The Perfect World Counter-Strike 2 Major in Shanghai has announced a significant change to its qualification process. For the first time in the history of the Majors, the regional qualifier events for Europe, North America, and South America will not include open qualifiers. This August, these regions will only have closed qualifiers, marking a departure from the traditional path to the Majors that has been open to any team with the skill and determination to compete.
The decision stems from updates to Valve’s Major Rulebook, which now dictates that teams for the Major closed qualifiers will be selected based on Valve’s own Regional Standings. This effectively bars teams that do not rank high enough in these standings from participating in the Majors, a move that has been met with considerable backlash from the community.
Fans and players alike have expressed their discontent, with a petition on Change.org calling for Valve to reconsider the decision and maintain the open nature of Counter-Strike competitions. The sentiment is that this change not only limits access to the Majors but also stifles the dreams of young players and the possibility of witnessing underdog teams make miraculous runs through the open qualifiers.
The community has been vocal about the importance of open qualifiers, which have historically been a platform for emerging talent and have produced countless memorable moments and storylines. The absence of open qualifiers is seen as a “disgrace” by some, as it ends a tradition that has been a cornerstone of the competitive Counter-Strike scene.
While smaller regions like Oceania, the Middle East, East Asia, and China will still have a single open qualifier followed by a closed qualifier, the larger regions will not have this opportunity. This shift in the distribution of regional slots, particularly the loss of the Americas’ Elimination Stage slot to Europe, has also been a point of contention.
Experts and veterans of the game, such as shox, have criticized the move, suggesting that it could be the first step towards completely removing the RMRs in the future and that it unfairly disadvantages players who find themselves without a team close to the cutoff point.
