The current RMR system in America is a failure, which option is better?
PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: American RMR has come to an end, and it's time to summarize this championship, celebrate those who advanced, and support those who could not. However, the current narrative within the Counter-Strike community is quite different, namely: Valve has completely ruined the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: American RMR. But why is that? And what solutions to this problem exist will be discussed in this article.
Main Information
There might still be those who do not know why teams even play in the RMR qualifiers. For you, we'll try to explain briefly.
A team that has just formed and decided to try their luck in the major must first register for the open qualifiers. From the open qualifier, 4 teams advance. It's important that there's no second chance for teams, meaning they have to win all their matches.
Afterward, the team enters the closed qualifier, where 16 teams compete for 8 slots at the RMR itself.
And, in the case of a successful performance in the closed qualifier, the team advances to the RMR, where only 5 slots for the major are available. Thus, it can be concluded that without participating in the RMR, a team simply cannot advance to Counter-Strike's most important championship.
Comparison between American and European RMR
On paper, everything looks cool, but let's delve into the comparison of the European and American RMR. Right now, it's the hottest topic.
The main difference between the American RMR and the European is that the latter is played in a Swiss system, while the American uses a system invented by Valve. But what's wrong with that?
In Europe, 17 teams advanced to the major, but from the American RMR, only 5 did. On one hand, these are two regions of different strengths, and it should be that way. But it's not as simple as it seems at first glance.
In the European RMR, it doesn't matter how many matches you play, three or five, the main thing is to win three. That means if a team wins 3 matches, they advance to the major, regardless of how many matches they lost before. To put it simply: teams with scores of 3:0 and 3:2 both advance to the major.
Furthermore, teams that finished with a score of 2:3 went to the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR Decider. There, 6 teams competed for 1 slot at the major.
But what happened in the American RMR? Honestly, it's a very sad situation. Only 5 out of 16 teams that passed the selection from North and South America advanced to the major.
Think about this number, only 5 teams from North and South America will advance to the major, while from Europe, 17 teams did. It's also important to touch on the topic that from the Asian region, only 2 teams advanced to the first-ever Counter-Strike major.
What's the Main Problem?
Comparing the European and American regions might seem foolish, as they are entirely different in strength, but is it reasonable to cut the slots by a factor of three because of this? So, what's the problem? Teams with a 2:2 score also did not advance to the major. Why didn't they play a fifth match or in the Deciders bracket?
We're unlikely to find out the answer to this question, as Valve simply decided to do so. Let's look at Team Liquid as an example of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: American RMR system.
And that's what happened, as the first BO3 match was won by Liquid against BOSS. Then, they lost to Complexity with a 1:2 score and left the tournament. One of the best North American teams left the tournament with a 2:2 score and did not advance to the major.
All because there were absurdly few slots for the American region at the major. And because of such a strange system, Team Liquid will miss such a significant tournament for the first time since 2017.
Essentially, two BO1 matches are as important as two BO3 matches. This is not at all the Swiss system by which all other RMRs were played this year. It's some new scheme invented by Valve, which has never been applied on the professional scene before.
What Are the Solutions to This Problem?
Actually, it's quite simple. Properly distribute the number of slots by region. Currently, the situation is as follows:
- American RMR — 5 teams
- European RMR — 17 teams
- Asian RMR — 2 teams
A total of 24 teams will participate in the first Counter-Strike 2 major. It would be good to change the number of RMR slots like this:
- American RMR — 7 teams
- European RMR — 13 teams
- Asian RMR — 4 teams
This would make the tournament balance more logical. Moreover, all RMRs should be played using the Swiss system. But it's important that all teams from all regions play by the same rules.
Conclusion
The year 2024 was a complete failure for the American RMR. Many truly worthy teams were left out. Although nothing can be changed now, it's important to convey our position to Valve about not treating the American region so poorly.
Remember, the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 itself will start on March 17, with the final day planned for March 31. The total prize pool is $1,250,000.
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