CS2: Shanghai Major RMRs to be held in a LAN format in China

Chinese tournament operator Perfect World has announced that all Regional Major Rankings (RMRs) for the Counter-Strike 2 Shanghai Major will be conducted offline in China, according to Esports Insider. The regional qualifiers are scheduled for August, with the RMRs to follow in November, leading up to the Major’s commencement at the end of the month.

Esports Insider has reported that regional qualifiers will begin on August 21st and will conclude on August 30th. The offline RMRs will start on November 11th and finish on November 24th. The Shanghai Major will unfold in three stages: the opening stage from November 30th to December 3rd, the elimination stage from December 5th to 8th, and the playoffs from December 12th to 15th.

Perfect World’s qualification structure, detailed in a recent post, highlights that Europe and the Americas will not have open qualifiers. This decision implies that only invited teams will have the opportunity to compete in the tournament. Conversely, regions across Asia, including China, Oceania, and the Middle East, will conduct open qualifiers.

Closed qualifiers in certain regions will feature teams invited based on Valve’s regional standings, which are determined by an algorithm that evaluates the performance of potential Major participants. Factors considered include prize money won, opponents defeated, and head-to-head results.

The exclusion of open qualifiers in Europe and the Americas has sparked controversy within the Counter-Strike community. Critics have cited past instances where underdog teams achieved remarkable success through open qualifiers, such as Danish team ECSTATIC, which reached the Copenhagen Major earlier this year after playing over 20 matches.

In response, UK-based esports organization Viperio has launched a petition urging Valve to maintain open qualifiers. Viperio Co-Owner Brodie Mulvaney emphasized the importance of these qualifiers, stating in a report, “Teams, players, and fans will no longer be able to witness teams make miracle runs to qualify for a major. These storylines are what make Counter-Strike the best game on Earth, and by removing them, we are changing the fabric of this game’s history forever” .