The BLAST Open London is getting a last-minute shake-up after Brazilian side paiN Gaming were ruled ineligible to compete, but not without a storm of debate over whether the rule should’ve even applied.

BLAST announced that Imperial Esports will replace paiN for the event, which kicks off online on August 27. The decision comes down to Valve’s tournament rule 3.2.5(c), which blocks teams from playing in a tournament if they’ve previously declined an invitation to that same event.

According to BLAST, paiN initially turned down a direct invite to the South American Closed Qualifier for BLAST Open Season 2. That move made them ineligible for the Open itself, with Legacy now taking their direct invite and Imperial moving into the “Rising SA” slot.

paiN Gaming has been removed from participation in the BLAST Premier Open Season 2. This decision follows Valve’s official tournament rule 3.2.5(c), which states that teams who have previously declined an invitation to the same tournament are not eligible to compete.

paiN…

— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) August 12, 2025

The updated team list now includes Imperial alongside heavyweights like Vitality, FaZe, G2, and FURIA.

The controversy

While the rule sounds straightforward, some fans and community figures are questioning whether it should’ve been enforced at all. Graham “messioso” Pitt took to X (formerly Twitter) claiming the event “doesn’t even use a version of the TOR where that rule exists.”

Your event doesn’t even use a version of the TOR where that rule exists.

That rule was added on March 25th 2025. Since all tournaments use the TOR version based off the additional information deadline which for Tier 1 events is 10 months prior to your event, it’s impossible to… https://t.co/LR2uXhhzN8

— Graham Pitt (@messioso) August 12, 2025

He explained that the rule was only added on March 25 this year, but for Tier 1 tournaments like BLAST Open London, the rule set is locked in based on the “additional information deadline”, in this case, 10 months before the event. That means, according to him, it’s “impossible” for the new rule to apply.

The comments section quickly filled with frustration and cynicism. One fan said they appreciated Pitt “bringing light to all the shady stuff TOs do” but doubted anything would change, adding that Valve “sure as hell isn’t going to do” anything about it. Another noted that BLAST “didn’t respect a specific rule that didn’t exist in a former version” of the tournament regulations, calling the situation messy.

What’s next

For now, Imperial will prepare to compete in London while paiN sit this one out. Whether this incident pushes tournament organisers to revisit how and when rules are applied remains to be seen, but the conversation around transparency and consistency in esports is far from over.

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