en
VRS Loophole Offers Easier CS2 Major Qualification by Switching Regions
The Valve Regional Standings (VRS) determine which teams receive CS2 Major invites from each region. But the system also gives teams an incentive to change regions: by reshaping a roster and playing the required matches, an organization can move its points into a different regional race.
The debate over that strategy returned to social media on Monday after Sashi announced a temporary roster change aimed at the Asian VRS.
Sashi is not the only team to make a regional switch. BC.Game and WW have also turned to the Asian standings, while Team Liquid moved from Europe to the Americas earlier this year ahead of the IEM Cologne Major. The cases have raised questions about whether teams can use regional eligibility to find a more favorable path to qualification.
Sashi’s Roster Change Brought the VRS Debate Back Into Focus
The Danish organization benched Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen and Casper "Cabbi" Jensen for a month, bringing in Australians Tynan "TjP" Purtell and Jordan "Hatz" Bajic on temporary deals.
Sashi said the goal was to qualify for the PGL Major Singapore 2026 through the Asian ranking.
The announcement drew more attention after Nikola "NiKo" Kovač called on Valve to act while there was still time to change the situation. The Falcons player tagged the publisher in his post.
But How Can a European Team Become Asian in the VRS?
Valve's rules make it possible. Major invites are based on three regional VRS rankings: Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Those standings determine which teams receive each region's spots, rather than the global ranking alone.
A roster's region is determined by the majority of its players. An organization does not need to be based in Asia, train there, or regularly compete in the local circuit to be ranked there. What matters is the makeup of its lineup.
For Sashi, TjP and Hatz are Australian, while Anton "Anlelele" Huynh holds Vietnamese citizenship. With three players linked to the Asian region, Sashi can qualify via the Asia VRS standings once they have played enough matches with the new lineup.
The difference between the two rankings is stark. Before the change, Sashi sat 54th in the European VRS with 1,122 points, well outside the region's projected Major spots.
The same 1,122 points would put the team around fifth in Asia, within the projected qualification range for the Singapore Major.
The problem is that Sashi does not need to climb dozens of places in the global standings. They just need their current points to count in a different regional race.
BC.Game Has Already Shown How Much This Strategy Can Change a Major Race
Sashi was not the first team to take this route. BC.Game made a similar move a few weeks earlier.
Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev's team already included Mongolians Azbayar "Senzu" Munkhbold and Ayush "mzinho" Batbold. In September, the organization signed Australian Tyson "asap" Paterson to replace Denis "electroNic" Sharipov.
With three players from the region, BC.Game moved from the European VRS to the Asian one. At the time, the team ranked just 36th in Europe. HLTV's projections gave it roughly a 5% chance of reaching the Major through that route.
In Asia, its 1,191 points would have been enough for fourth place. After playing five matches with asap at ROG JOURNEY Autumn 2026, BC.Game officially entered the Asian standings and climbed to second place with 1,329 points.
At that point, HLTV projected the team's chances of qualifying for Singapore at more than 95%.
WW Team Also Tried the Asian Route
WW made a similar move between BC.Game's and Sashi's announcements.
On September 26, WW announced Ermek "enzero" Kartanbaev. His signing gave the lineup a majority of players from Asian countries, enough to change the team's regional classification.
WW had 1,042 VRS points and ranked 78th worldwide at the time. That total would still have put the team in contention for the last spots allocated to Asia.
WW did not benefit from the move as much as BC.Game. Poor results in the following matches hurt its campaign and sharply reduced its chances. But the move showed that BC.Game was not the only organization to spot the opportunity.
The Problem Is That No Rules Are Being Broken
BC.Game, WW, and Sashi are operating within Valve's criteria. That is the main criticism of the system: a roster change can turn a team with little chance of qualifying through Europe into a genuine contender for an Asian Major spot.
The issue is more significant because regions do not offer the same opportunities to earn points. In recent months, Asian players and fans have criticized the limited number of meaningful tournaments available for teams in China, Southeast Asia, and Oceania to build their VRS standings.
Local teams rely on the regional calendar to earn points, while teams from busier circuits can arrive with points accumulated elsewhere.
Asian Players Could Become More Valuable
The moves could also affect the player market. Asian and Oceanian players may become more attractive to European organizations, not only for their in-game ability but also because their nationalities can change a roster's regional classification.
With BC.Game, WW, and Sashi making similar moves within a few weeks, the debate is increasingly about whether Valve should allow teams to change regions so close to the Major cutoff.
Team Liquid Also Changed Regions to Reach the Major
Team Liquid faced a similar VRS dilemma in March. The team was 19th in Europe, just outside the 17 Major spots, when it traded Guy "NertZ" Iluz to G2 for Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa. The move returned Liquid to the Americas standings.
When Valve finalized the invites using its April 6 rankings, Liquid was 10th in the Americas and earned one of the region's 10 Major spots. The trade opened a new path, but the team still had to meet the match requirements before the cutoff.
Community Calls on Valve and Jokes About the Situation
Sashi's announcement brought the debate back to social media.
Faruk "pita" Pita shared his reaction to the move, joining NiKo in calling attention to the situation.
Luminosity joined in on the jokes:
Daniel "mavrickmaster" Lang, who is connected to the Australian scene and tournament organization in Oceania, also weighed in.
Even BC.Game poked fun at another team taking the same route. In a reply to Sashi's announcement, it called the Danes "VRS abusers."
On Reddit, reactions ranged from jokes to calls for a rule change. In a discussion about WW joining the Asian ranking, one user wrote:
"Valve needs to step in and stop teams from simply switching to a weaker region to reach the Major."
After Sashi's announcement, another commenter pointed to a possible consequence of the system:
"English-speaking players from the Americas, Asia, and Oceania will become highly valuable to teams looking to make a quick switch to reach the Major."
Some users also suggested limiting regional changes to specific points in the season, such as immediately after a Major. That would prevent teams from changing their classification just weeks before the next cutoff.
Valve Is Now Under Pressure
The debate did not start on Monday. In July, months before BC.Game, WW, and Sashi made their moves, a Reddit thread predicted that a European team could build an Asian-majority roster if it ranked between 30th and 50th in the global VRS and found an easier path through the region's standings.
Sashi still needs to play the required matches with its new lineup before it can appear in the Asian VRS. TjP and Hatz are expected to make their debuts in the 1win Private Club Season 2 closed qualifier, followed by Stake Pulse Beat III. Whether Sashi qualifies will depend on its results and those of the other teams competing for Asia's spots.
Follow Strafe Esports for the latest Counter-Strike 2 news. Follow us on X for more coverage, and visit the Strafe YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.
Featured image credit: PGL
Read more:
The MongolZ Bring Back cobrazera and nin9 to Complete CS2 Roster
One of Brazil's Biggest Esports Orgs Left CS2 Before Officially Entering
