The core of the dispute lies in how the rankings accounted for prize winnings. Teams eliminated earlier in an event had their prize money counted toward their VRS points, whereas teams still in the tournament did not receive a fixed prize amount at the time of the ranking cutoff. As a result, GamerLegion believes they were unfairly affected by this inconsistency.
On February 3, the official ranking cutoff for invites to events including BLAST Open Lisbon, PGL Bucharest, YaLLA Compass Qatar, IEM Melbourne, and IEM Dallas, GamerLegion was placed at No. 13. This meant they narrowly missed out on a top 12 ranking, which is the threshold for invites to BLAST Open Lisbon and PGL Bucharest, by a mere 0.4 points, provided no teams declined their invitations.
However, after their elimination from IEM Katowice in the Lower Finals on February 4, they secured a $38,000 prize. Combined with the point adjustments following their victory against Astralis and defeats to Spirits and The MongolZ, GamerLegion’s standing in HLTV’s live ranking, which follows Valve’s formula, surged to No. 11. At that point they sat 43 points ahead of FURIA at No. 12, a team whose $10,000 prize had already been factored into the February 3 cutoff.
The European organization has emphasized that this issue has “significantly impacted their standing and eligibility for recent invites, as they missed out on the top 12 placement in the global VRS that they believe they rightfully deserved. Our intention is not to undermine any other team; rather, we seek transparency and consistency to preserve the spirit of fair competition”.
HLTV has confirmed that Valve is aware of the issue and intends to resolve it using this approach. However, it’s important to note that even if this solution had been implemented before IEM Katowice, it would not have changed GamerLegion’s fate, as they entered the first stage ranked No. 14 on the Global VRS.
Marc Winther, Director of Game Ecosystems – Counter-Strike at ESL FACEIT Group, addressed the situation before the event, explaining that partially completed tournaments would not be included in prize-money calculations.
Esports has grown from a niche hobby into a global entertainment industry. Today, major tournaments in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and League of Legends attract millions of viewers, sell out arenas, and generate betting interest similar to traditional sports.
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