Media: ESL pitch Valve on replacing Bo1 matches with Bo3s for IEM Cologne 2026 Major

According to a report by Jacob Hale of Esports.net, ESL have pitched to Valve the idea of replacing the Bo1 Swiss Stages for the IEM Cologne 2026 Major with Bo3 Swiss Stages, seeing best of one's expunged from Majors. The change would see the Valve Majors more closely align with the rest of the Counter-Strike 2 circuit, which has largely abandoned Bo1 games on LAN following the transition to CS2's MR12 format.

According to Hale, the idea was pitched by ESL to Valve but has yet to be ratified. However, we have recently seen Valve is open to changing the format of their premier events, with the publisher making the finals of all Majors starting with the StarLadder Budapest Major use a best-of-five format.

Best-of-one matches have long been a staple of the Major format, with Valve sticking to their guns and using the games for non-qualifying/elimination games during the Swiss Stages of their games. This is despite most TOs abandoning Bo1s while teams and fans alike have criticized Bo1s for being less rigorous and prone to upsets than the Bo3 format.

Should IEM Cologne 2026 move to an all Bo3 format it would likely require some scheduling changes as it would essentially double or even triple the number of maps played at a Major. This may be a key factor in Valve implementing the change but many would welcome it so it remains to be seen if it will be implemented.