In April 2020, Valve changed the Major qualification system, with RMR tournaments for each region replacing minors. This system has three significant disadvantages, which the CS.MONEY Blog is going to elaborate on now.
Weird format: Random teams can attend the Major
There will only be one RMR tournament before PGL Major Antwerp 2022, and that’s massively weird. After all, the Major is the biggest event in the CS:GO world. And the qualification process should be commensurate with that.
Right now, there are three regions in CS:GO: Europe, America, and Asia. In the first two regions, RMR tournaments will take place under the Swiss system; in Asia (there are only 4 teams), the events will be held in double-elimination format.
The Swiss system isn’t a bad choice. But it’s strange that it won’t be followed by a playoff like the one in the Major. And winning three games is a feasible task for a team that isn’t even the strongest. As a result, the Major will possibly feature teams that don’t actually deserve it.
Timing: Some teams won’t have time to prepare
The news about the Major and RMR tournaments came in early February — three months before the start of the event. Maybe Valve would be happy to do more RMR events, this is simply impossible with the current busy schedule. For instance, ESL Pro League Season 15 ends on April 10, and the American RMR event starts the very next day.
There are plenty of teams, and time is extremely limited. That’s why the European RMR with 32 participants was divided into two events to be held one after the other.
We can’t stress this enough: the Major is the main tournament discipline. But how should you prepare for the qualifiers if you attend them after another big event? That said, it’s yet again the top teams attending tier-1 tournaments that are at a disadvantage. Contrariwise, weaker clubs will have just enough time to train.
Division into regions: is it really necessary?
Squads that will perform well at the RMR tournaments will go directly to the Major. Is this truly fair? Perhaps there should be one more general tournament before the Major, where the RMR winners will draw slots. Because, say, Tyloo, Asia’s most powerful team, always has a great chance to take part in the Major under the current circumstances. After all, to win the Asian RMR isn’t a marathon task. And if the aforementioned Tyloo had to fight for a slot with teams from other regions, the outcome would probably be different.
The main argument for the introduction of the RMR system was that only the strongest teams would now get into the Major. And, indeed, the title of Legends (former term for those who made the playoffs in the Major) has since been eliminated. These teams have secured for themselves a slot in the next Valve’s event. However, it seems the idea hasn’t yet been implemented in its entirety.
The RMR system will certainly be undergoing further changes, and the CS.MONEY Blog will continue covering them for you.
