Community reacts: Valve scraps MRQs

Players, coaches, talent, and org executives have shared their thoughts on Valve's controversial decision to eliminate Major qualifiers.

Earlier on Wednesday, StarLadder announced that it had been instructed by Valve to cancel the Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) for the Budapest Major later this year.

The announcement came just five months after the MRQs were introduced as a replacement for the RMRs. Held online in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas ahead of the Austin Major, they determined the 16 teams that played in Stage 1 of the tournament.

Read more

Valve cancels MRQs ahead of Budapest Major

Valve's sudden decision caught many community members by surprise, from players and broadcast talent to org executives. The consensus seems to be that this will make life even harder for teams from the lower rungs, considering that many top-tier events don't run open qualifiers.

Complexity General Manager Graham "⁠messioso⁠" Pitt understands the thought process behind Valve's decision, but urged the developer to take a more active role and ensure the circuit is working as intended.

"Between granting unnecessary exceptions, allowing events that completely disregard the TOR and specifically granting ranked status to events that should not have it, your own negligence towards 'standardising community events' has been below the quality we would expect these past 6 months," messioso argued.

"Now you've removed all wiggle room for teams to qualify from slightly lower ranks and made it solely about the ranking, which can be abused semi-freely, are you going to finally step up and take a more active role in monitoring and maintaining the VRS ecosystem?"

Ninjas in Pyjamas' Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and FURIA's Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo have both described the current ecosystem as a bubble at the top, with the Danish IGL arguing that established teams cannot get replaced "unless they post egregiously bad results." Running Major qualifiers, he added, "was a way to do so."

SINNERS co-founder and advisor Moritz "Askadar" Straube described the move as a "massive deathblow to a very large chunk of the second-tier scene and below." The team's IGL, Sebastian "⁠beastik⁠" Daňo, said that the decision can be positive for the scene, as long as there are more open qualifier slots in top-tier tournaments.

Australian caster and HLTV Confirmed co-host Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill stressed: "Open qualifiers are mandatory for an open circuit."

Tip: Turn on cookies to see embedded tweets

Broadcast figures Alex "⁠Mauisnake⁠" Ellenberg and Jordan "⁠Elfishguy⁠" Mays pointed out that Lynn Vision and TYLOO would not have been able to play at the Austin Major if not for the MRQs.

The pair were the only teams from Asia-Pacific that made it out of Stage 1, with Lynn Vision still alive in Stage 3, where they are joining The MongolZ.

But amid all the doom and gloom, some can find a bit of a silver lining. Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz joked that the removal of Major qualifiers can play in Astralis' favor, while the Fragadelphia organizers reminded the community about their next LAN event, in Ontario.