PGL announce RMR qualifiers dates

PGL has revealed today the schedule for the open and closed qualifiers that will see teams make their way to their respective RMR, the final qualifier before the Major itself.

With the tournament organizer already reserving the month of January for the RMR qualifiers, it is expected that the teams will spend the winter break focused on bootcamping and practicing for what is likely slated to be Counter-Strike 2's most important competition up to that point.

North American teams will have two chances to qualify for the closed qualifier. January 8th-9th and 10th-11th are the dates for the open qualifiers, which will see four teams, two from each qualifier, reach the closed qualifier, where they will meet four invited North American sides. The closed qualifier, which will run from January 19th to January 21st, will see four NA teams out of the eight competing qualify for the RMR, where they will meet their South American counterparts that have gone through the same competition format at the same time.

It is worth noting that at the Americas RMR there will only be four spots available for the PGL Copenhagen Major, down from the five available for the BLAST.tv Paris Major. Additionally, unlike at the Paris Major, there will be no spots in the Legends Stage available for teams in the Americas. These changes come after Liquid left the region for Europe, which also translated into their new region being the owner of all Legends spots for the upcoming Major.

The region with the most qualifiers is Asia, with five different open and closed qualifiers, due to the number of countries the region covers, with the Middle East (including South Africa), China, Oceania, East Asia, and the Rest of Asia each having one open and one closed qualifier. Europe has four different open qualifiers, one closed, and then the region will have one decider for the remaining spots at the RMR.

Here's a simplified summary of the North American road to the Major:

• #1 Open Qualifier - 2 teams qualify for Closed Qualifier (Jan 8th-9th)

• #2 Open Qualifier - 2 teams qualify for Closed Qualifier (Jan 10th-11th)

• Closed Qualifier - 4 invited + 4 qualified; 4 will go to the RMR (Jan 19th-21st)

• Americas RMR - 4 NA + 3 SA from Closed Qualifier + FURIA, 4 spots in the Challengers Stage (Mar 1st-4th)

The only team already qualified for the Americas RMR is FURIA, thanks to being present in the Legends stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major. That way, the four North American teams that qualify from the closed qualifier will meet FURIA, rounded out by the three teams from the South American closed qualifier.

Currently, there is no way to sign up for the qualifiers, given the need to first invite the top four teams for the closed qualifier, which will happen closer to the date of the start of the Major cycle.