Flashpoint is back with a new format, an impressive list of invited CS:GO teams, and its highest stakes ever with Regional Major Rankings points on the line.
Flashpoint Three will be a 16-team double-elimination bracket that starts on May 10. The third Flashpoint event will be the first event where European teams can earn Regional Major Rankings points to qualify for the PGL Stockholm Major in late October. Right now, Team Vitality technically sit at the top of the rankings based on their 2020 RMR points and a lack of roster moves that result in point deductions.
This announcement confirms reports from late March that Flashpoint would be the first RMR event for Europe.
All 11 teams that earned RMR points in 2020 have received invites to Flashpoint Three. These teams include Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Heroic, BIG, Astralis, Fnatic, G2 Esports, FunPlus Phoenix, OG, FaZe Clan, and the ex-North roster. The remaining five teams will be determined via a closed qualifier, and the open qualifiers for that will begin on April 13.
Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, the VP for Flashpoint’s operating company B Site Inc., is excited about Flashpoint’s involvement with Valve but is still working out what the future of the league looks like.
“Flashpoint is still owned by its constituent partner teams and we are evaluating our business model that was disrupted as a result of the global pandemic,” MonteCristo told Dot Esports. “We are open to many different opportunities and will be looking at the success of Flashpoint 3 to inform our decisions on how to run the event over the long-term.”
Flashpoint is a team-owned league, but half of the founding organizations (Cloud9, c0ntact, Team Envy, and Gen.G) do not compete in CS:GO right now. The tournament operations and invitations are being conducted by FACEIT to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest regarding partnered teams, and both Dignitas and MAD Lions, who are Flashpoint members, were informed they would not receive direct invites. MonteCristo confirmed this was included in Flashpoint’s proposal to Valve. FPX received an invite solely from RMR points earned in 2020.
Flashpoint Three matches will be played online and production will take place from the FACEIT studios in Los Angeles. The open and closed qualifiers will last throughout the rest of April and the main event begins on May 10.
