Valve backtracks: BC.Game can qualify for the Singapore Major through Asia, and s1mple's return edges closer
A plot twist in the race to the Singapore Major. On 7 October Valve updated its official exceptions list and put it in writing: BC.Game are assigned to the Asia region and are eligible for a Major invitation. The roster named in the decision is asap, Magisk, mzinho, s1mple and Senzu.
The news comes just a day after a new VRS rule had cut them off from that route, so both halves of the story are worth telling.
The rule that had blocked them
Valve added a line to its Major rulebook: a team can only receive a regional assignment if it has not appeared in another region's VRS ranking in the previous three months. If it doesn't meet that condition, its region is the one where most of its players are based.
The aim is obvious: stop a team from competing all year in one region and then, right before the cutoff, switching to a less crowded one to sneak into the Major.
BC.Game fell straight into it. With the signing of Australian Tyson "asap" Paterson, the team had three Asian-region players alongside Mongolians Senzu and mzinho. After five ranked matches at ROG JOURNEY Autumn, it already showed up in Asia's ranking — in second place, with 1,307 points. But because it had appeared in the European ranking in the previous three months, the new rule left it with no way in.
The appeal that worked
BC.Game CEO Ali Muhanned protested publicly. His argument was that it wasn't fair to lump their case in with every other region change, because the team had been built naturally around an Asian core with a long-term view. He even offered for the team to start again from zero points.
Valve accepted the explanation but not the penalty: BC.Game keep all their points. By Dust2's calculations, that leaves them with a better than 90% chance of being in Singapore.
s1mple's return, closer
For the wider audience, the headline consequence has a name. If the spot is confirmed, it would be s1mple's first Major since the BLAST.tv Paris Major in 2023. After more than three years away from the biggest stage, the Ukrainian now has a comeback within reach.
Sashi, the case that changed everything
To understand why the rule appeared, look at Sashi. On 5 October the team temporarily added Australians Tynan "TjP" Purtell and Jordan "Hatz" Bajic, who together with Anton "Anlelele" Huynh gave them three Asian-region players. To make room, Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen and Casper "Cabbi" Jensen left the starting five. The move would have let them jump from the European ranking to the Asian one just in time.
BIG co-founder Tom Lemke claims Valve tightened the rule in reaction to that manoeuvre, which it saw as crossing the line. Valve has not confirmed this. Sashi's owner, for his part, defended the decision, saying almost anyone would have done the same.
What is clear is the outcome: the exception covers BC.Game only. Sashi remain blocked from the Asian route, and the row has escalated between the players themselves, with Senzu hitting out hard at the rival team after the ruling.
What's still unknown
Valve hasn't said what will happen to Sashi, or whether teams caught by the rule will count in the European ranking for the Major. The date to circle is 2 November, when the final VRS ranking that decides the Singapore invitations is published. Until then, the Asian race stays open and noisier than ever.
Source: HLTV, Dust2, Valve (GitHub), skin.club, TalkEsport.