kane on MRQs cancellation: "Under Valve's new rules, Legacy wouldn't have made it to this Major even as a replacement"

39-year-old Ukrainian esports athlete Mikhaylo "kane" Blagin, who recently took over as CEO of TNL, shared his thoughts on the cancellation of regional qualifiers for the upcoming Counter-Strike 2 Major – StarLadder Budapest Major 2025.

Under Valve's new rules, Legacy wouldn't have made it to this Major even as a replacement. These are the kinds of stories we'll be missing out on by losing the qualifiers for the Major – teams that have had their fill of the season will be arriving, and we risk not seeing any more sensations, cool discoveries, "Cinderella stories". Why ruin something that worked so well... does anyone understand?

StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 will take place from November 24 to December 14, 2025, with 32 teams competing for $1.25 million in prizes. The format of the event will be identical to the ongoing BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 in Austin, but in Budapest all stages of the tournament will takes place with live audience.

Origin: t.me