Valve has announced that this year's qualifying for the ESL One Rio major will be conducted differently than similar tournaments in previous years. Previously, teams received direct invites, but now the participants will be determined through ratings, which will be calculated separately for each region. Such changes were due to the postponement of the tournament: due to the difficult epidemiological situation in the world, it will be held in November instead of May.
Regional Major Rankings, where teams can earn ranking points,will be held in the spring and fall . In April and May, the first series of competitions called ESL One: Road to Rio should take place. What other tournaments will be taken into account when ranking teams, Valve plans to reveal at a later date. However, it is already known that the closer the event is to the date of the event, the more weight in the rankings will be given to the place the team has taken at the event. This scheme is used to give priority to those teams that are in good shape by the time the competition starts.
The number of slots at ESL One Rio 2020 differs from region to region. For example, European teams are allotted three slots on the New Legends Stage and 7 slots on the New Challenger Stage. A total of five teams from CIS will qualify for the tournament – 2 on the New Legends Stage and 3 on the New Challenger Stage.
