On April 2, Valve and ESL announced that participants in the only CS: GO Major 2023 will be determined on a new basis. Those who played in the playoffs of the Berlin Major are no longer guaranteed slots in the new tournament of the series – everyone will have to be selected through a series of regional competitions. Cybersport.ru explains how the new system works.
“Legends” will not have slots on the Brazilian major?
Yes, invites were taken from everyone. Now instead of minors in six regions – the CIS, Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania – there will be a series of competitions where the teams will earn points: whoever gets the most will play the major.
Each region received quotas depending on the results of local teams in the Berlin Major. At the same time, the teams that played in the group stage and playoffs will receive a bonus to points (it has not yet been announced) at the first Regional Major Rankings tournament (the name of the series).
Photo: Epic Esports Events
Invites to the first tournament of the series were given to the teams that went to the minors, and to those who were supposed to get slots on the ESL One Rio following the results of the last major. From one to three slots have been reserved in all regions: judging by everything, the winners of the open qualifiers will receive them (but this has not yet been confirmed). Other RMRs will definitely have places for teams from the qualifiers – Valve announced this.
Complicated! How it works?
Let’s compare Europe and the CIS. On the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 ten teams from Europe performed, including a former roster Hellraisers with loWel and oskar, and the CIS represented five teams. Therefore, Europe will receive ten slots in the upcoming major, and the CIS – five.
The same rule applies to other regions. However, there is one thing: formally, South America and Oceania should have received more on the slot, but 100 thieves and MIBR cannot go to Australia and Brazil, respectively, so they will compete in tournaments for North America.
Okay, how many of these qualifiers will be?
So far, only two have been announced – spring and autumn (both sponsored by Valve), but the list can be replenished: it all depends on the desire of the tournament operators. Everyone can apply for RMR status: it’s enough to invite top teams (those with the most points), as well as hold qualifiers. The format, prize pool and duration of the Valve competitions themselves are not fundamental.
What is important: the closer the RMR tournament is to the date of the major, the more significant it will be: apparently, the teams will be able to earn more points on them.
Photo: BLAST
I don’t understand a damn thing anyway, can I give you an example?
Take Virtus.pro. In the previous major, the team played in the playoffs, which means they will receive an initial bonus to points at the first RMR tournament. From April 30 to May 17, the team will perform at ESL One: Road to Rio with all the tops of the CIS.
Based on the results of this competition, they will form a rating of the teams according to the points scored (recall, the metric is still unknown). Depending on the location, VP will either receive a slot in the next RMR tournament, or she will have to play qualifiers. After all RMR tournaments, according to the summary table, it will become known which teams from the CIS will receive invitations to the Brazilian major: two to the group stage, three to the preliminary stage.
What else do you need to know?
Teams will perform in the regions where they are now. For example, MIBR and 100 Thieves are in North America. If the team wants to change the region, it will lose all previously earned points.
Compositions can be changed – up to two players. Leaving each one deprives the team of 20% of the points scored. But with this rule, too, not everything is clear yet. Suppose VP wants to change two players before the start of the first RMR tournament: Valve did not specify whether the team will lose 40% of bonus points or 40% of points earned from the tournament.
Prize funds are known only for spring (from ESL) and RMR autumn tournaments – $ 255 thousand each. This is the amount for all regions, it will be divided in proportion to the reserved invites for the major: at least $ 10 thousand will be allocated for each division.
The entire list of participants and the distribution of prizes for the first RMR tournament are available here.
