If you were excited by fnatic’s recent win at Fragadelphia and thought the final was great, then on the basis that it means you’re most likely American because it was on at a ridiculous time for EU people, our condolences.

But, if you were just excited by the way it all came together and thought it was an excellent indicator of the excitement this new system can bring - why?

Can you not tell that it was just a perfect storm creating false advertising?

Seriously, look at all the things that had to happen in order for Frag to go the way it did.

First off we had the happenings at EPL: VP pulling out, Gentle Mates killing their own chances at the Major by replacing them, HEROIC turning awful at the worst possible moment. You can’t rely on these things happening consistently.

Then there’s the fact that Liquid and NIP - presumably the two best teams had they attended - dropped out of Frag because they no longer needed the VRS points to secure their own Major spot.

And finally, SAW losing right at the perfect moment to give 9INE, OG, fnatic, and ECSTATIC the reality that whoever won Frag would be heading to the Major.

Now sure, this was exciting. But read what we just said again. Look at the amount of unlikely things that occurred. Do you really see that as being something that is repeated each Major cycle?

If the answer is yes, then we’d say you’re very optimistic. If you’re not sure, then let us refer you to these tweets from VRSphile MischiefCS2. In the first, when VP were still heading to EPL, the rest of the field has a pretty poor chance of making it. In the second, when their entry was denied, the field has opened up a bit more.

But it still relied on HEROIC and SAW both really slipping up as well as two highly competitive teams dropping out of Frag. Multiple factors that won’t repeat every time.

There’s also the fact that from 1st-14th, every team was either already confirmed or had a 75% chance of being there. Where’s the excitement?

Where’s the Astralis slipping up? Where’s the G2 before Rio? Where’s the teams battling it out in do or die 2-2 games?

And before you say “that’s what the Fragadelphia final was!!” - woulde it have even been remotely the same if only one of those teams had a shot at making the Major.

So is this new system really better? Was this Major an advertisement for how exciting it will always be?

We don’t think so.