Manager of Complexity Graham "messioso" Pitt harshly criticized the schedule of the StarLadder Budapest MRQ. According to him, the dates create a conflict with four major championships and put teams at a disadvantage just eight days before the event starts.

Budapest MRQ Details

The Budapest Major Ranking Qualifier (MRQ) is a European qualifying tournament that will take place from October 16 to 19, 2025. More details about the event can be found in our article.

What's Wrong with the Dates?

The timing of the Budapest MRQ overlaps with several major tournaments scheduled for the same week:

• Thunderpick World Championship 2025 — October 15–19 ($850,000)
• CS Asia Championships 2025 — October 14–19 ($400,000)
• Roobet Cup 2025 — October 13–22 ($1,000,000)
• MESA Nomadic Masters Fall 2025 — October 15–19 ($250,000)

The Complexity manager called the situation "An Absolute Horror":

This is just a terrible schedule. Teams and organizers find out if they're participating in the MRQ only eight days before it starts. They'll have to make emergency withdrawals from other tournaments or find replacements

shared messioso

Fans also noted that tier-2 teams would suffer the most from this:

For some, this might be the only LAN tournament of the year — a chance to make a name for themselves. And now that chance is simply taken away. While top teams like Vitality or MOUZ aren't affected by this

PleyTB

Format Issues

The MRQ format itself also faced criticism. Unlike previous RMR tournaments, which were held on LAN, the new one will also be played online. This, according to GamerLegion coach Ashley "ashhh" Batty, raises concerns about fairness:

Online qualifiers create conditions far from LAN tournaments. Everyone has different equipment, teams are responsible for their own setup, there's no centralized judging, and the influence of coaches and potential violations are almost impossible to track

ashhh

ashhh also added a part about the lack of emotions in such important tournaments.

RMRs were the most emotional and spectacular events of the year. And we've replaced them with online qualifiers to send the best online teams to the major. It's a step backward. The game is evolving, let's treat it accordingly

ashhh

Many disliked the repeated choice of the online format. A striking example was the story of team B8, which sensationally made it to the current major — but due to the tournament format, the players' emotions were left behind the scenes.