Americas should retain their 10 Major spots at IEM Cologne 2026

Assuming the qualification system for Majors stays the same between now and the next Major, 10 teams should represent the Americas region, according to 100 Thieves' new GM Graham "messioso" Pitt.

Americas did just enough at StarLadder Budapest to retain their spots but not enough to pry one away from one of the two other regions. M80 and Imperial made it out of Stage 1, but the likes of NRG, Fluxo, Legacy, and RED Canids all fell short. In Stage 2, Imperial again advanced alongside Passion UA, but M80 fell just short while MIBR went 0-3.

With those results, four teams from Americas will represent the region in Stage 3: FURIA, paiN, Imperial, and the lone North American core in Passion UA. The split between teams that start in Stage 2 or Stage 3 in the next Major will be determined by which teams make it to playoffs here in Budapest.

Europe will seemingly gain a spot at the expense of Asia. FlyQuest went 3-0 in Stage 1, but The Huns, Lynn Vision, and Rare Atom all fell well short. TYLOO and FlyQuest both failed to make it out of Stage 2, leaving the region's clear number one team and sole Stage 3 direct invite The MongolZ all alone going forward.

Stage 3 of the StarLadder Budapest Major begins December 4th.