After the announcement of the structure of the third season of Extreme Masters the time has come for the rules of qualification for the World Final to be laid down.

Those are quite simple: the finals will have 12 teams for Counter-Strike 1.6 and 12 teams for World of Warcraft. The only way to get one of those slots is through the Continental Finals in three regions: Europe, North America and Asia.

By default, each region sends two or more teams to the World Final. How many exactly depends on the Global Challenges. If a team from a given region finishes top 2 at a Global Challenge, that region gets an additional slot for the World Final.

For example, if SK Gaming and Fnatic place top 2 in a Global Challenge, then Europe will get two additional slots in the World Final and be able to send four teams. If the same SK and Fnatic place top 2 at all three Global Challenges, then Europe will have six extra berths on top of the original two. SK and Fnatic would still have to qualify through the Continental Final.

12 teams qualified from the Main Round will play in the European Continental Final. In North America it also be 12 teams for WoW but 8 for Counter-Strike. Six teams will qualify for the Continental Final from the Main Round and a further two will be invited from South America.

It is not impossible that no U.S. team will qualify for the World Final. This would happen in the likely scenario of European or Asian teams placing top 2 in all three Global Challenges. And then the South American or Canadian teams need to win top 2 in the North American Continental Final.

The detailed rules of qualification are laid out on the Extreme Masters III website.

The continental war between teams during the Global Challenges will be fascinating to watch, especially in World of Warcraft where the balance of power between the continents is still unknown.