League in 2022?

Both partner teams and non partner teams can participate in the ESL Pro League.

There are currently 12 partners teams who have long-term participation slots which protect them from getting relegated.

Partner teams get a number of slots in ESL Pro Tour events if they are ranked top 20 in the world. A 16 team event, for example has 6 slots for partner teams.

Non-partner teams can join in any of the ESL Pro Leagues if they rank high enough in the ESL CS:GO World Ranking.

Additionally, two spots are reserved for the winners of the Mountain Dew League winners.

Format, Schedule & Prize Pool

Both seasons will feature Group, Play-in and Playoffs Stages structured as follows:

Group Stage:

Four single round-robin format groups with six teams. All matches are Bo3

and will see the winners proceed to the Play-In stage. Group’s 2nd & 3rd place teams advance to the Round of 12.

Play-Ins:

Structured as a single-Elimination bracket with best of three matches. Winning teams advance to the Semifinals, while the losing teams advance to the Quarter-finals.

Playoffs:

The teams will play in a single-elimination bracket. All matches are Bo3 and the Grand Final is Best of 5.

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6. PGL Major Antwerp 2022

• Date: 9th-22nd May
• Prize Pool: $1,000,000 USD
• Teams: 24

As one of the top CSGO tournaments of the year, the event will takes place on Antwerps Sportpaleis Arena, in Antwerp, Belgium. The audience will be live and there are expected around 10, 000 people. 

Spread over two weeks, the PGL Major Antwerp will feature a 3-stage format, with participating teams progressing thought a Challengers, Legends, and a Champions stage.

As part of the ESL Pro Tour, the PGL Major will reward its winner with 1800 points and a place in the BLAST Premier Final.

Teams

52 teams have battled in the Regional Ranking games, to narrow the competing teams down to 24. 16 teams step into the Challenger Stage, and just 8 teams will then proceed to the Legends Stage. There the 16 remaining teams will fight for a spot in the Champions Stage.

If you want to know where to bet, read our review of Top CSGO Betting Sites in 2022.