BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 Regional Qualifiers: All you need to know

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Starting April 14, the first regional qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 will kick off. This year, Counter-Strike 2 fans can look forward to a revamped Major format, featuring more teams, a new map pool, and several other changes. In this article, Esports Charts breaks down how the upcoming BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 sets itself apart from previous Valve-affiliated tournaments, which teams are in the hunt for the title, and where to watch all the action.

New format for Counter-Strike 2 Majors

Expanded Team Lineup

Beginning with the BLAST Austin Major 2025, Counter-Strike 2 Majors will now feature 32 teams, up from the previous 24. Valve announced the update in January 2025, citing multiple reasons for the change, primarily the desire to refresh the tournament format and bring more attention to up-and-coming regions, both in terms of player participation and audience reach.

RMRs Are Out, Welcome MRQs

The BLAST Austin Major 2025 marks the debut of a brand-new qualification system. Valve has officially retired the Regional Major Rankings (RMR) format that was used since 2020 and replaced it with Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs). This update is a game-changer for teams from smaller or less established regions, giving them a more accessible path to earn a coveted spot at the Major. 

In the past, teams from North and South America played in a combined American RMR tournament. That’s changing: each region now gets its separate qualifier. The same goes for the former Asia-Pacific RMR, which has been split into three distinct regional qualifiers: Mongolia & West Asia, Oceania & Southeast Asia, and China.

Focus on Valve's Global Standings

Valve’s official team ranking is now the only system used to determine who qualifies for the Major. Just last year, teams could still fight for a spot at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 through open qualifiers. That’s no longer the case. Now, every slot in the Major Regional Qualifiers is awarded based strictly on Valve’s rankings. Underdog teams can’t rely on a miracle run anymore; they’ll need to grind their way through other tournaments and earn ranking points to even get a shot at qualifying.

Map pool changes

The updated version of Train is making its return to the competitive map pool for the BLAST Austin Major 2025 qualifiers and the main event itself. Train, which was removed back in May 2021, is stepping in to replace Vertigo, which was sidelined for balance tweaks. This means teams will be battling it out on Dust 2, Mirage, Inferno, Nuke, Train, Ancient, and Anubis.

Regional Qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025

Europe

• Dates: April 14-17;

• Teams: 16;

• Format: Swiss Stage (bo1/bo3) + Play-In Stage (bo3);

• The top 6 teams qualify for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

European Regional Qualifier Participants

North America

• Dates: April 15-17;

• Teams: 8;

• Format: Group Stage (bo3) + Play-In Stage (bo3);

• The top 3 teams qualify for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

North American Regional Qualifier Participants

South America

• Dates: April 15-17;

• Teams: 8;

• Format: Group Stage (bo3) + Play-In Stage (bo3);

• The top 3 teams qualify for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

South American Regional Qualifier Participants

Mongolia & West Asia

• Dates: April 15-17;

• Teams: 4;

• Format: Double-Elimination bracket (bo3);

• The winning team qualifies for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

Mongolian & West Asian Regional Qualifier Participants

Oceania & Southeast Asia 

• Date: April 15-17;

• Teams: 4;

• Format: Double-Elimination bracket (bo3);

• The winning team qualifies for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

Oceanic & Southeast Asian Qualifier Participants

China

• Date: April 15-17;

• Teams: 4;

• Format: Double-Elimination bracket (bo3);

• Top 2 teams qualify for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

Chinese Qualifier Participants

Where to watch the Major Regional Qualifier Matches

As always, the Major Regional Qualifiers will be streamed on all the major platforms and in a variety of popular languages — including English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and more. Fans can tune into official studio broadcasts or catch the action through community casters. 

Interestingly, the regional qualifiers will be covered not by BLAST, but by local tournament operators. In Europe, broadcasts will be handled by Relog Media, a Serbian tournament organizer and production company. In North and South America, Liga Ace Esports will take charge of the qualifiers. ESN - Esports Network will run the qualification matches for the Mongolia & West Asia and Oceania & SEA regions. The Chinese qualifier will be managed by the duo GGMedia and B5CSGO.

Official broadcasts:

• Relog Twitch (English) for EU Quali;

• Relog YouTube (English) for EU Quali;

• BetBoom Twitch (Russian) for EU Quali;

• Liga Ace Esports Twitch (English) for NA & SA Quali;

• … and more.
  

If you're an independent streamer looking to co-stream the Major Regional Qualifiers, be sure to review BLAST.tv’s community casting guidelines. Pay close attention to the sections about monetization restrictions and rules against rebroadcasting official streams. 

During both the tournament and the regional qualifiers, expect plenty of streams from community casters. For example, the Brazilian Alexandre ‘’Gaules’’ Chiqueta will likely cover matches featuring Brazilian teams such as paiN Gaming, FURIA Esports, and MIBR, all of which received invites to Stage 2. The European qualifiers will have many Russian teams, so we can expect streams from popular Russian community casters like Timur ‘’skywhywalker’’ Leonov and Igor ‘’bysl4m’’ Sopov. It's also likely that Mark ‘’OhnePixel’’ Zimmermann, the most popular English-language community caster for Counter-Strike, will stream the major’s matches. Make sure to follow the Counter-Strike 2 section on streaming platforms to find new streamers covering the BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 qualifiers.

BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 Main Tournament

BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 will be the first major of 2025 and the second tournament of its kind organized by BLAST.tv. The company previously hosted the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, which was won by the French team, Team Vitality.

• Dates: June 2-22;

• Teams: 32;

• Format: Swiss Stages (bo1/bo3), Playoff (bo3);

• Prize pool: $1,250,000.

The BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 tournament will be held in multiple stages. The winners of the Major Regional Qualifiers will compete in Stage 1, with the top teams advancing to Stage 2, while the rest will be eliminated. The same format will apply for progression from Stage 2 to Stage 3. All stages will follow the Swiss Stage format, with matches played in both bo1 and bo3 formats. 

The top eight teams from Stage 3 will make it to the playoffs, where they’ll compete in a single-elimination bracket to determine the champion. All playoff matches, including the grand final, will be played in a bo3 format.

Stage 1 Invites

Stage 2 Invites

Stage 3 Invites

You can track the progress of the Major Regional Qualifiers and the BLAST.tv Major: Austin 2025 on the Esports Charts tournament page.