Vitality’s Major spot is already safe, but one roster slot is not. According to Udknud, the number of matches jL plays at PGL Bucharest could push apEX off the VRS invite roster.
This matters because the invite roster decides whose stickers fans will see. If Udknud’s scenario happens, jL stickers could appear instead of apEX stickers.
One Event Left Before the Invites
Udknud notes that EPL has concluded. Therefore, Vitality has only one event left before the Major invites go out. That event is PGL Bucharest, where jL will stand in for apEX.
Udknud stresses that this event will have no effect on Vitality’s Major qualification as a team. In his words, the team is guaranteed a Stage 3 invite, no matter what results it gets there.
How Many Matches Will jL Play?
According to Udknud, the only interesting question left is how many matches Vitality will play with jL. A strong event would give the team many matches. A weaker event with a 3-2 group stage would also be enough. In both cases, Vitality would play five or more matches in Bucharest.
If jL plays in all of them, Udknud says he will take apEX’s spot on Vitality’s VRS Invite roster. This roster has five players who receive an invite for the Major. In that case, apEX would attend the Major as a substitute. As a result, there would be no apEX stickers, but there would be jL stickers instead.
How VRS Invite Rosters Work
Udknud also gave a deeper explanation of the rules. According to him, VRS looks back only 10 matches. It searches for the five players who most recently played five matches for the team.
He then considers an idea some fans might have. Vitality could swap jL out after four matches so that apEX stays on the roster. However, Udknud says this would work only if the team then lost its fifth match.
For example, imagine Vitality played four matches with jL. Then it played two more with another stand-in, which Udknud calls “XYZ”. He adds that this may not even be allowed within one event. In that case, Vitality would have played six matches in Bucharest. Among the last 10 matches, apEX would have played only four. Therefore, he would not qualify for the invite roster.
Meanwhile, VRS could not find a fifth player either. The counts would be four for jL, two for XYZ and four for apEX. Udknud says VRS would then invite only four Vitality players to the Major.
Udknud’s View on What Valve Might Do
Udknud says it is not yet known how Valve would handle this case, because the situation has not happened before. He points to BC Games, which won an exemption from the rules through an appeal. Based on that, he suggests Valve might step in and invite a fifth player.
In his opinion, inviting only four players would be absurd. He also asks whether the sticker system could handle a team with only four stickers. Still, he repeats that the answer is unknown.
Udknud’s Clarification
Udknud later added two points. First, his post is not about the economy of stickers. He calls that none of his business and says Vitality has already dealt with it internally. This covers the jL stand-in situation and the chance that he gets the sticker for this Major. Udknud describes that outcome as potential or likely.
Second, he says the main purpose of the post was to show how VRS handles the “Invite roster” or “Active roster”. Both terms mean the same thing in VRS. He argues that the VRS code is very vulnerable and can produce “silly” rosters with fewer than five active members.
What to Watch in Bucharest
Vitality’s Major place is secure. Even so, the number of matches jL plays at PGL Bucharest will decide who sits on the invite roster. It could also decide whose sticker fans see. Finally, Udknud’s example points to a possible flaw in VRS that Valve may need to address.
