Lynn Vision qualify for the Major over Grayhound

The Major will be without an Australian team for the first time since 2017.

Lynn Vision have secured their spot at the PGL Major in Copenhagen, where they will be the Asian representatives alongside The MongolZ. They are the first Chinese team to make it on Counter-Strike's biggest stage since TYLOO qualified for PGL Major Stockholm in 2021.

For Grayhound, this is a heartbreaking end to Australian teams always making the Major (or the Major Qualifier) from the RMRs (previously the Minors), dating all of the way back to the PGL Major in Krakow.

Before the final match of the RMR, the Chinese side had started their day with a loss to The MongolZ, but bounced back in the consolidation final against Grayhound, who had to make it past ATOX in the lower bracket final.

Lynn Vision turned a tough series around after losing Grayhound's Vertigo punish pick, the opening map of the series, 6-13. The Chinese squad don't have it in their repertory, as coach Yifei "⁠GUM⁠" Dai shared after the match, due to it being a hard map to practice in Asia because most teams in the region stopped playing it.

Grayhound and Lynn Vision were then off to an even start on Anubis, with the score all tied up after eight rounds, 4-4, but from there on out it was Lynn Vision who were generally in control of proceedings. They linked up seven rounds running across the half to set themselves up for victory, and a short three-round streak from Grayhound on the attack was just not enough to stop the Chinese machine.

It was a one-sided affair on Nuke, where Lynn Vision put up a wall and Grayhound's struggles came to the fore. A lack of ideas, whiffs, and dropping rounds with man advantages showed the Australian side's meltdown as their counterparts hit double digits at the half. With the pistol round in the trunk, LV bagged the series, 13-2.

"It's like a dream and it came true, so everybody is speechless right now," GUM said after the match. "Some of our players have spent years, six or seven years, in Counter-Strike, and they never reached the RMR or made a sticker. If you count those years, this is so unbelievable."

The reference seemed particularly adequate for Zhe "⁠Westmelon⁠" Niu, who has been a steady feature of Lynn Vision's roster for six years and nine months without much to show for, although the team's most visibly emotional player after the match was the newest addition, 19-year-old Dongkai "⁠Jee⁠" Ji, who fell to his knees in tears as the realization of what he and his teammates accomplished slowly set in.