Confusing Seeding Just Made Heroic's BLAST Paris Major Run Much Harder

The BLAST Paris Major is shaping up to be an exciting send-off for CS:GO as the Counter-Strike community eagerly anticipates the arrival of CS2. However, for top teams like Heroic, their run at the Major has been made significantly more difficult due to the bewildering Buchholz seeding system.

Heroic, currently one of the top CS:GO teams in the world, holds impressive rankings—first in HLTV and ESL world rankings, and third in BLAST's ranking. Despite their stellar performance, the Danish team is up against a more arduous path at the BLAST Paris Major, starting on May 8, all because of the peculiarities of the Buchholz seeding system.

Richard "Xizt" Landström, Heroic's head coach, expressed his dissatisfaction with the seeding system. Entering the EU RMR as the number two seed, Heroic had an undefeated 3-0 run, while the only team seeded above them failed to qualify for the Major. Nevertheless, the team ended up as the number five seed at the Major, prompting Xizt to criticize the Buchholz system with a "clown" emoji.

As the fifth seed at the BLAST Paris Major Legends Stage, Heroic is likely to face stronger teams than they truly deserve. Natus Vincere, 9INE, FURIA, and Fnatic are seeded above Heroic, despite arguably having weaker performances than the Danish team.

Rather than relying on world rankings, Valve opted for a different approach. The tournament organizer conducted seeding for the RMR based on the teams' placements at the last Major, IEM Rio in November 2022, or at the Major open qualifiers if the team didn't attend Rio. The Buchholz system, later incorporated into the Swiss system, auto-adjusts seeding as the tournament progresses. However, this practice has not proven effective in events with a live ELO system like the Major.

This seeding method is the reason why 9INE holds the second seed at the BLAST Paris Major Legends Stage. Initially considered underdogs, the Polish team surpassed expectations by defeating higher-seeded teams in the RMR, thus earning a better seeding. Heroic, on the other hand, saw their score reduced due to facing lower-seeded teams during their undefeated run.

Valve and BLAST's failure to recognize and reward Heroic's strong performance since the end of 2022 and their unbeaten RMR campaign has led to frustration within the CS:GO community. In future Majors, Valve should consider revisiting seeding systems from previous tournaments like IEM Katowice and StarLadder Berlin in 2019, where seeds were slightly adjusted throughout the competition to prevent similar situations.

As the BLAST Paris Major commences on May 8 with the Challengers Stage, Heroic and other top CS:GO teams will have to tackle the perplexing seeding system head-on and prove their worth on the battlefield.