Valve new Major Format has MRQ replacing RMRs

Not long after the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, Valve announced a new Major System in their latest CS Major Supplement Rulebook, introducing a 32-team format and the concept of MRQ (Major Regional Qualifier). MRQs will now replace the long-standing RMRs as teased before.

Confused? Let’s break the whole format down.

Regional Invites Explained

The Major will now feature three stages instead of two: Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3. The Stage 2 and 3 are your Opening and Elimination stages, and like before will have 8 teams invited to each stage according to Valve Regional Standings. Now if you have missed how many teams are invited from a particular region, it depends on how the region performed in the previous Major. 

So, if we take the case of the upcoming BLAST.tv Austin Major, since 1 Asian team (The MongolZ), 1 NA team (Liquid), and 6 EU teams (FaZe, MOUZ, Heroic, Spirit, G2, Vitality) reached the playoffs at the Perfect World Shanghai Major, their regions will get the same number of Stage 3 invites.

Similarly, apart from the 8 teams mentioned above, 0 Asian teams, 4 NA teams (FURIA, Pain, MIBR, Wildcard), and 4 European teams (3DMAX, BIG, GamerLegion, NAVI) advanced to the Elimination Stage, so their regions will get the same number of Stage 2 invites.

Stage 1 will replace RMRs

The biggest change is in Stage 1, which effectively replaces the RMRs. Instead of separate RMR tournaments in different regions, a single 16-team Stage 1 will be added, making the Major a 32-team event. The teams invited to Stage 1 will be determined by the Region Specific MRQs. Here’s the breakdown of the number of invites each region gets in Stage 1 of Austin Major based on the performance in Shanghai Major:

• 6 teams from EU
• 6 teams from NA
• 4 teams from Asia

When we put all the information into a picture, the invites to each stage look like this :

MRQ Breakdown

In RMRs, teams qualified through Closed Qualifiers based on their region’s VRS. Similarly, MRQs will be held in the three VRS regions (Asia, EU, and NA), inviting the top teams from each region. However, there’s a catch: MRQs may be conducted online, depending on the organizer. Online qualification for a CS2 Major? Not ideal at all, Valve please fix.

To summarize: The only “major change” (pun intended) is replacing regional RMRs with a 16-team Stage 1, extending the tournament to 32 teams. The first Major using this new format will be the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, starting on June 9. Let’s hope the MRQs deliver on their promise, and stay offline.