Valve updates Invite Date rules and sub-region invite rules in Tier 1 events
After Graham "messioso" Pitt opened the discussion about the Invite Date rules a couple of days before, Valve has come forward with a change that may seem small, but will have huge implications for how invites are sent for the different tiers of Counter-Strike.
The Invite Date rule now states that, in other words, tournament organizers have to use the most recent version of the Valve Ranking System for their invites, whereas before, TOs would have to base their invites on the VRS updated on the first day of the month prior to the invite date, or the month of the invite date if teams were to be invited during the last week of a month.
The changes don't end here. Valve has also changed how invites work based on the event's tier. Events considered Tier 1 now have to invite teams based on the Global VRS or a specific region, such as the Americas, Europe, or Asia. Tier 2 competition invites can make use of sub-regions, for example, an only North American invite list, as long as it is not done with the intent of targeting a specific squad.
These alterations to the rules also allows for invite to start with the #1 ranked team in a sub-region if the event uses such a list, as opposed to the previously rule requiring invites to start at #9. This means that invites for Tier 2 events in North America could in theory invite NA's top teams while still being Tier 2 events.
Using a specific situation, PGL Buenos Aires, being a Tier 1 event, with its current invite format, will feature the Top 14 from the Valve Ranking System plus the Top 2 from the Americas region, or the two best remaining teams from the region, and not from the South American sub-region as it was thought to be.
If PGL Buenos Aires used the most recent Valve Ranking and sent the invites today, North America would have one extra team at the event after these changes.
PGL Buenos Aires invites before invite changes
Top 14 VRS teams
paiN
PGL Buenos Aires invites after invite changes
Top 14 VRS teams
M80
Another event that will have to change its invite format is IEM Dallas 2025, which also features invites for the two Americas sub-regions, which will have to be joined together after the rules alteration.
