Europe Loses Major Slot as America and Asia Rise

The Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Opening Stage highlighted a significant shift in the global Counter-Strike landscape, with Europe continuing to lose its dominance in slot allocation for Majors. Europe, which once held a majority of slots, is now set to have only 13 spots at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, down from 14 at the Shanghai Major and 17 at PGL Copenhagen 2024. This trend increases the competition and pressure on European teams.

The slot distribution for the upcoming Austin Major is as follows: Europe has 13 slots, America has increased to 8 from 7, and Asia maintains three slots.

Europe’s decline can be attributed to several factors. American teams, including paiN, MIBR, and FURIA, have shown remarkable improvement, confidently progressing through the RMR and Opening stages. Similarly, Asian teams like The MongolZ have demonstrated greater consistency and competitiveness, often outperforming European and American lineups. Meanwhile, some European squads, such as Fnatic and Virtus.pro, still need to deliver, weakening the region’s overall strength—Valve’s ongoing efforts to balance regional representation further support emerging regions like Asia and the Americas.

This situation calls for Europe’s renewed effort to maintain its historic dominance. The upcoming Austin Major could prove pivotal for European teams striving to reclaim their leading position in global Counter-Strike.

Speculation about expanding the Major format to 32 teams adds another dimension to the conversation. According to reports from HLTV, such an expansion would likely see Europe gain ten additional slots, America 5 and Asia 1, with the core quota remaining proportional to current regional success. This expansion could help Europe recover some ground, but it wouldn’t entirely offset the broader shift in balance.

The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 will be crucial for Europe to prove its strength. If the region cannot recover, America’s and Asia’s rising dominance will solidify, leaving European teams with fewer opportunities to compete on the global stage.