PGL unveil new ban system for PGL Counter-Strike Major

Tournament organiser PGL, hosts of the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major in Krakow Poland, will be rolling out a new and different map veto system for their Swiss system best-of-one group stage matches.

As a comparison, the ELEAGUE Major involved five alternating bans, with the map then randomly decided between the two remaining maps. It’s fine, and it’s the standard, but there’s not too much strategy outside of picking the maps you don’t want to play in descending order.

PGL’s new system is a bit more complex.

• The two teams are declared Team A and Team B. The higher seeded team is Team A.
• Team A are given two bans consecutively
• Team B get three consecutive bans.
• Team A choose which map they would prefer to play out of the two remaining maps
• Team B choose whether they would like to start as the terrorists or counter terrorists.

There’s certainly more strategy, although it does give teams that are seeded higher a decent advantage. However, for teams like SK who shine particularly as one side, in SK’s case the terrorists, it means an opposing team that is lower seeded could take terrorist first to try and deny them the chance of an early lead.

This new system is only in place for the group stage matches, with playoffs sticking to the classic format with the two teams alternating an initial two bans, before they each pick two maps. Then they alternate two more bans, and Team A will select the decider. In the case of the PGL Major, the team with the better Swiss record will decide which team starts the veto process during the quarter final matches.