Counter-Strike community asks for more open competitive circuit in CS2

Right now, we are enjoying the RMR for BLAST.tv Paris Major will be the last Major in the CS:GO era, and we have watched as the best teams in the world secure their tickets to Paris.

However, we have also seen great performances from smaller teams such as BNE, Into The Breach, GamerLegion, and Apeks, all of which have qualified ahead of Virtus.pro, Sprout, and SAW, teams that have recently been in the limelight. These teams are not part of the partnership system of either ESL or BLAST. That is, their participation in Tier 1 events are rare.

Because of all these surprises at RMRs, many community members, especially fans of eliminated teams, want Valve to implement a new competitive system in Counter-Strike 2.

Tier 2 teams qualify for Paris Major

As we mentioned, many Tier 2 teams have many months without being able to play a Tier 1 tournament because they are not part of any association system. So, for example, we have the BNE boys, who have not participated in a tournament in the top tier since the IEM Rio Major 2022. This, no doubt, is due to how few additional places are awarded for these events.

However, the most important thing is that this team, which also does not have an organization to represent, qualified for the Paris Major by beating FaZe Clan again. Without a doubt, this shows the great level of play that these guys have when facing big teams.

FaZe plays for their lives in the European RMR Decider

The team that just won the Intel Grand Slam S4 and the ESL Pro League S17, FaZe Clan, will play for their lives in the European RMR Decider. In this Last Chance Qualifier, six European teams will face each other for the last place in this region for the Paris Major.

Observing these results in the RMR, we can reaffirm that the gap between level 1 and 2 teams is not as wide as many might think. Moreover, if we stop to analyze the European RMR B, we can see that Astralis and ENCE, two great teams in the CS:GO scene, are on the edge of the precipice, as a loss leaves them out of the Major.

Changes in the competitive circuit in CS2

A user on Reddit started a thread in which there are hundreds of interactions where he details that the Swiss system for the Majors shows that Tier 1 and 2 teams are closer than you might think.

The Major Swiss System is once again proof that T1 and T2 CS are far closer in skill and it needs to stay
by u/Ya-Booiii in GlobalOffensive

If Tier 2 teams compete in all tournaments organized by ESL and BLAST, there will be much more competition and excitement. However, this can only happen if the organizers decide to make some changes to their circuit for CS2 or if Valve takes matters into their own hands and pressures them to make the changes.

While it is true that many fans liked the format used in the ESL Pro League S17, the participating teams had a good chance of advancing to the next phases. There is no doubt that teams like Evil Geniuses, who are living a terrible moment in the CS:GO scene, participated only because they had a place in the partnership with ESL, not because of their own merits.

There is no doubt that these kinds of changes could make the competitive Counter-Strike scene much more interesting. However, this might not be something the organizers could sustain, as much of the revenue they receive is due to the sale of slots to partner teams. As a result, Valve would have to step up and sponsor such tournaments, just as it does with the Majors.

Header: Valve