A pre-Major checklist covering format constraints, a three-tier map pool strategy, and how to align practice with rest schedules to keep decision-making sharp.
Introduction
At a Major, the least valuable thing in the practice room is "one more game," and the most valuable is "knowing what to do first tomorrow." Format, map pool, and rest schedule look like three unrelated things, but they're actually one system: together they determine how clear-headed you'll be at minute 30. This is the note we'd stick on the whiteboard 48 hours before the event.
1. The format isn't background—it dictates when you start playing safe
The Major format has hard constraints that players must memorize: in the BO1 group stage, dropping any single map can push you to the edge of a BO3 elimination; in a BO3, the outcome of map one directly changes the veto psychology for map two. This isn't mysticism—it's resource allocation.
My habit is to break the schedule into a "map equity ledger":
- In BO1, prepare only two opening sets for default maps, and keep a third as a counter to the opponent's strong map.
- In BO3, map one must be a map where we can play "slow default," because warm-up and communication are least stable on the first map.
- For the decider, don't pick the most familiar map—pick the one with the highest margin for error, i.e., a map where you can still recover with aim after utility mistakes.
Many teams crash out of Majors not because their aim is off, but because they prepare for a BO1 as if it were a BO3, flipping to the last page of the playbook in the first three rounds. The format demands subtraction in the first ten minutes, not addition.
2. Map pool priorities: rank "can't lose" before "want to win"
The map pool isn't about spreading effort evenly across seven maps. We rank in three tiers:
Tier one is the "can't lose" maps—usually the ones where our default system is most complete, like Ancient or Inferno. The goal here isn't to be flashy; it's to drag the opponent into our rhythm, turning their force-buys and fast pushes into low-efficiency rounds.
Tier two is the "want to win" maps, like Mirage or Nuke. For these, we prepare two very different opening sets—one control-oriented, one pace-oriented—to exploit the opponent's veto reads in a BO3.
Tier three is the "can give up" maps. Giving up doesn't mean abandoning them; it means acknowledging the training cost is too high, and only pulling them out when the opponent is clearly uncomfortable. Major prep time is limited: training tier-three maps to a 60 is worse than training tier-one maps to a 90.
One detail: map priorities must align with the rest schedule. For example, a map that requires heavy utility coordination goes in the first half of the training day; a map that demands live information reading goes when players' reactions are most stable. The map pool isn't about paper strength—it's an ordering on the physical energy curve.
3. Prep notes: write information as "sentences usable next round"
In the 48 hours before the Major, we stop watching long VODs and only look at three types of clips:
- The opponent's first 20 seconds of default rounds—record the order of their first smoke and first flash.
- The opponent's economy round starts—record the two positions they most often take on force-buys.
- The opponent's clutch habits—record whether they save or hunt in 1v2 situations.
Every note must be written as a sentence you can shout directly, e.g., "Their first smoke on Banana is two seconds late—we can contest second floor." Any info that can't become a sentence gets deleted. On the Major stage, nobody has time to flip through notes; the only things that work are the lines that have become reflexes.
Finally, the rest schedule. We cut practice the day before to two and a half hours, with the last half hour doing only one thing: everyone runs opening utility on the target map—no fights, no review. The goal isn't to practice; it's to let hands and eyes memorize the map's light and sound. At a Major, aim differences are tiny; what separates teams is who can still execute full default rounds on map three.
Format, map pool, prep notes—ultimately they're one thing: locking uncertainty in a cage. The smaller the cage, the quieter match day feels.