Perfect World announces Shanghai Major Qualifiers and RMR dates

Perfect World has announced the schedule for the Shanghai Major cycle, which will start on August 21st with the two European Closed Qualifiers, the Rest of Middle East, the South African, and the Gulf Cooperation Council Open Qualifiers.

The American continent starts its affairs on August 26th, with the North American and South American Closed Qualifiers. The Regional Major Ranking events are set to be played in November, in Shanghai, China.

As opposed to recent Majors, the Perfect World Shanghai Major will host its RMRs in China. Teams from all over the globe will need to claim their visas to travel to China in order to play the qualifier, which also favors those who advance to the major.

The Americas region will send 16 teams to China to play the RMR, with seven advancing to the Major. Of those 16 squads, the top eight from Valve's Regional Ranking will be invited to China, while the other eight teams will be decided through the North American and South American Closed Qualifiers.

With the abolishment of the Open Qualifiers in the European and Americas regions, the Closed Qualifier teams will also be invited based on their Valve Regional Ranking position.

After the announcement, there's an obvious schedule conflict with the European RMR A and the American and Asian RMRs, and the BLAST Premier World Final. The BLAST event is scheduled for November 13th-17th, while the EU RMR A starts on November 17th, the Americas RMR runs from November 12th-15th, and the Asian RMR from November 11th-14th.

Save the dates:

• North American Closed Qualifier: August 26th-28th (North America, Online)

• Americas RMR: November 12th-15th (Shanghai, LAN)

• Shanghai Major Opening Stage: November 30th-December 3rd (Shanghai, LAN)

• Shanghai Major Elimination Stage: December 5th-8th (Shanghai, LAN)

• Shanghai Major Playoffs: December 12th-15th (Shanghai, LAN)