Europe Lose Shanghai Major Spots to Asia and Americas

Shanghai will see fewer European teams in action as the continent lost Shanghai Major spots to Asia and Americas

The PGL Copenhagen Major‘s Opening Stage results have shaken up the regional slot distribution of the Shanghai Major! Asia and Americas secured more Shanghai Major spots compared to Copenhagen, while Europe will see a decrease in their representation at the second Major of 2024, which is set to take place in December.

How Shanghai Major Spots Distribution Work

Valve’s Major rulebook, under the “Regional Representation” section, dictates how many teams each region can send to the next Major based on their performance at the previous one. Every team that climbs to the top-16 (Legends Stage) secures an additional slot for their region on top of the default “Contender” spots (3 for Americas/Europe, 2 for Asia).

Credit: HLTV

TheMongolz’s stellar run to the Elimination Stage (formerly top 16) at the Copenhagen Major has secured Asia a whopping three spots at the upcoming Shanghai Major! This marks the most Asian representatives since the legendary StarLadder Major Berlin in 2019.

Complexity, paiN, Imperial, and FURIA’s strong showing at the PGL Copenhagen Major has secured a record-breaking seven spots for the Americas at the upcoming Perfect World Shanghai Major! This marks the most representatives the region has ever sent to the Major’s main stage, surpassing the previous high set in 2018 and tying the overall record including past Main Qualifiers (MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne 2016).

Shanghai major

3 spots for Asia
7 spots for America’s
14 spots for EU

— Chad Burchill (@SPUNJ) March 20, 2024

The rise of Asia and Americas comes at a cost for Europe. With 14 teams at the Shanghai Major, they’ll see a decrease of three slots compared to Copenhagen. This marks their smallest Major presence since IEM Katowice 2019. Teams that qualify for the Playoffs will bring a direct Shanghai Major Elimination Stage invite to their respective regions.

The slot distributions can change, however, because of roster shuffles. If the MongolZ, for example, go through a squad overhaul and builds a Europe-majority lineup, their Shanghai Major spot will be considered a European slot, rather than an Asian one.