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The CS2 Regional Standings serve a single primary purpose: determining which teams skip the open qualifier and receive direct invitations to the Major closed qualifier. This page explains the cutoff process and timeline.

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Invitation workflow

The process from standings update to invitation works as follows:
  1. Standings are updated periodically throughout the year. The model runs on match data from third-party events and writes updated files to the live/<year>/ folder continuously.
  2. At the open qualifier deadline, the standings are frozen. No further updates affect the invitation decision after this point.
  3. The top N teams per region receive closed qualifier invitations. The exact number of invitations is announced separately for each Major.
  4. All other teams must qualify through open qualifiers. Teams outside the invitation threshold compete in open qualifiers to earn the remaining closed qualifier slots.

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The invitation vs. live folder

Both folders contain standings files with the same format, but they serve different purposes:
  • live/<year>/ files are written every time the model runs, regardless of the date. These reflect the latest available rankings at any point in time.
  • invitation/<year>/ files are official monthly snapshots written only when the day of the month is 7 or earlier. These are the files tied to the formal invitation process.
The final invitation/<year>/ snapshot published before the open qualifier deadline is the one that determines actual invitations.
Standings change over time as new events complete and match data is incorporated. A team’s position in the standings is not locked until the official cutoff date. A team ranked inside the invitation threshold today may fall outside it before the deadline if other teams accumulate more points.

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A team’s journey to an invitation

1

Compete in third-party events

Teams accumulate match results throughout the year by playing in third-party events tracked by the model. Prize money earned and opponents beaten both contribute to a team’s ranking.
2

Accumulate points via wins against quality opponents

The model factors in prize money earned, the number of teams beaten by opponents, head-to-head results, and LAN wins. Winning against stronger opponents produces more meaningful point gains.
3

Check current standing in regional standings

Teams can monitor their position at any time by reviewing the latest file in live/<year>/ on the repository. The [details] link in each row shows the full breakdown of contributing matches.
4

Receive a closed qualifier invitation if ranked high enough at the cutoff

When the cutoff arrives, teams ranked within the announced invitation threshold for their region receive a direct invitation to the Major closed qualifier.
5

Compete in open qualifiers if outside the threshold

Teams that fall outside the invitation threshold must enter the open qualifiers. Slots won through the open qualifier provide another path into the closed qualifier.
The exact number of teams invited per region varies from Major to Major and is announced separately by Valve. The standings determine the order; the invitation count determines the cutoff line.

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