The BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, also known as BLAST.tv Major 2023 or Paris 2023, was the nineteenth and final Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship. It was held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena from May 8 to 21, 2023. Twenty-four teams qualified for the event, which featured a US$1,250,000 prize pool, via regional major rankings. It is the first Major Championship tournament hosted by BLAST. Team Vitality won the major, defeating GamerLegion in the grand final 2–0.
Background
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series. In professional CS:GO, the Valve-sponsored Majors are the most prestigious tournaments.
The defending Major champions were Virtus.pro, who won their second Major championship at IEM Rio Major 2022. Virtus.pro were eliminated by MOUZ during the European Major qualifiers, making them the first defending Major champions to fail to qualify for the following Major.
This event was the final Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major tournament, with the game to be succeeded by Counter-Strike 2, and that game's first Major tournament set to be held in March 2024.
Format
Twenty-four teams qualified for the tournament. Sixteen teams qualified for the Challengers Stage, while eight teams received a bye to the Legends Stage. In the Challengers Stage, 16 teams participated in a Swiss bracket. The top eight teams advanced and joined the eight teams that received a bye in the Legends stage. The top eight teams from the Legends stage advanced to the Champions stage. The Champions stage was a single-elimination tournament, where each match was a best-of-3.
- Map pool
- Anubis
- Mirage
- Inferno
- Nuke
- Ancient
- Overpass
- Vertigo
Teams
- Legends
- Challengers
- Contenders
Qualification
Qualification took place through 3 Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events to determine qualifications for the geographic regions. The 3 regions were Europe, the Americas and Asia. Each region received a certain number of places at the Major in Paris based on the performance of teams from the same region at the IEM Rio Major 2022.
The RMR tournaments took place in the following cities:
- European RMRs: Copenhagen, Denmark: April 6–9 (Group A) and April 11–15 (Group B)
- American RMR: Monterrey, Mexico: April 5–9
- Asian RMR: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: April 4–8
RMR Results
Source:
Challengers Stage
Legends Stage
Champions Stage
With eight teams remaining, the final stage of the Major was a single-elimination bracket, with all matches played as best-of-3 maps.
Bracket
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Grand Final
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.
Source:
Notes
References
