The situations that occurred with Bubzkji and Sanji was terrible. They played for their respective rosters throughout the RMR stage, only to be benched and replaced right before PGL Stockholm. In order to prevent future situations like these from occurring, Valve has amended its rule book to prevent anything like this from happening. The major rule changes are as follows.
- Team Rosters Requirements
- Team roster must include 5 players (“Core Lineup”).
- Team roster may optionally include 1 coach.
- Team roster may optionally include 1 substitute player.
- The coach and substitute may be the same person.
- Major invites are sent to the teams of five players who earned an invitation from the most recent RMR. If a team used a substitute, an invitation is extended to the five who played in the last match they won.
- A team cannot adjust their roster between the RMR and the Major. However, they can register a different coach or substitute player.
- RMR invites are sent to teams of three or more players who played together in the Legends Stage of the previous Major.
- If a team used a substitute, the five players that are considered to have “played together” are the five who played in the last match they won.
If teams want to compete for a spot in the Major, rosters are essentially locked when the first RMR spot. The only way, after that, to bring in a new player is to hire them as a coach and substitute them in. Hopefully, these rule changes prevent any future Bubzkji or Sanji situations.