"First, franchise leagues are banned (hello, BLAST, ESL), then a few months ago it was announced that there would be no open qualifiers for the Major in Shanghai, and today we learn that all small tournaments will no longer count towards the Valve ranking. This significantly reduces the theoretical chances for the tier-3 scene to reach the coveted top-48 rankings to at least compete in the closed RMR qualifiers.
Imagine we are a small tournament organiser who wants to specifically support the tier-2-3 scene and make our tournaments count in the Valve Regional Standings. Our only option left is to hold open qualifiers where we can impose restrictions based on gender and region. Interestingly, open qualifiers for tier-1 events are explicitly banned, only allowing entry through Wildcards or separate tier-2 tournaments.
For tier-2 tournaments, at least there is some leeway, allowing announcements three months before the event. However, if you are holding a major tournament with teams from the top-8 of the Valve rankings, you must inform Valve of your plans for 2025 by 1 September 2024, and for 2026 by 1 January. Going forward, you must make it a rule to announce tournaments two years in advance.
On the positive side, there is now a clear system for tournament organisers on whom and how they should invite teams to their tournaments. It will be interesting to see how the dates for team invitations are regulated, when the cut-off for the VRS rankings for a tournament is taken, and how many issues with visa delays we will encounter because of this.
Currently, we have a very raw version of what we will have to live with in the coming years. We wish patience and good luck to teams in the top-50+ VRS in open qualifiers, and we hope for a clearer document soon. Something tells me that the era of annual Majors, which we have become so accustomed to, is slowly coming to an end," wrote Alexandra "Dyrem" Severinova, CEO of BetBoom Team.