Valve removes open qualifiers for the Shanghai Major
Perfect World unveiled the Major qualifiers and RMRs schedule alongside Valve's Major Rulebook update, with two significant announcements preceding the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, scheduled to take place from November 30 to December 15.
Shanghai to be the Stage of Massive RMR Changes
Initially, Valve revealed a series of changes to the Major Rulebook, notably eliminating Major open qualifiers in certain regions. Secondly, Perfect World has disclosed the comprehensive Major schedule, detailing dates for all qualifiers and RMRs, and confirmed that all RMRs will be hosted in Shanghai, China.
Among the revisions to Valve's Major Rulebook, three are notably significant:
RMR invites will no longer be extended to participants of the previous Major's Elimination Stage. Instead, all RMR invites will be determined through Valve's Regional Standings or closed qualifiers. Moreover, closed qualifier teams will be selected based on Regional Standings, except in cases where it's impractical to fill all closed qualifier slots through Regional Standings. This effectively means the elimination of open qualifiers in Europe, North America, or South America.
The distribution of regional slots saw notable changes. The Americas lost their Elimination Stage slot, with all eight now allocated to Europe.
With Valve's updates to the rulebook, Perfect World also revealed the dates for all Major qualifiers and RMRs. It confirmed the absence of open qualifiers in Europe or the Americas, while noting their continuation in other regions. Notably, all RMRs will centralize in Shanghai, China, departing from the recent trend of holding them in their respective regions.
Additionally, these changes sparked negative reactions from the community including professional players and talents. In fact, open qualifiers are the distinction between Counter-Strike and other esport titles, as underdogs can make history and qualify to a Major.
In Valve's defense, it appears that these are precautions to combat the cheaters who plagued the game and previously ruined the Copenhagen Major Open Qualifiers. Now, whether Valve will continue with their new system following the backlash remains to be seen.
Qualifiers schedule for Perfect World Shanghai Major:
Europe:
Europe 1 Closed Qualifiers – August 21-24
Euro 2 Closed Qualifiers – August 21-24
Americas:
North American Closed Qualifiers – August 26-28
South American Closed Qualifiers – August 26-28
Asia:
Rest of the Middle East Open Qualifiers – August 21-22
South Africa Open Qualifiers – August 21-22
Oceania Open Qualifiers – August 23-24
China Open Qualifiers – August 23-24
Rest of Asia Open Qualifiers – August 25-26
East Asia Open Qualifiers – August 25-26
Middle East Closure Qualifiers – August 25-27
China Closed Qualifiers – August 27-29
Oceania Closed Qualifiers – August 27-29
East Asian Closed Qualifiers – August 28-30
Rest of Asia Closed Qualifiers – August 28-30
RMR schedule:
The RMR schedule of the three divisions is from November 11th to November 24th, and the specific schedule is as follows:
Asia RMR – November 11-14
Americas RMR – November 12-15
Europe A RMR – November 17-20
Europe B RMR – November 21-24
Note: If there is a lineup change between the teams, it may affect the regional slots.
Shanghai Major schedule
The Shanghai Major will start from November 30th to December 15th.
Opening Tournament – November 30 – December 3
Playoffs – December 5-8
Finals – December 12-15
Featured Image source: Perfect World
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