If a terrible invite system and a ruined tier two scene wasn’t enough, the VRS system has now come for the domestic LAN scene.

Sort of.

Fragadelphia, NA’s premium domestic LAN has seen some interesting sign-ups this week, including NIP.

On the one hand, this is quite exciting. It might not be a tier-one LAN, but having NIP at a LAN is a positive step for their roster, and it’s not like the Frag field is weak. NRG and BLUEJAYS will both be there, and both have been in impressive form domestically in recent weeks.

It’s also not like this is the first time an EU team has taken part in a Fragadelphia event. Apeks and BIG Academy both competed in Fragadelphia 17. BIG even made it to the final, losing to an EG White team that consisted of NA legends such as ben1337, Jonji and PwnAlone.

We should’ve known then that German CS wasn’t going to have any luck any time soon.

While this might seem good for now, we are concerned that it will start a bit of a worrying trend. Back then, Apeks and BIG Academy were playing for experience and a bit of fun, but the VRS system makes it so NIP will be there for much needed VRS points and the potential for wildcard invites.

For domestic LANs like Fragadelphia and EPIC.LAN if you’re of the UK persuasion, having big teams there will be cool as a one off or the first time it happens, but it will quickly descend into something that changes the culture of the events.

Both of these events can now do a lot for a team lower down in Valve’s rankings, and when that involves organisations like NIP who will be taking these rankings very seriously, some of the fun of these events will be diminished by their involvement.

ESL has already announced that two qualifiers for ESL Pro League will take place at BYOC LANs, but is that really the point of these LANs?

Do these LANs exist as a celebration of community and shared love for a game? Do they exist for a piece of competition unique to a domestic scene? Or are they now just going to be stomping grounds for teams looking for easier ways into tier one events?

We don’t have access to a crystal ball, but we’re confident that this sets a worrying precedent for future events.

Just another victim of VRS, we guess.