Outrage as Major rule change affects underdog teams

The big story thus far in EU RMR B for the Perfect World Shanghai Major has been the two huge upsets in the 2-0 bracket.

Before the RMR kicked off, Spirit and G2 had been considered to be the vast favourites for the two 3-0 qualifications, but neither of the two teams could secure that record as they were both upset by smaller teams.

Rule changes hurt underdogs

For G2, they were upset in their 2-0 game, suffering a 2-1 loss at the hands of French team, 3DMAX. An incredible story for French CS, 3DMAX's win marked the first time an all-French team has qualified for a Major since Vitality at the PGL Major Stockholm back in 2021.

In the case of Spirit, they were upset one round earlier, losing to Passion UA in their 1-0 game. That win for Passion UA set them up with a game against BIG, with the Germans eventually winning 2-1 to return to Major CS for the first time since the release of CS2.

With the two teams going 3-0, this typically means that they would advance straight to the Elimination Stage (formerly the Legends Stage) of the Major, however, a change to the rules will see them both potentially drop down to the Opening Stage.

That change sees Major seeding based upon an update to the Valve Regional Standings, which will release after the conclusion of the RMR. Therefore, due to both teams placing lower than other teams currently, or at least, likely to qualify for the Major, they will play in the Opening Stage instead.

And, of course, the players aren't happy about this.

While this means BIG will now have to play more CS if they hope to make the Elimination Stage of the Shanghai Major, all hope may not be lost for 3DMAX.

Currently in 11th place in the European standings, if teams above them were to be knocked out of the RMR, they still stand a chance of making it straight to the Elimination Stage.