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CS2 will soon celebrate its first anniversary on September 27th. It has been an eventful first year for the new iteration of the most popular FPS in esports. Several important events will take place before the end of 2024, and many titles will be decided at the year’s end.

The Intel Grand Slam Season 5 is still up for grabs, and it may be the last time we see Nikola “NiKo” Kovač in a G2 Esports jersey. According to investigative reporter Alejandro Gomis of Sheep Esports, NiKo is set to join Team Falcons, a wealthy Saudi Arabian organization, after the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Danil "donk" Kryshkovets are in the race for the Best Player in the World award, which we covered in a previous article. And, of course, we’ll see the crowning of a new major champion in December.

What are the biggest CS2 tournaments until the end of the year?

At the time of writing, ESL Pro League Season 20 is taking place and will conclude on the 22nd of September at InterContinental Malta. Practically all of the top teams are attending the event and are in the run for the title, including ZywOo’s Vitality and donk’s Team Spirit. It’s an Intel Grand Slam event, which is important not just for those teams but also for G2, MOUZ, and FaZe.

Only a few days after EPL S20 wraps up, eight teams will compete at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 in Denmark. The likes of the aforementioned teams will be joined by Na’Vi, Liquid, and Astralis for a shot at the largest share of the $425,000 prize pool.

October is packed with tournaments, including two ESL Challengers in Atlanta and Katowice, but most notably, IEM Rio 2024, in which Team Spirit will not be competing. The BLAST Premier World Final will also take place, featuring a million-dollar prize pool. Na’Vi, Vitality, Spirit, G2, and FaZe Clan have already secured their spots at one of the most prestigious tournaments of the year. It’s also important to note that IEM Rio is an IGS-featured event and could significantly boost one of the contending teams. The RES Regional Championship and Thunderpick World Championship 2024 Finals are other noteworthy events in October, though they tend to be overshadowed by the big S-tier competitions.

November is reserved for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 RMRs and the exciting ESL Impact League Season 6 finals in Sweden. This year will conclude with the Major itself from the 5th to the 15th of December.

There is at least one or more interesting tournaments every month, with a peak in October. As usual, things will slow down as we approach the Major, but will reach a peak once again in front of a Chinese audience in December. For top teams like Na’Vi, Vitality, G2, and FaZe, the schedule is stacked. Team Spirit’s absence from IEM Rio might give them some time to rest before the more important tournaments of the year. However, this could also have a negative effect, depending on how they manage their time and how the schedule impacts their biggest rivals.