Americas region to retain 10 spots at next Major, but at the cost of a Stage 3 spot

With the playoff field set for the StarLadder Budapest Major, the full regional distribution of teams for the next Major in Cologne has been set, assuming Valve doesn't change up the system.

The Americas region will once again field 10 teams at the next Major in Cologne, but only one team will receive a coveted Stage 3 invite rather than two. While the number of invited teams from the region stays the same, one spot is effectively being downgraded from a Stage 3 invite to a Stage 2 invite.

Europe gained a spot at the next Major at the expense of Asia. Lynn Vision, Rare Atom, and The Huns all failed to make it past Stage 1, and both FlyQuest and TYLOO did not get past Stage 2. But thanks to The MongolZ making it past Stage 3 to playoffs, the region will still have its one team starting in Stage 3 in Cologne, which very likely end up being The MongolZ again.

While teams like Passion UA and M80 showed some strong signs, North America as a region fell agonizingly short in several occasions. All three NA teams were eliminated with 2-3 records, each in different stages: NRG in Stage 1, M80 in Stage 2, and Passion UA in Stage 3. Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, with FaZe, is the only NA representative still competing in Budapest.

Here's the full slot distribution for IEM Cologne 2026:

Stage 3

• Europe: 6 spots

• Americas: 1 spot

• Asia: 1 spot

Stage 2

• Europe: 5 spots

• Americas: 3 spots

Stage 1

• Europe: 6 spots

• Americas: 6 spots

• Asia: 4 spots