ESL One Rio Major will see Regional Major Ranking series qualification process

To ensure that the ESL One Rio Major features the best teams in the world of CS:GO, the qualifying process will be revamped with a points-based Regional Major Ranking series that changes the shape of the road to the CS:GO Major for all participating teams.

As the only Major of 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the change will see teams regionally compete for their place in Brazil as all 24 teams will be determined via this new system.

Teams that are currently either Legends and Challengers will need to demonstrate that they are still in top form while teams that were victorious in the Closed Qualifiers will also need to prove themselves as the Minors will no longer take place.

Any event can contribute to the Major ranking if it invites the top RMR teams in the region and hold qualifiers for the remainder. The event can be of any format, any prize pool, any duration, and either online, LAN, or a combination of the two. Teams currently unable to travel to their native region will be able to defend their invitations in the region where they are currently situated.

The first RMR series will take place between 22nd April and 17th May with all regions playing a best-of-three round robin group stage, followed by playoffs and ultimately a Grand Final.

An additional series is planned for Autumn. Valve are allowing tournament organisers to modify planned 2020 events in order to fulfill the RMR competition requirements.

For the first Regional Major Ranking series in May, teams qualified for the May Minors (and/or qualifiers for those Minors) will be invited to participate in their respective region’s competition. For later RMR competitions, participants will be invited based on their regional ranking, with additional slots available to teams determined by qualifiers.

The regions will now be weighted to give the more competitive regions more spots at the Major as well as a more significant portion of the available prize money. Valve will sponsor the May and Fall Regional Major Ranking series. Each of those events will feature a prize pool of $255,000, divided across each region based on the number of Legends and Challengers invitations available for that region.

Europe will see the most invitations with 10, North America are second with six, CIS is close behind with five and the remaining regions of South America, Asia and Oceania will each get one.

Teams can change up to two members of their roster in the lead up to an event at a cost of 20% of the team’s points per player. They can adjust their roster prior to the roster lock for each Regional Major Ranking competition which allows for more significant changes than previously allowed in the Major cycle.

The $2,000,000 ESL One Rio Major is now scheduled to take place from 9th-22nd November with more details surrounding the Regional Major Ranking events expected in the near future.