Tournament organizer ESL has published the schedule of qualification matches, according to the results of which teams will be able to get to the IEM Rio Major, as well as details about their format. A total of eighteen open qualifiers will be held in seven regions (these are Europe, South America, North America, China, Oceania, Middle East and Asia). They will be followed by four closed qualifying tournaments, which will determine the final list of participants in the November majors.
The first matches of the open qualification will start already on August 15. Four qualifying tournaments will be held in Europe, with twenty teams advancing to the regional RMR event where they will compete for a spot in the majors against Legends stage participants at PGL Major Antwerp. Most of the matches will be played in a best-of-1 format. A similar format will be used in North America: there, two teams from each of the three qualifying events will advance to the regional tournament. Teams from South America will be awarded a total of seven places.
The qualifiers for teams from Asia, Oceania, China and the Middle East will follow a different format, with two tournaments in each region, with the leaders taking part in closed qualifying matches. The best teams from all four regions will come together for a single Asia RMR, with the top two leaders going to Rio.