Top CS2 teams like Falcons, FURIA, MOUZ, and many more have presented a united front in an open letter directed at the flawed competitive ecosystem that Valve has implemented since 2025 by moving away from partnered tournament organizers.
The letter highlighted that smaller tournament organisers hold invite-only tournaments because they lack the resources to manage open qualifiers making the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) the only way to enter several tier-one events. This limits the opportunity for top teams to get into many of the tier-1 events.
“This creates a layered ecosystem: the biggest tournaments offer a small chance at a dream OQ run that catapults teams to relevance, while the tier below runs on invites only,”
“As a result, any new up-and-coming team can only enter the ranking, paradoxically, through Tier 1 events, and these are few and far between. Unless the ranking system changes, there must be stronger incentives for smaller TOs to run open qualifiers.” the letter read.
- Signed by:
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Metizport
- Endpoint
- JANO
- ENCE
- MOUZ
- BIG
- HAVU
- EYEBALLERS
- IMPERIAL
- LEGACY
- FALCONS
- OG Esports
- 3DMAX
- 9z
- FURIA
- M80
- Monte Esports
- Fnatic
- GamerLegion
- 9INE
- Aurora
While pointing out the flaws in the system was the highlight of the letter, teams have suggested bringing back open qualifiers and moving away from the reliance on VRS which would preset everyone with a leveled playing field ,and teams performing well will make it to the tournament without having to worry about the points they have accumulated leading up to the tournament.
