All 24 Paris Major-qualifying moments in photos

What is it like to qualify for a Major?

The BLAST.tv Paris Major RMRs took place over the past ten days in Denmark, Mexico, and Mongolia and saw 56 teams vying for a spot at the most prestigious tournament CS:GO has to offer reduced to just the final 24 who will play at the next Major on May 8-21.

Emotions were on display as the teams ensured their spot in Paris, and we were there to capture each moment. Here's a selection of photos from every single time a team qualified for the Major, as seen through the lenses of Josip "brcho" Brtan, Radosław "MAKKU" Makuch, Dmitriy "Dimitrii" Novyi, and Lucas "LucasAM" Aznar Miles.

Natus Vincere

Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi turned heads as NAVI's highest-rated player in the qualification campaign in the Europe RMR A tournament as Natus Vincere were the first team to qualify for the Paris Major with a Legends spot.

fnatic

fnatic followed as the second team to go 3-0. Though many saw their run as one of the easier ones due to the opposition they faced, Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson and company had to fight for those wins in a triple-overtime affair against Viperio in the opening round and a tight three-mapper against B8 in the third round.

GamerLegion

GamerLegion kicked off day three in Copenhagen by ensuring their second consecutive Major appearance, beating OG, 1WIN, and Falcons on the way to a spot in Paris.

Into the Breach

Into the Breach became the first UK-majority core to qualify for a Major. It looked like their missed opportunity in an overtime loss against Natus Vincere in the first round would cost them, but Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting's team went on to secure wins over Sprout, Virtus.pro, and B8 to make it as one of the Legends.

20-year-old Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson was one of the revelations of the tournament, averaging a 1.27 rating in the RMR, with veteran and their only Major-experienced player Karol "⁠rallen⁠" Rodowicz not far behind.

Bad News Eagles

Always certain to produce memorable moments, Bad News Eagles roared and cried as they secured their Paris attendance with a victory over FaZe in the fourth round. Having been looking for an organization since the beginning of 2022, the Kosovar squad made it to their third consecutive Major.

paiN

Over in the Americas RMR in Monterrey, Mexico, paiN were the first to celebrate a Paris Major spot following a convincing run through the Swiss group. The Brazilians have maintained impressive form this year, now sitting in the organization's peak 13th ranking.

FURIA

By their own admission FURIA have not been in their best form, but they got the job done in Monterrey with a win over Liquid in the third round and earned the only Legends spot on offer in the region after beating paiN in the first-place decider.

Grayhound

Across the globe in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston cheered as Grayhound topped the Asia RMR on the way to their fourth Major in a row.

OG

Things were looking dire for one of the main favorites of the Europe RMR A group OG after they went 0-2 on the opening day. Three days later, they celebrated a ticket to Paris as they beat Falcons in the final round to pull off the comeback from the brink of elimination.

MOUZ

MOUZ had also been struggling in the best-of-one phase of the tournament and found themselves requiring two series wins in a row to make it. Tough draws put them up against Virtus.pro and FaZe in the final two rounds, but MOUZ were up for the challenge. No wonder emotions were running high after they beat Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's team in an overtime decider to qualify.

Apeks

Apeks locked in the final spot from Europe RMR A. After missing out on some big opportunities against FaZe and Bad News Eagles in the best-of-one phase, the European mixture delivered in series against Sprout and B8 to earn the Norwegian organization its first Major appearance.

TheMongolz

The ever-stoic TheMongolz clinched the second Asian spot following two wins over Rare Atom in an issue-filled RMR in their home country. The team debuted at the tournament with their newest addition, Chinguun "⁠hasteka⁠" Bayarmaa, who replaced Tengis "⁠sk0R⁠" Batjargal just a month leading up to the qualifier.

Complexity

Complexity were relieved to guarantee themselves a return to the Major stage after missing out last time around ahead of the IEM Rio Major in heartbreaking fashion. This time, they passed the Imperial test and went on to beat MIBR in a do-or-die decider.

Fluxo

None had a more visceral reaction to the realization that they would get to play at the Paris Major than Fluxo. Nearly every member of the Brazilian squad was in tears moments following their qualification.

Liquid

One of two big favorites of the tournament, Liquid, got the job done after a somewhat surprisingly labored effort, rounding out the quintet of teams to qualify for Paris from the Americas RMR.

Heroic

Amidst many upsets and surprises of the stacked Europe RMR B tournament, Heroic lived up to their status as one of the chief favorites and secured a ticket to the Legends stage undefeated, albeit a little bruised by dark horses Aurora and Monte.

9INE

From all the upset teams perhaps none looked more impressive than 9INE, who beat G2 and BIG in labored matches and rounded it off with a series victory over Vitality on the way to a Legends Stage spot in Paris. Olek "⁠hades⁠" Miskiewicz and company became the first Polish team to qualify for a Major since Virtus.pro played at the FACEIT Major in 2018.

That's Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi in the final picture, hugging his former ENCE teammate hades following the qualification series between 9INE and Vitality.

Monte

Another surprise qualification followed the next day when Monte secured their place in Paris. Powered by an immaculate performance from Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas, the Ukrainian-majority core beat ENCE, Cloud9, and FORZE in their qualification run.

Vitality

Vitality did not let the loss to 9INE deter them and qualified for the organization's home Major the following day after beating BIG. They later played in the third-place decider bracket and guaranteed themselves a ticket straight to the Legends stage with wins over G2 and Monte.

G2

After the opening round defeat to 9INE, G2 won three consecutive matches, the last against a tough opponent in Cloud9, undoubtedly relieved as they ensured they'd return to the Major stage after missing out on Rio.

FORZE

The pressure was high when just four Major spots were left up for grabs as the Europe RMR B tournament headed into the final round. In their second attempt to qualify, FORZE sealed their spot with a straightforward win over Aurora, happy not to suffer the ill fate that met them in the final round of the Rio RMR, where they barely missed out.

NIP

Ninjas in Pyjamas headed into the RMR in shaky form and at their lowest ranking in the organization's history, but ensured its streak dating back to the FACEIT Major in London would remain intact.

ENCE

Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha and Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz could not hold back tears when ENCE completed a comeback from a 0-2 start to the tournament and beat Cloud9 in the final round to qualify. The Israeli, who only joined the team in February, played a massive part in that success with a 1.40 average rating over eight maps.

FaZe

FaZe stared down the barrel of elimination after they could not convert their 2-0 start in the Swiss group in three chances to qualify, seeing Natus Vincere, Bad News Eagles, and MOUZ make it to Paris instead of them. The Intel Grand Slam winners entered the last-chance qualifier under immense pressure but lived up to the challenge.

The team around karrigan erupted as they took down Cloud9 in the final match of the LCQ, breaking the Russian team's spirits with a comeback from 5-14 on Mirage and getting it over the finish line with ease on Inferno.