The Road to The Grand Major 2026
2026.09.04
Hello contestants!
The regular season is nearly over, and three teams have already started packing. Five Fears, Luminon Gaming and KingZero are going to Stockholm! Everybody else, and that includes you, has one final chance to qualify.
Here's how it works, and everything you need to know.
Here’s the recap:
The Grand Major 2026: Dreamhack Stockholm, November 27-29. Sixteen teams qualify and compete over three days of competition. $150,000 is on the line.
Open Qualifiers: APAC September 5-6, AMERICAS September 12-13, EMEA September 19-20. Sign-ups are live right now.
Exclusive TGM26 charm for participating in the Open Qualifiers.
Closed Qualifiers (Broadcasted): APAC September 19, AMERICAS September 26, EMEA October 3.
Thirteen seats remain. Six for AMERICAS, Five for EMEA and two for APAC.
HOW THE ROAD WORKS FROM HERE
When a region’s fourth cycle has finished, the leaderboard is locked, and where you finish sets your path:
1st Place: Direct invitation to The Grand Major.
2nd to 5th Place: Direct invitation to The Closed Qualifiers.
6th to 9th Place: Invitation for Day 2 (Playoffs) of The Last Chance Open Qualifiers.
Everyone else: Signups are open for Day 1 of The Last Chance Open Qualifiers, including teams that never played a single cycle before.
The Last Chance Open Qualifiers (LCOQ) is your last chance, and the door is all the way open. No invitation or requirements needed. Bring three players (and a sub if you want one), sign up, survive two days, and you’re in the Closed Qualifiers next to the teams that spent all season getting there.
Day 1 of the LCOQ will feature a Swiss format, where your team will play 3v3 matches against teams of the same record until we have separated 28 teams from the pack.
Day 2 of the LCOQ will introduce four teams from each region ranked 6th to 9th on the Online Series leaderboard, creating a 32-team 3v3 best-of-three double-elimination playoff stage, where 12 spots are on the line for AMER, 12 spots for EMEA and 4 spots for APAC to receive a direct invitation to The Closed Qualifiers.
The Closed Qualifiers are the main event, the calm before the storm if you will. We managed to get in a quick word with Scotty.
SCOTTY: “Wowzers! The tension is heating up in the arena and I've been telling June this is one the people won't want to miss!”
Sixteen teams from AMER, sixteen teams from EMEA and eight teams from APAC, play The Promotion format. This is the same format as each Top 16 in the Online Series, where the winning final round team earns their ticket to TGM26. Six teams qualify for AMERICAS, five from EMEA and two from APAC. Add the three teams already invited from the Online Series and that’s your sixteen teams for Stockholm.
Note: the 4 teams from AMER and EMEA 2nd-5th Online Series are seeded directly into the UPPER.
Then, The Grand Major.
Days 1 and 2 keep the same consistency, running The Promotion format across all sixteen teams until five remain. We start off with a seeding match to determine where everyone will be placed. Then Day 3, our newly introduced Throne format, where one team holds The Throne, four fight through Cashout for the right to challenge, and the first team to reach three crowns become The Grand Major 2026 Champion.
THE PRIZEPOOL
$150,000 is on the line in Stockholm, and all sixteen teams leave with a share of it:
How the places are decided:
1st is the TGM26 champion, the team that reaches three crowns on Day 3. The other four teams in The Throne take 2nd to 5th, ranked by crowns earned first, then by how many times they won through the Cashout pool to challenge for the Throne, then by their Cashout placings across the day. 6th to 16th follow the order teams leave The Promotion on Days 1 and 2.
THE DATES & TALENT
For the Closed Qualifiers, we are more than happy to introduce the amazing talent that will be taking you through the day:
APAC | BluePanda, Proto & Hyperactive
AMER | ArdyIRL, Sonsoyo & Dread
EMEA | Gerry, Dieanic & Tetra
SIGN UP FOR AN EXCLUSIVE TGM26 CHARM
LCOQ registration is open in all three regions right now. Every team in the Online Series started in an open qualifier, taking the same shot that anyone can take, including you.
Build your team and claim your spot!
APAC Sign up | LCOQ begins September 5
AMERICAS Sign up | LCOQ begins September 12
EMEA Sign up | LCOQ begins September 19
ONE MORE ROAD
Three names are on the list. Thirteen lines are still blank.
It’s time to find two teammates. It’s time to sign up. It’s time to see how far you can go.
SEE YOU IN STOCKHOLM.
//THE FINALS Comp Ops Team
