StarLadder has revealed that the upcoming tournament will be titled StarSeries Season 20, honouring the 20th edition of their signature series. The spring event has been cancelled to avoid a scheduling clash with the Major.
Key Dates & Invitations
- The invite date for both the main event and the online qualifiers is 8 July 2026.
- Invitations are based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), starting from global rank #1.
- The VRS filters used: Global VRS for the Main Event; regional VRS for EU, NA and SA Closed Qualifiers.
- Seeding schedule: VRS 6 July 2026 for invites and Closed Qualifiers; VRS 7 September 2026 for Main Event seeding.
Qualifier Format
- Europe: 16 invited teams, GSL Groups plus Play-in, held online 22-26 July 2026 – Top 2 advance
- North America: 8 invited teams, Double Elimination online 28 July-2 August 2026 – Top 1 advances
- South America: Same structure as NA—8 teams, Double Elimination, online 28 July-2 August – Top 1 advances
Main Event
- Scheduled for 16-20 September 2026 in the Schengen visa zone
- Field: 4 teams directly invited via top VRS plus 4 teams that advance from the Closed Qualifiers
- Format: LAN event; Double Elimination bracket; best-of-3 matches
Prize Pool
The total prize pool is USD $500,000, split equally between player share and club share.
Here is how it is distributed:
| Place | Player share | Club share |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| 2nd | $65,000 | $65,000 |
| 3rd | $35,000 | $35,000 |
| 4th | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| 5-6th | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 7-8th | $5,000 | $5,000 |
