Perfect World has officially revealed the teams invited to participate in the upcoming Regional Major Rankings (RMR) events and closed qualifiers ahead of the Perfect World Shanghai Major.
The invites include over 100 teams from Europe, the Americas, and Asia, based on Valve’s Regional Standings updated on August 6. However, these teams are required to confirm their participation, as stated by Perfect World.
The RMR events are scheduled to take place in Shanghai, China, from November 11 to November 24. These events will be critical for teams aiming to qualify for the Shanghai Major. Depending on the region, the online portion of the qualifying stage will begin on August 21 and continue until August 30. The qualification format has seen significant changes, particularly in Europe and the Americas, where teams will no longer have access to open qualifiers, marking a shift from previous years.
Top teams secure RMR spots
Sixteen teams from Europe, including prominent names like G2, Natus Vincere, Vitality, and Astralis, have been directly invited to the RMR events. In the Americas, eight teams, such as Liquid, FURIA, and Complexity, have also secured direct invites. The shift to exclusive invites in these regions signifies a departure from the previous qualification processes, where teams could enter through open qualifiers. This new approach places added importance on the RMR events and closed qualifiers as the only pathways to the Shanghai Major.
For instance, Team Liquid, which had the option to compete in either the European or American region, had to make strategic decisions about where to participate. This decision affected their placement and their path to qualification. Additionally, the inclusion of an outdated Cloud9 roster in the Closed Qualifier invites for Europe has sparked criticism. The Valve listing still includes players who have since left the team, necessitating potential adjustments to meet the qualification criteria.
Asia continues to open qualifiers
Unlike Europe and the Americas, Asia continues to utilize open qualifiers in five sub-regions. However, the number of spots in these open qualifiers might exceed the initial allocation due to a shortage of ranked teams in regions like the Middle East, China, and the Rest of Asia. Specifically, the Middle East and the Rest of Asia qualifiers lacked enough ranked teams to fill all four invite slots, which may result in changes to the final list of participants.
Three teams in Asia have secured direct invites to the RMR events: The MongolZ from Mongolia, FlyQuest from Australia, and Lynn Vision from China. The remaining slots will be determined through the open and closed qualifiers in the region. The continued use of open qualifiers in Asia highlights the different approaches to the Major qualification process, reflecting the diverse competitive environments across the globe.