Key achievements:

• 2000 Razer CPL champion (Quake 3)
• 2000 WCGC champion (Quake 3)
• 2002 CPL Summer champion (Alien vs. Predator)
• 2002 CPL Winter champion (Unreal Tournament 2003)
• 2005 CPL World Tour champion (Painkiller)
• 2006 WSVG Grand Finals runner-up (Quake 4)

Johnathan Wendel, famous the world over as “Fatal1ty”, is one of esports greatest champions and ambassadors. The Missouri native promised his father he’d quit esports competition entirely if he flunked out at a tournament back in 1999. Within a few months, he’d parlayed a deep finish there into a world number one ranking in Quake 3.

Half a decade later and Fatal1ty was still competing for world championship titles, but in other games. Moving over to the infamously different Unreal Tournament 2002, he dispatched the best the game sent to the first major tournament to become a champion again. Perhaps his magnum opus, though, was overcoming the steep learning curve of Painkiller, yet another FPS title, on the CPL World Tour in 2005, in time matching and later besting Vo0, the undisputed best player until then, to win $150,000.

Fatal1ty was known for his time in the spotlight winning major championships, but it was his diligent approach to “practice, practice, practice!” that earned him such accolades and created a legendary legacy for the guy who basically told his dad the equivalent of “one more game before bed!”.

From forming WoW Radio to his numerous YouTube shows and podcasts, TotalBiscuit was widely respected for his vast influences across the gaming community and his prominence also shaped the esports scenes around him. While he was never a player himself, countless events were managed, sponsored, commentated and produced by this true supporter of the sport. Aside from driving people towards esports titles such as StarCraft 2 and Dota 2, he even formed a professional StarCraft 2 team himself – Axiom.

His influence on the esports scene can not be understated as his passion and support helped drive various competitive titles towards the heights they reached today. He left behind a body of work unmatched by any other while still managing to give a voice to indie scenes and breakout players.

His contributions to the industry are immeasurable and as such we are honored to induct him into the Esports Hall of Fame as the first non-player. His legacy will live on.

Each of the 36 countries will hold qualifiers taking place from September to December 2018. Each country qualifier will have one winner who will travel to Germany to compete against others to determine who is the best Clash Royale Red Bull M.E.O. by ESL player in the world.

The participating countries are as follows:

FIND ALL QUALIFIER DATES AND DETAILS ON THE PORTAL PAGE

If your qualifier is not listed on the page yet, check back soon! Final participating country list may vary.

Rules

Rules, structure, format and conditions will vary in different regions (some will be happening only online, some only offline, and some will be both online and offline).

Basic rules:

• Players are only eligible to participate in the only qualifiers of his or her country
• All players must hold valid travel documents for travel (travel dates to qualifier see your qualifier cup page, to world finals at a later date)
• All players must be 16 years of age or older
• You must be a registered player on the ESL Play platform.
• All players must play on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet). Emulators or any software that modifies the game to be played via PC or other unauthorised devices, are banned. Players caught using such software will face penalty.
• Matches will be 1v1.
• Players can use any cards they wish in their deck. Players can change their decks between battles.

FIND THE TOURNAMENT FORMAT, AS WELL AS THE FULL RULEBOOK ON THE PORTAL PAGE

Good luck!

We wish all of the participants the best of luck and cannot wait to welcome the top 36 in Germany! Until then, be sure to check out the official website and follow ESL Clash Royale on Twitter and Facebook for all updates.

This won’t be your conventional esports tournament!

64 player are set to compete on the ESL Arena show floor at gamescom, as the community presents them with challenges and obstacles that they need to overcome. These challenges will be decided by popularity votes on social media. By completing them, teams will unlock money that they then will donate to the charity they chose to represent. Everyone wins!

Out of the 64 participating players, 32 will be directly invited influencers while the other half will be determined through European open bracket qualifiers. The two pools of players will then get paired up into duos who will compete together for the duration of the tournament. Over the course of 3 days, 12 games will be played in total (four per day).

Starting early July we’ll host open bracket tournaments on ESL Play in the following countries to determine the 32 qualified players (4 lobbies equates to 100 players).

• UK: 3 players (4 lobbies)
• Germany: 4 players (no limit)
• Turkey: 2 players (4 lobbies)
• South-East Europe: 2 players (4 lobbies)
• CIS: 2 players (4 lobbies)
• Italy: 2 players (4 lobbies)
• France: 4 players (4 lobbies)
• Spain: 3 players (4 lobbies)
• Nordics: 4 players (4 lobbies)
• Poland: 2 players (4 lobbies)
• Rest of Europe: 4 players (no limit)

Sign up for your regional tournament today!

PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Charity Challenge streams will be found on the official ESL PUBG Twitch channel, as well the various influencer streams live from the gamescom showfloor.

Stayed tuned and follow ESL PUBG on both Twitter and Facebook for further tournament information, such as confirmed influencers and qualifier updates.

Jonas Vikan, on his decision to step down:
“I`d like to thank the ESL leadership for the opportunity and for their support. I am truly sorry I have to leave, but it is something I have to do for my family. I would also like to thank the ESL staff whom I`ve worked closely with over 11 big events in 11 locations around the world. Their commitment earned us back the CSGO Major and that was a nice goal to accomplish.”

Alexander Nehr, on his new position as tournament director:
“After more than 11 years with ESL, I’m excited to move into the role as ESL’s new Tournament Director. The experience I was able to gather throughout the years will help me to even further improve the quality of and around our tournaments in the future. I’m also looking very much forward to once again work closely with all the players and teams to strengthen our relations. I would also like to thank the ESL management team for their continued support and trust.”

Alex Nehr, Tournament Director at ESL

We wish Jonas best of luck in his future endeavors and look forward to Alex’s involvement in his new position.

The ESL Arena at Wacken will feature time slots for both Free Play, where anybody can try their hands at the aforementioned titles, as well as Open Qualifiers for PUBG, LoL and Street Fighter to find out which attendees are the best of the best. No pre-registration necessary. For those participating in the tournaments, we’ll have awesome prizes on the line, including ESL swag, tickets to future ESL events, gaming gear from Razer & more. You can find the exact time slots for Free Play and the Open Qualifiers on the official Wacken website.

In addition, ESL Arena Wacken sponsors Razer have set up a booth of their own, where they are showcasing their latest gaming peripherals, laptops and products. On top of that, you’ll have the chance to test them on the spot, by playing the various games offered right at the booth.

But thanks to ESL Arena sponsor NicNacs, it doesn’t just end there. As an additional incentive for the League of Legends Open Qualifiers, none other than Spandauer Inferno will be taking part in a showmatch on Friday, August 3rd. Awesome prizes and a once in a lifetime opportunity to beat Spandauer Inferno on the big stage await those, that take part in the competition.

To learn more about Wacken, the ESL Arena or how to find your way around the festival grounds, be sure to check out the official website. Good luck to everyone at Wacken!

After a hugely successful debut in 2017, the ESL Arena and the Intel Experience Zone will return to EGX with more competitive action and more bleeding-edge technology. The show takes place from 20 to 23 September at the NEC in Birmingham.

For the first time ever, the Hearthstone UK Premiership finals will take place live on stage at EGX. Sixteen players will compete in the fifth season of the ESL UK Hearthstone Premiership, but only eight will make it through to the live final at EGX – where they’ll compete for the championship title and a slice of the £8,000 prize pool.

The ESL Arena will offer space for thousands of fans to view their favourite teams and players competing in top-tier esports action in a selection of the industry’s biggest and most exciting games.

Alongside the competition stage, the ESL Arena will feature exhibition space that will show off incredible PC hardware that will give gamers the chance to get hands-on with today’s top esports titles.

That’s not all that the ESL Arena will offer in Birmingham this September. ESL and Intel will be launching a competition to find the UK’s best young casting talent. The winners will join ESL UK and Intel at EGX to work with our professional teams on the esports competitions that take place at the festival. They’ll also have the opportunity to work with ESL UK on rounds of the semi-professional ESL UK Premiership. If you’re a budding caster and want to enter, head to esl.im/futuregencomp for more information when the competition opens on Thursday 12th of July.

It’s all part of ESL and Intel’s celebration of an incredible year of esports in the UK – and ESL will be talking to some of the biggest names in the scene to find out how competitive gaming in the UK has grown and changed. They have already released a teaser of an explosive chat with Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner, and the full interview – where he discusses his love for the UK esports scene will be released soon – can be found at esl.im/youke. And, if you’d like to share your thoughts on UK esports, simply use the #yearofukesports hashtag.

James Dean, Managing Director of ESL UK:
“The ESL Arena at EGX is the largest esports activation in the UK, with over 5000m² of competitive action, brands and booths to visit. We can’t wait to get stuck into our second year at EGX, where we’ll meet old friends and create new fans. We can’t reveal everything right now, but I that more fantastic plans will be announced soon.”

Scott Gillingham, Intel UK Gaming and Esports Lead, is enthusiastic about heading to EGX:
“We are excited to announce that we will be returning to EGX 2018 with ESL UK – because Intel is committed to growing esports and gaming across the country. Alongside our partnership with ESL UK, we will continue to invest in the community with key activations like EGX. Alongside our state-of-the-art esports stage, we will have the Intel Experience Zone as well as a host of key partner activities that showcase the world’s best gaming technology. We are bringing more exciting activations to the arena this year, so stayed tuned – and we’ll see you at the show!”

More events and competitions for the ESL Arena will be announced soon on their dedicated site, esl.im/eslarenaegx. In the meantime, more information can be found by following ESL UK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and by using the #ESLArena hashtag.

Counter-Strike turned 19 years old in 2018.

In 1999, on day 1 of the first Beta, a young American, Kyle Miller, downloaded the game for the first time and joined a server. He chose the moniker «Ksharp».

“«Ksharp» as a name is considered Counter Strike royalty. Kyle`s abilities far exceeded the way players at the time thought about the game. He broke the rules for the sniper; his mastery of the quick scope, at the time an unknown concept, changed the way the weapon was thought of and used”, said Jason «Moses» O`Toole, one of the most recognized CS commentators.

His impact in the early days of the American scene could only be described as «total», according to Jason «Alchemist» Baker.

-If anyone would ask about CS configs, the answer was always «Just use Ksharps».

The story of Kyle «Ksharp» Miller began in Illinois, USA. As a child, he followed his family to Pennsylvania and Virginia before moving abroad, where he was exposed to the international culture of Greece, Bahrain and Costa Rica before settling back in Tennessee – where Miller as a high school student discovered Counter-Strike on the day of the game`s release.

“I started playing the first day of Beta 1 all thanks to someone coming into the team fortress server I was in and spamming the download link for a new mod that had just come out.  After playing a few rounds and killing mostly teammates I was hooked. Once I joined a clan and started playing other teams in Beta 2 I really got hooked on the competitive side of it”, said Miller of his first run at CS.

Competitive Counter-Strike grew out of the basement of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The city was home of the CPL, The Cyberathlete Professional League, the most important tournament organizer of the first era of esports.

To get to his debut in the «big time», Kyle «Ksharp» Miller, needed help from his mother, who drove him six hours to Dallas to compete. With the support of his parents, Miller`s star was on the rise as the best player in the North American scene. He was part of X3, a legendary team that was unmatched in the US.

At Winter CPL in 2001, X3 would finally face the consensus best team in the world: NiP from Sweden. Their clash in the final of that tournament was widely watched and became an instant classic in a young sport that needed big moments and common points of reference.

“We were coming from the loser`s bracket and had to win twice on Nuke. It was the definition of an uphill battle”, said Miller.

The match was the definitive breakthrough for American Counter-Strike. While Miller and Ksharp lost the tightly contested and very close encounter, it showed that CS was now bi-continental – well on its way to become a global phenomenon.

“We won the first map in overtime and almost won the second, losing only by a round. I was very proud of our team for fighting back even though we did not manage to win it all. I think it let the rest of the world know we were a legit competitor and it was the beginning of a rivalry that would go down in history.”

The result gave Miller and the Americans the confidence they needed. And six months later, it was «Ksharp» who could raise the trophy at Counter-Strike`s most coveted competition. He won Summer CPL 2003 with Team 3D.  

Team 3D piled on another achievement a year later as the Americans won the World Cyber Games held in South-Korea. WCG used a new iteration of Counter-Strike, called Condition Zero, and «Ksharp» became it`s first (and only) champion. In the latter stages of the tournament, Miller got to exact revenge on some of his Swedish rivals from the NiP vs X3 match a few years earlier.

“I think the one thing that everyone will always remember about the tournament is David «moto» Geffon being stuck behind a box on Inferno and winning a 1 on 4 in the pistol round. It was the craziest round I have ever seen in CS, let alone in a huge stakes match vs one of the best teams in the world. That really helped boost our morale and was a real blow to theirs. After finishing 2nd to the Swedes at WCG 2003, it was finally time for our revenge!”  

The WCG and Team 3D would mesh well. The next year, in 2005, «Ksharp» would secure his third major championship, in the third iteration of Counter-Strike.

To get there, Miller and his team mates had to get through their red hot American rivals from Complexity – a team that had been assembled in part to rid the US of Miller and 3D`s grip of dominance over the North American scene.

“When I first started following Counter-Strike my preferred weapon was the AWP, and my favorite player was «Ksharp». He epitomized everything great about the scene and greatly motivated me to build a squad to compete against him. In my eyes, he was already a legend by 2004”, said Jason Lake, founder and owner of Complexity.

However, it was Miller and Team 3D who prevailed in the qualifier, which curiously used CS 1.6 despite the main tournament forcing Source.

“I was proud of our team for making the most out of a wild situation and adapting to show a mastery over two different versions of the game.” 

Despite winding down his professional career by 2006, Kyle «Ksharp» Miller, was drafted onto Team 3D in the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) where he continued to ply his AWP over two seasons of live televised competition.

The CGS discontinued operations towards the end of 2008 and left American CS in a state of disarray. At the same time, Kyle «Ksharp» Miller, decided it was time to retire from top level competition.

Multiple world championships across several iterations of the game, and some 8 years at the highest levels of competition has put Kyle «Ksharp» Miller in the Esports Hall of Fame 19 years after he first tried Counter-Strike.

Yet, Miller never let his world-wide status as CS royalty outshine his human qualities.    

“He is one of the humblest players to ever grace the game. When you speak to him of his past you almost don`t believe he was effortlessly dominating an entire region. But he is quiet, unassuming, and almost hopes he can`t be picked out of a crowd. He is the guy who would go out of his way to help you, the guy who would casually talk at the bar, without ever telling you his legacy as a Counter Strike world champion”, said commentator Jason «Moses» O`Toole.

Kyle «Ksharp» Miller`s induction to the Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard will happen on Sunday July 8th at ESL One Cologne.

About the Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard

The Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard will honor competitors, contributors and great moments from the history of esport. Located in Cologne, Germany, it will induct several persons every year to honor their achievements during the rise of competitive gaming. 

Key achievements

• Runner up, CPL Winter 2001
• Winner, CPL Winter 2002   
• Winner, World Cyber Games 2004
• Winner, World Cyber Games 2005

Kyle Miller, of Reston, Virginia, is the first American Counter-Strike player to be honored for his accolades and contributions to esports. He will be inducted into the Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard on Saturday July 8th, prior to the Grand Final of this year’s ESL One Cologne.

Mr. Miller (33) was the first global superstar to spring from the American CS scene. He was playing at the highest level between 2000 and 2008.  “Ksharp” would routinely be referenced in discussions about the best individual players in the world. Mr. Miller helped his teams secure three world championships in three different iterations of Counter-Strike: 1.6, Condition Zero and Source.

By his peers “Ksharp” was revered both for his human and in-game qualities. Mr. Miller is described as a polite soul, ahead of his time in the early display of Desire, Discipline, Dedication, traits that today are hallmarks of the consummate professional gamer.

After his career ended in 2008, he has continued to contribute to esports by working at ESEA.

About the Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard

The Esports Hall of Fame presented by paysafecard will honor competitors, contributors and great moments from the history of esport. Located in Cologne, Germany, it will induct several persons every year to honor their achievements during the rise of competitive gaming.

From Wednesday, 1st of August, the 1,800 square meter esports Village will open its doors, with the first tournaments kicking off alongside the festival itself. Metalheads can faceoff in games like PUBG, League of Legends and more while having the chance to win prizes in the process. Additional spectacular matches will be held, that will see esports professionals and the bands at Wacken clash to the roaring sounds of the festival!

Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, about heading to Wacken with ESL Arena:
“The medium of computer games is more and more mainstream in all areas of life, as the music has been now for many years. An iconic, multi-day music festival like Wacken is a very interesting opportunity to test the esports phenomenon in a new setting and take it into a new environment.”

Holger Hübner, CEO of ICS Festival Service GmbH, about this collaboration:
“Like many games, heavy metal creates fantasy worlds. Sabaton’s collaboration with World of Tanks is just one example of how much the two categories have in common. Naturally, music remains at the heart of Wacken Open Air, but we have a very close relationship with our community, so we can react to developments. We’re always open to new ideas. Of course, it also makes us proud to be pioneering the world’s first esports theme experience at a music festival, so we are very glad to have ESL as a most capable partner that is setting the international standard in esports.”

Wacken Open Air, the largest heavy metal festival in the world, will take place from August 2-4 this year. It has consistently been sold out with 75,000 visitors in recent years. About 5,000 tickets are currently still available for this year’s edition.

We are looking forward meeting you in Wacken!