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IEM New York is starting on October 6th by ESL and due to COVID-19, the event will be fully online. Due to the inability to travel, the event will be split up into three divisions: North America, CIS, and Europe. The prize pool will be $250,000, but the real prize is the last chance for North American teams and CIS teams to get points towards Valves Regional Major Ranking system, which will allow the teams to qualify for the 2020 ESL Rio Major in November.

Valve created the Regional Major Ranking system because of the amount of time between the 2019 Major and the 2020 Major. Also, Valve wanted the top tier teams preforming at high levels across the entire year. So, they gave points to the highest placing teams for specific Valve events, and now, IEM New York will be the last event that NA and CIS teams can get those points. With the gap between the top three teams in North America being only 225 points, this event can shift these rankings immensely. Based on these rankings, teams will either be qualified as Legends, Challengers, or Contenders. ESL has said that this is the last chance for North American and CIS teams to qualify, but this is not the last chance for European teams to gain points. European teams will just be fighting for ESL Pro Tour Points.

By the end of this event, North America and CIS teams will know which five teams from each region are going to this year’s major. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, specific details are yet to come out about the major. At first, the ESL Major was set for May but has since been pushed back to November. But, with travel bans in place in some countries, it is unclear how Valve plans on having this major. Currently, Evil Geniuses are ahead in North America while Team Spirit leads in the CIS division, so let’s see who will pull ahead. Check out the complete rankings for North America, CIS, Asia, and Europe.