The match-ups for day one of the ELEAGUE Major have been revealed, and are set to begin on January 22nd.
The tenth installment of Valve sponsored Majors will take place from January 22nd through the 29th, where 16 of the world’s best teams will battle for the throne. The major is being hosted by ELEAGUE, after having a very successful 2016. The venue for the second major in North America is the Fox Theater, in Atlanta, Georgia.
The format for the ELEAGUE Major will follow the Swiss system groupstage, which is a first for the majors, with the GSL group system being the most common. In 2016, the Swiss System gathered support and popularity, with many favoring it, hoping expand and emphasize greater competition and give teams a chance to prove they are the best. The process for deciding the playoff teams in a Swiss system is rather simple; if a team wins three games, they move on to the quarter finals; if a team loses three games, they are eliminated.
After the Swiss groupstage is played out, eight surviving teams will enter into single-elimination, best of three bracket play, leading all the way to the final.
The groups stage will take place from January 22nd to the 26th, with the playoffs beginning on the 27th and ending on the 29th, crowning one of the competitors as the first major winners of 2017.
The pool of teams in the major has been determined from the placings of Legends from ESL One Cologne, and also the placings of challengers who played through the main qualifier. The teams have been arranged in the following pools:
| Pool #1 | Pool #2 | Pool #3 | Pool #4 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Virtus.Pro |  Astralis |  mousesports |  Team EnVyUs |
 SK Gaming |  FlipSid3 Tactics |  GODSENT | G2 Esports |
| Fnatic |  Natus Vincere |  FaZE Clan | HellRaisers |
 Team Liquid |  Gambit | North |  OpTic Gaming |
*Pool One has been placed against pool four, for the first day of matches, while pool two and three have been paired against each other
The match-ups for the first day of the Swiss Groupstage have been revealed as the following:
Gambit vs. North
Fnatic vs. G2 Esports
SK Gaming vs. HellRaisers
Virtus.pro vs. OpTic Gaming
Natus Vincere vs. Mousesports
Team Liquid vs. EnVyUs
Astralis vs. GODSENT
FaZe Clan vs. FlipSid3 Tactics
ELEAGUE Major is set to begin at 16:00 CET on the 22nd of January.
*Each subsequent round of matches will be determined by the victors and losers of the previous day.
For more information about formatting, news, prize distribution, and VODs, please see our coverage page for the Major.
Images Courtesy of ELEAGUE Twitter
