Imo lock-in being this cutthroat has a silver lining for a lot of teams if they choose to take the opportunity.
If they do get eliminated they are able to scrim against top competition across multiple regions which can overall raise the skill level overall of the selective splits.
Im a fan of both C9 and PRX so its a little sad to see them go but I hope most teams take advantage of the high level practice they can get if they choose to spend a lil extra time.