ELEAGUE Major viewer's guide

Starting today at 16:00 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the ELEAGUE Major will run for eight days from January 22-29. Sixteen teams from around the world will gather to compete for their share of the $1 million prize pool.

The group stage, which will take place from January 22-25, will use a Swiss format which means that after the initial matches, teams with the same record will face off. Three losses will result in elimination while three wins will get the teams to the playoffs. All the matches will be played as best-of-ones.

Eight teams that manage to get three wins in the group stage will qualify for the playoffs which will start on January 27 after a one-day break. The 5,000-seater Fox Theatre in Atlanta will host the playoffs.

The quarter-finals will be played on January 27 while the semi-finals will be on January 28. The last day will feature the grand final which will start at 16:00.

Here are all the teams in attendance:

Gambit	fnatic	SK	Virtus.pro
Natus Vincere	Liquid	Astralis	FlipSid3
North	G2	HellRaisers	OpTic
mousesports	Envy	GODSENT	FaZe

The first day matchups are revealed but because of the Swiss format the matches for the rest of the group stage will be determined as the tournament moves on. Below is the schedule:

Sunday, January 22nd
16:00	Gambit	vs. North	BO1
17:15	fnatic	vs. G2	BO1
18:30	SK	vs. HellRaisers	BO1
19:45	Virtus.pro	vs. OpTic	BO1
21:00	Natus Vincere	vs. mousesports	BO1
22:15	Liquid	vs. Envy	BO1
23:30	Astralis	vs. GODSENT	BO1
00:45	FlipSid3	vs. FaZe	BO1
Monday, January 23rd
16:00	Group Stage Round 2 begins		BO1
Tuesday, January 24th
16:00	Group Stage Round 3 begins		BO1
Wednesday, January 25th
16:00	Group Stage Rounds 4-5 begin		BO1
Friday, January 27th
16:00	Quarter-final #1		BO3
18:30	Quarter-final #2		BO3
21:00	Quarter-final #3		BO3
23:30	Quarter-final #4		BO3
Saturday, January 28th
16:00	Semi-final #1		BO3
18:30	Semi-final #2		BO3
Sunday, January 29th
16:00	Grand final		BO3

The $1 million prize will be distributed in the following manner:

1. $500,000 + Legends status
2. $150,000 + Legends status
3-4. $70,000 + Legends status
5-8. $35,000 + Legends status
9-11. $8,750
12-14. $8,750
15-16. $8,750

The Major will be streamed on ELEAGUE's Twitch channel and the grand final will be broadcasted on both TBS and Twitch. The following broadcast crew will be bringing you the action live from Atlanta.:

Richard Lewis – Host

Duncan "Thorin" Shields - Analyst
Jason "moses" O'Toole – Analyst

Sue "Smix" Lee – Reporter
Chris Puckett - Reporter 

Anders Blume – Commentator
Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat – Commentator
Daniel "ddk" Kapadia – Commentator
James "JZFB" Bardolph – Commentator
Henry "HenryG" Greer – Commentator
Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett – Commentator

While you're waiting for the matches to start, be sure to read our previews and articles which can all be found below:

The Underdogs preview by Milan "Striker" Švejda
The Mid-tier preview by Milan "Striker" Švejda
The Favourites preview by Milan "Striker" Švejda

ELEAGUE Major Rookies by  Lucas Aznar Miles
ELEAGUE Major Veterans by Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin

Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth: "I love the Swiss format"

HLTV.org is in Atlanta to bring you galleries and interviews, so follow us on Twitter and keep your eyes on our website for extensive Major coverage.