Valve has once again changed the Valve Regional Standings model — and this time, the changes could significantly impact slot distribution and team statuses. A new subregion has officially been added to Europe — the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which now includes Israel. This redistribution has already affected the status of Team Liquid , JiJieHao , and other teams.

Previously, on June 16, Valve implemented an update to the VRS model, according to which teams with rosters from different regions were assigned to a single dominant region. This allowed Team Liquid , despite having players from various parts of the world, to be considered a European roster.

Who is included in MENA and who does it affect?
The new European subzone MENA includes: Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Azerbaijan , Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Armenia, Bahrain, Georgia , Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

These changes formally make Team Liquid a team with a majority of European players, even though under the new rules from June 16, they were already considered part of the European region. Another notable change affects the Chinese team JiJieHao : they are now considered a European team and rank 29th in the European standings, whereas they previously held the sixth position in the Asian rankings.

New rules for African players
Valve has also changed the way African players who are not part of the MENA region are accounted for. Previously, such players were automatically assigned to Asia, but now they are counted in the "lowest priority region" based on the team's roster.

This nuance is particularly important for teams like Wildcard. The international roster previously was considered European, but now South African Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek shifts the team to the Americas region — as the lowest priority based on the other players in the roster.

Valve continues to refine and specify the regional distribution system in CS2 , which is especially crucial ahead of future major tournaments, including majors. Precise team region assignments affect slot distribution, direct invitations, and the format of qualifiers.