Hello everyone, here’s a quick overview of some changes coming starting next season.

League updates

We previously covered most of these changes here, but we have a last-minute adjustment:
- All teams below Gold will be bubbled up into Gold
- Top 4 Gold teams will now be promoted instead of Top 3, ensuring Emerald division is properly filled

This is because:
- We found out Emerald would be left with too many bots if we don't promote more teams from gold
- We did some analysis on the entire C-Tier base and there's only a few competitive teams, we think it's better for them to be in the same league rather than with bots since they won't be much harder and money will be higher

C-Tier Changes & Rookies
We haven’t been happy with how teams currently transition from C-Tier to B-Tier, nor with how newcomers evolve. Rookies playoffs have often included A-Tier and B-Tier teams, which is not the intended experience.
To make progression from beginner to intermediate smoother and more realistic, we’re introducing the following changes:
- Promotion from C-Tier to B-Tier is no longer based on account age, but on reaching 1000 Rank Points
- B-Tier teams can now demote if they fall below 1000 RP
   - This will be applied retroactively during the season update
- Rank Points decay will no longer affect C-Tier. 
    - This ensures early progress earned by beginners does not feel wasted
- Rookies tournaments will now be C-Tier only
    - This restores Rookies as a true newcomers competition
   - As part of this change, Minor tournament will now include every non-C-Tier team that is eliminated at any stage of Major qualification

As part of this change, we are retroactively reducing current Rank Points for teams that placed in Silver or lower divisions, to better reflect the updated league rewards. Previously, a 3rd-place finish in Silver could award over 1,000 RP, which exceeded both Rookies rewards and the new B-Tier threshold. We usualy don't retroactively correct stuff but we believe this adjustment is in the long-term best interest of these teams and the overall progression system.

Major changes
We’re adjusting Major rewards to better incentivize qualification and competitive play throughout the tournament:
- All qualified teams will now receive Rank Points
    - 3rd place in group: 1,000 RP
   - 4th place in group: 500 RP
-  This change is meant to:
    - Encourage teams to prioritize reaching the Major over relying on Minor tournaments
   - Motivate teams to continue to play to win, even after being mathematically eliminated

Additionally:
- The Stage 3 reward for S-Tier teams has been removed
- The 2,000 RP reward for winning Stage 3 is now exclusive to A-Tier teams and below that qualify for the Major
This reinforces Stage 3 as a progression milestone for rising teams rather than a farming opportunity for established S-Tier teams.

Lastly, we are adjusting group match scheduling so that community mates are paired earlier in the group stage. Matchmaking attempts are more likely to occur in later rounds, and this change helps mitigate that without having any negative impact on competitive integrity.

Small Schedule Change
Starting next season, the ladder will begin on Day 4, alongside the league. This aligns their start and end dates, resulting in a cleaner calendar and freeing up time during the final week of the season.

Seasonal Map Rotation Preview
You can now see next season’s map rotation ahead of time in the Season Preview page here. This is a small QoL change we added based on community feedback.

GE bugfix
You may have seen our global message earlier today.
A bug affecting first-shot weapon delay has now been fixed and is already live.
Please let us know if you notice anything unusual.

Thanks everyone, and see you next season!