Valve has recently updated their Regional Rankings, following the conclusion of IEM Katowice, and the teams who should receive invites to compete in the BLAST.tv Paris Regional Major Ranking (RMR) closed qualifiers can now be analyzed.
The final list remains subject to change based on various factors such as roster tweaks, multiple teams within an organization, and the choice of certain teams to compete in either the North American or South American qualifiers. However, the majority of the teams listed can now be confident of their attendance in their region’s qualifiers.
The RMR format is such that teams who made it to the Legends Stage of the IEM Rio Major have received direct invites to their respective RMR events. The remaining teams will be determined through regional closed qualifiers. Europe will have two closed qualifiers, each with 16 teams. North America and South America each get a 16-team qualifier, while Asia, China, Oceania, and the Middle East each get an eight-team qualifier.
Half of the teams in each closed qualifier are determined by Valve’s Regional Rankings, while the other half will earn their spots through the upcoming open qualifiers. The final update to Valve’s ranking is crucial as it determines which teams will avoid the open qualification stage.
In Europe, the teams invited to the closed qualifier are G2, Astralis, 9INE, Copenhagen Flames, Monte, Falcons, Apeks, Illuminar, OG, Aurora, GamerLegion, forZe, SAW, HAVU, 1WIN, and IKLA. These teams will be split evenly based on seeding between RMR Closed Qualifier A and RMR Closed Qualifier B.
In North America, the teams invited to the closed qualifier are Complexity, paiN, Nouns, TeamOne, MIBR, Evil Geniuses, ATK, and Vendetta. MIBR, paiN, and TeamOne can choose to compete in the South American qualifier instead, and if they do, Strife, Detonate, and timbermen will be next in line. Organizations with multiple teams, such as Evil Geniuses, will not be allowed to field multiple rosters, and EG Black and EG White have been left off the list as a result.
In South America, the teams invited to the closed qualifier are Fluxo, 9z, Sharks, ARCTIC, 00NATION, Imperial, Corinthians, and O PLANO. O PLANO, ARCTIC, and Corinthians would fall off the list if one of the Brazilian teams in North America chose to compete in South America instead.
In Asia, the teams invited to the closed qualifier are IHC, NKT, Eruption, Clutch. In Oceania, the teams are Grayhound, Rooster, VERTEX, and Encore. In China, the teams are Lynn Vision, Rare Atom, HSG fe, and Wings Up. In the Middle East, the teams are Invictus International, Nixuh, Bravado, and Goliath. Nixuh has since disbanded and may forfeit their spot, while Bravado has changed a majority of their roster and may also forfeit their spot.
The Regional Rankings update by Valve has provided a clearer picture of which teams will be competing in the BLAST.tv Paris RMR closed qualifiers. With the majority of teams now confirmed, the anticipation for the closed qualifier events is building. It will be interesting to see how the remaining teams secure their spots through the open qualifiers and how the final list will be affected by roster tweaks, multiple teams within organizations, and teams choosing to compete in different regions.
