The Kingdom’s first Major will also be the penultimate major event for this season, effectively making it one of the most stressful events for the teams competing – at least for some of them that is. Out of the twelve participating teams, four are ineligible for an invite to The International 8 due to roster changes, two have safely secured a spot – Virtus.pro & Liquid, while the remaining six will have to battle it out as for some of them this will be their last chance for this year’s International; looking at you Fnatic and OpTic!

Group A

• Virtus.pro
• Fnatic
• Evil Geniuses
• Team Spirit

Sitting on top of the DPC ranking throne, Virtus.pro not only have already secured their invitation to TI8 but are also the strong favourites of this group as well. They’ve had an exceptional performance throughout this season, winning two back to back ESL One Majors – in Hamburg and Katowice. Team Spirit, who got their spot as Na’Vi’s replacement, would have to really surpass themselves in order to stand a chance against VP. The second duo of the group though, Fnatic vs EG, is the one with the most interest, as Fnatic have not only signed Universe, EG’s former for four years offlaner, but also Aui_2000 as their coach.

If I were to rank them on who has the most chances of getting to the playoffs, the Virtus.pro would certainly be number one, but when it comes down to slot number two, things get a bit tricky. There are insufficient data to compare the results of the two teams, as since Fnatic’s newest additions the two teams have only met once in GESC where Fnatic took the game for themselves. Nonetheless, I would give EG a small advantage as their experience slightly surpasses that of Fnatic, as at the… dire moment experience might kick in and give them the win.

Opening Matches:

• Fnatic vs EG
• Virtus.pro vs Team Spirit

Group B

• Team Liquid
• Vici Gaming
• OG
• paiN Gaming

Group B is a little bit less interesting than both Groups A & C, not skill-wise of course, but from the side of mathematics. Much alike Virtus.pro, Liquid have already secured their invite to TI8 while Vici’s position at the 6th spot of the DPC ranking can’t be really threatened. On the other hand both Dota’s talent incubator, OG and paiN Gaming, will not be able to directly join TI8, and they’ll have to go through the qualifiers. That being said, the hefty amount of $500,000 is not a prize pool that can be ignored, it is just that not that much of heavy action is expected from this Group.

Given all of the above, it is not entirely impossible to see OG and paiN try to overcome their respective obstacles and make it to the playoffs, but the most realistic scenario is that Team Liquid and Vici will be the ones joining the other competitors for that sweet half a million.

Opening Matches:

• OG vs Vici
• Team Liquid vs paiN Gaming

Group C

• Mineski
• Optic
• Newbee
• LFY

Now, one might argue that this group features the highest levels of interest amongst the three of them. As previously discussed, Group B can be considered, to an extent, as more relaxed, due to its drawings, and Group A has at least one slot pretty much secured. On the other side of things though, Group C is probably the most controversial, mainly due to the shaky performance of the participating teams. Kicking it off with TI7 silver medalists, Newbee, the Chinese have shown some true potential throughout the season having won ESL One Genting 2018 last January, but they barely got a 9-12th spot at EPICENTER XL and DAC 2018. Despite all though, they are comfortable at the 7th spot over at the DPC ranking with more than 500 points separating them from VGJ.Thunder.

On the other hand there’s Mineski who have been struggling throughout the season, and then out of nowhere won DAC 2018 by beating LGD in a thrilling Bo5. Then there’s Optic whose performance has been steadily improving over these first 5 months of 2018, but their 3rd place finish at the NA Qualifiers for China’s Supermajor made ESL One Birmingham their last chance to secure a spot to TI8 through a DPC event. That being said, they would have to win it which by itself makes it a longshot, but Pajkatt, Zai and ppd do have the necessary experience required to at least make it to the playoffs.

It is genuinely really hard to try and make predictions about Group C. As previously mentioned, all of the teams have had pretty shaky performances throughout the season, but they way the matches were drawn – Newbee vs Optic & Mineski vs LFY – makes it a tiny bit easier to say that Newbee will be the first Group C competitor, and in case Mineski are able to keep on the momentum they earned during DAC, they will be the second team to see Birmingham’s arena.

Opening Matches:

• Optic vs Newbee
• Mineski vs LFY

Get ready!

Thousands of passionate UK Dota 2 fans have always travelled abroad for european ESL One events, making the UK the second largest visiting region. Arena Birmingham, in the heart of Birmingham city, promises an unprecedented esports experience for UK and international fans alike – with some of the country’s best Dota 2 talent involved.

“This is a dream come true for the ESL UK team and a fantastic win for the UK scene,” commented James Dean, managing director at ESL UK. “Dota 2 was the very first tournament we ran just after starting up in 2012.  We are honoured to have this opportunity and hope to make the Dota 2 community extremely proud. We look forward to being an integral part of the success of this event, and to the potential of having ESL One back in Birmingham next year.”

Birmingham has already hosted other ESL UK events, including the ESL Arena, the largest esports activation ever held in the UK to date. Held at EGX 2017 in Birmingham NEC, 80,000 gamers had the opportunity to witness national and european game-play over four days. The decision to host ESL One in the heart of England marks the next step in ESL UK’s commitment to making esports accessible for more UK fans.

“It’s tremendous news for the city to be playing host to such a prestigious international esports event,” said Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands. “Birmingham is renowned for major sporting events such as the World Indoor Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, so we very much look forward to welcoming the Dota 2 community. As the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham has a huge amount to offer and hosting the UK’s first Dota 2 Major adds to the city’s fascinating history.”

“We are thrilled to have been selected to host such a prestigious event for Dota 2,” said Ian Congdon, Head of Venue Sales – Arena, NEC Group. “Our award-winning Arena Birmingham is one of the busiest and most well-connected large-scale indoor venues in Europe. With our unique canal-side location, in one of the UK’s most vibrant cities, it’s the perfect place to bring the gaming community together.”

ESL One Birmingham will feature a wider festival celebrating Dota 2, as well as opportunities for fans to get involved in making the major special. More details will be coming soon.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!

Follow ESL One Dota 2 on Twitter and Facebook to receive the latest updates regarding ESL One Birmingham.

A total of 16 teams, 8 invited and 8 qualified, are set to clash for a chance to grab the lion’s share of the astonishing $1,000,000 prizepool and the 1,500 Pro Circuit Points! Followed by the three day long group stage, the event’s playoffs will be played between the 23rd and the 25th of February; so buckle up and prepare yourself for some of the best Dota we’ve seen this season!

Group A

• Team Liquid
• Effect
• OG
• Vici Gaming
• Mineski
• compLexity Gaming
• OpTic Gaming
• Virtus.pro

Click to enlarge

Team Liquid

It is always pleasing to the eyes watching Team Liquid’s performances. Even before their TI win in August, the squad has been delivering exceptional results in every event they participated. With less than 700 points separating them from Team Secret and their astounding results this past month – 1st place at iLeague Season 4 and 2nd at ESL One Genting – Team Liquid is on a well-lit course in bringing another major title back home.

Effect

Even though Effect is one of the newest teams competing in Katowice this year, having formed roughly one and a half year ago, they have shown some potential during the CIS qualifiers were they outbested reputable names in the Dota 2 scene such as Team Spirit and Vega Squadron. And only a few days ago they managed to qualify for yet another Major in DAC 2018, showing that their ESL One Katowice qualifier run was anything but a fluke. Other than that, the fact that this is the squad’s first ever major event in combination with the limited professional experience of the roster, it’s really hard to place any bets on them.

OG

The talent incubator. Literally. OG is one of those teams that when you see them competing you know that they CAN finish at the top spots, no matter what their roster is. Unfortunately, though, we haven’t seen much of OG’s previous glory shining in any major event that took place after TI7. While they have managed to qualify for various minor and major events, they unfortunately fell below expectations in most with the exception being MDL Macau. It feels like even though they have the potential to bring results and return to the spotlight, the current roster is struggling to do so, despite the immense individual experience they all have. Much alike Effect though, I wouldn’t bet my money on them unless they find a way to adapt to the current Dota 2 status quo.

Vici Gaming

Things are starting to get tricky now. Vici Gaming has risen to once again become one of the strongest teams in the world, but as always context plays an important part in Dota 2. Even though they managed to snatch a 5-6th place finish at ESL One Genting and a couple of major silver medals, it is still unknown whether they will be able to stand against titans in the likes of Liquid and VP. Their first matchup is against OG and chances are that they have what it takes to defeat them but coming up next they will have to face Team Liquid and it still debatable whether they are able to overcome this obstacle.

Mineski

Mineski’s roster has the potential of a world-class team and is undoubtedly the strongest five-man squad in SEA. Despite that though, as discussed in a previous article, Mineski are shaky and the roller-coaster they had for results stands there to prove it. They got a really poor finish at ESL One Genting 2018, finishing 9-12th, and one week later there they are, grabbing a bronze medal at StarLadder i-League Season 4, thus making it impossible to say whether they earned a momentum they can hold or whether it was just a spike in their performance. That being said, with a win-rate of roughly 60% in a total of 262 games, they do have higher chances of beating compLexity Gaming, even though on their head-to-head confrontations they stand tied.

compLexity Gaming

Hailing from North America, compLexity Gaming made it to the top 16 teams and for those that keep an eye on the scene, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Despite their mediocre results at Captains Draft 4.0 (5-8th), ESL One Genting 2018 (9-12th) and StarLadder i-League Season 4 (5-6th), compLexity gaming have been consistently trying to keep a steady level and improve.

OpTic Gaming

We’ve seen this whole concept of forming All-star teams and have them compete quite a few times in the past, and OpTic Gaming is no different. Having former TI level players like Pajkatt, zai and ppd in your roster raises the expectations but the big question still remains: are they ready to take on Virtus.pro? The answer is not that simple as one might expect. Individually they all have more than it takes to clash with VP, but on the other hand this is a team that lost twice to Animal Planet, now signed by Iceberg Esports, and barely won during the Last Chance Qualifiers for Katowice.

Virtus.pro

There’s not much to be said about Virtus.pro either. They are currently playing some of the best Dota we’ve seen from them, following their top spot finish at ESL One Hamburg 2017, they have also seen a number of 2nd to 5th place finishes, including one more Gold medal at Dota Summit 8. It’s uncertain though, if they are able to take down Group A favorites, Team Liquid. On their more recent battles, Virtus.pro can be found on the losing side of the line with a mere 43% win ratio. That in addition to Lil’s very recent departure from the team and his replacement by RodjER raises some doubts as to whether he was given enough time to practice and blend with the team.

See you in Katowice

Tickets to the event are available so be sure to join us for Poland’s first ever Dota 2 Major held in the legendary Spodek arena! For all updates, follow ESL Dota 2 on Twitter and Facebook.

“Our wide-ranging international commitment to sport allows us to accommodate the interests of our diverse target groups,” said Dr Jens Thiemer, Vice President Marketing Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars. “As a brand, we maintain close contact with our customers, are able to build up empathy and to become an accepted part of their world. We have been following the extremely fast-growing eSports segment for some time now and are firmly of the opinion that this new involvement will complement our existing sports sponsoring activities with an eye on the future and allow us to make contact with a very interesting, new target group.”

„We are thrilled to partner with Mercedes-Benz as the premiere automotive brand,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL. “This partnership represents an important step not only for us but for the whole esports industry. Allowing us to explore exciting mobility solutions for the fans and players across the world, growing esports together, and getting it to the next level.”

ESL One Hamburg will be the first Major of the 2017-2018 competitive Dota 2 season and one of the first opportunities to see the reformed teams battle for supremacy. From October 28-29, the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg will play host to eight of the best Dota 2 teams from around the world who are looking to secure early points on their road to The International 8.

Tickets

Be a part of the Dota 2 festival in Manila’s Mall of Asia Area, the same venue that hosted our inaugural SEA Dota 2 event – ESL One Manila.

You can select from any of the following ticket offers:

• General 3-Day admission ticket
  • Upper ring seating
  • Middle ring seating
  • Lower ring seating
• Premium ticket

Grab your Manila Masters tickets today!

The event will be run by our local ESL partners Mineski and we have no doubt that they, as experts of the SEA esports scene, will manage to host an amazing tournament for the ever-craving and incredibly passionate, Filipino Dota 2 fans.

None other than Evil Geniuses and OG have already answered the call to action and have been confirmed as the first directly invited team to the Manila Masters and we can expect many more top teams to secure their trip to Manila in the coming months. Four more teams will receive direct invitations and the remaining three slots will be up for grabs in the various qualifiers.

Ulrich Schulze, ESL Vice President Pro Gaming, is looking forward to Mineski’s exciting project.
“We’ve had a great experience working with Mineski on the region’s largest esports event in 2016, when we hosted the first Dota 2 competition at ESL One Manila. I’m confident that their experience, knowledge and passion for esports is going to be a solid base to build an outstanding event on. We’re excited to see what they will come up with, and we’re looking forward to bringing more ESL events to Manila in the coming years.”

For more details regarding the event, be sure to check out the official Manila Masters website.

Take a look at ten of the best photos from 2015:

The big prize

The ESL One Frankfurt trophy.

Raw emotions

MiSeRy making himself heard.

Team Secret on a roll

Team Secret win ESL One Frankfurt, picking the first ever Techies on their way.

Black^ doesn’t go quietly

Fnatic playing at ESL One New York.

PJSalt

A portrait worthy of the saltiest of them all, EG’s captain ppd.

An iconic venue

The Theater at Madison Square Garden – one of the most unique esports stages.

The boys in blue

Evil Geniuses ahead of their match against Team Secret at the Frankfurt Major.

Going all out

rOtk giving it his all for LGD.

The one and only

EternalEnvy showed some of the most memorable performances of the Frankfurt Major.

Defying the odds

Team OG rampage through the entire lower bracket to win it all.

You can find the entirety of our Dota 2 photos in the ESL Flickr albums.

ESL: Hi, Daniel! First of all, how long have you been balloon twisting?
Daniel “FuDD” Ravia: Watching a balloon documentary on Netflix got me interested in balloons in May 2009 – it’s been almost six years now! Twisted: A Balloonamentary is the documentary I’m referring to.

ESL: How did you first get into balloon twisting?
Daniel: In the film I watched, they mentioned balloon jams – local balloon twisters coming together and sharing/practicing. I was able to find a group locally and was hooked after attending my first balloon jam. I was amazed and in awe of the art you could create and it was the first time in my life when I said “this is it, this is what I want to do with my life” – it scared the crap out of my wife at first, haha.

ESL: Are there any downsides to being a balloon twister?
Daniel: I think the downside for me is the biz side of things. My background is mostly in cooking/ice carving, and I never studied business in college. Paperwork, marketing, taxes – those are the areas I find to be the most difficult.  

ESL: What was your first paid balloon twisting gig?
Daniel: My very first paid gig was a birthday party. I had been doing balloons for tips at a restaurant (the balloon jam people hooked me up with it) and one of the customers hired me for a birthday. I was so nervous… but I had a blast! The hook was sunk even deeper!

ESL: How long did your longest project take? How long does it take you on average?
Daniel: The biggest project I worked on was for the US team at the World Balloon Convention in Denver, Colorado, in March 2014. The piece was a mother and baby tiger with a tree, foliage and a ruined temple wall. This piece took 27 hours straight (it was a timed competition piece) and had over 19,000 balloons with 22 artists from the US working on it. It stood at 18 feet tall (the tree) and had a 30 foot square footprint.

Average balloon times vary depending on the style I am working in and the amount of people. For school carnivals etc., you need to keep the designs basic and average 3 to 5 minutes per design (animals, some characters etc.). At a birthday or in a restaurant (depending on the amount of kids), you can usually spend a bit more time per sculpture, maybe 5 to 8 minutes per sculpture, and make more detailed creations as well as expanding into more complex designs. And then for events like Comic Con, where I make very detailed balloons of anything, these typically take 10+ minutes, sometimes up to 30 minutes.

And then there are display pieces. Depending on the time we have, size, materials, subject matter, budget, etc., these can vary from 30 to 45 minutes for table centerpieces to 2 to 10 or more hours on life-size or larger pieces.

The nice thing about balloons is that you can tweak them to fit any and all requirements, hopefully coming up with a price and time that works for myself and the client!

ESL: What has been your favorite balloon twisting project to date?
Daniel: My most amazing experience… There are so many! If I had to choose, it would be my trip to Ireland last July. It was my first time being out of the USA (other than high school Mexico trips – I live 1.5 hours from the border). Not only was it wonderful to travel to another country, but it was a chance to work with eight other balloon artists in a festival setting, and I learned so much and made some amazing new friends. We also had a lot of time to hang out with other entertainers and street performers! Being somewhere that was not dusty, hot and full of sharp stuff was weird… I mean, you could actually walk barefoot in the grass!

ESL: What’s your favorite video game?
Daniel: StarCraft: Brood War will always be my number one game. I also played a bunch of Counter-Strike when it first came out. I have always loved video games and collected consoles for years… until balloons took over. Since balloons and my ever-increasing work with them, I very rarely play any games other than some Puzzle & Dragons on my phone as well as a bit of gaming with my son on the WiiU and Minecraft on the PC.

ESL: Are you much of a Dota 2 fan?
Daniel: I am familiar with the game and have watched matches (the majority of my watching came after James [Lampkin] asked me about coming to ESL One Frankfurt). I find it interesting and intriguing yet can’t find the time to give it much of a go these days, not only because of my balloon obsession taking precedent but also having two children and all their sports, activities and school stuff – I need more hours in a day!

ESL: What’s your favorite Dota 2 character?
Daniel: Two jump out at me (and this is based solely on the characters’ looks, not how useful they are in game). I really like the Faceless Void – he reminds me of one of the monsters in Pan’s Labyrinth (a favorite movie of mine). I also like the bull guy with the scroll case thing on his back [Earthshaker]. I think both of these guys are cool-looking

ESL: What are you most looking forward to about being at ESL One Frankfurt?
Daniel: It has been a dream of mine since getting into balloons: finding a way to share my love of balloons with a community I was dedicated to for years – the gaming community. I’m sure I’ve gone on and on about how I wanted to bring balloons to gaming events for years on my blog on TeamLiquid, haha. That said, being able to share this art form with a community I feel deeply connected to is huge for me. As well as being able to see another country and its people, it’s also a chance for me to actually fulfill a dream… priceless. Despite having had the desire to do balloons at a gaming event, I never really thought it would be something that would actually happen.

Thank you so much for this opportunity – I hope I can exceed your expectations!

ESL: And thank you for speaking with us, Daniel!

Want to see Daniel and his balloon creations at ESL One Frankfurt? Grab your ticket here!

You can also find Daniel on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

ESL is excited to be returning to Frankfurt to host what will no doubt be another fantastic event, and we hope you’ll be able to join us live at the venue along with thousands of other Dota fans!

The Frankfurt Major

The Majors will be a series of seasonal marquee tournaments set to take place not only throughout the year but also around the globe, and will start this fall in Frankfurt.

The Frankfurt Major will be taking place over six days at Festhalle Messe in Frankfurt, Germany, from November the 16th to the 21st. To be produced by ESL, it will see 16 top Dota teams compete for a massive US$3,000,000 prize pool, with the teams that will be being directly invited to the Frankfurt Major and its regional qualifiers to be revealed on October the 5th.

Source: Frankfurt-Locations.com

The open qualifiers will be being hosted by FACEIT and Perfect World, and will be taking place from October the 6th to the 9th, with the regional qualifiers to follow on October the 10th to the 13th. Open qualifier registration will open to everyone on October the 1st, so be sure to sign up for your chance to compete among some of the Dota world’s biggest stars.

Attendance and tickets

Attendance to the Frankfurt Major will be open to the public and won’t require a ticket except for the finals on Saturday the 21st of November. Tickets for the Frankfurt Major finals will be being sold in two separate waves on Sunday the 27th of September:

• First wave: 11:00 CEST
• Second wave: 19:00 CEST

Tickets will cost €50 and will be available to purchase here.

With two weeks to go until the direct invites begin, be sure to follow ESL Dota 2 on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates!

Get your tickets now!

The eight best teams from around the world will soon gather at the Commerzbank Arena and battle it out for the ESL One Frankfurt championship title with their top-notch Dota 2 skills. Three teams received a direct invitation to the tournament, while the remaining five had to fight for their slot through a series of online qualifiers.

Check out who’s who below!

The invited

Team Secret

Formed less than a year ago and having undergone roster changes in early 2015, Team Secret is made up of experienced and flexible players who previously played for other squads.

Team roster:

• Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

• Gustav “s4” Magnusson

• Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg

• Clement “Puppey” Ivanov

• Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi

Evil Geniuses

Twice the runners-up at the last two ESL One tournaments in New York and Frankfurt, Evil Geniuses is one of the oldest North American esports organizations. Over the years, its Dota 2 squad has successfully proved itself to be one of the best western teams around.

Team roster:

• Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora

• Clinton “Fear” Loomis

• Peter “ppd” Dager

• Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling

• Syed “SumaiL” Sumail Hassan

Vici Gaming

Reigning ESL One New York champion Vici Gaming has always been one of the best teams around, earning top spots at most of the tournaments they participate in. At last year’s ESL One Frankfurt they got knocked out in the quarterfinals by Fnatic, and are now hungry for a much better result this year.

Team roster:

• Xu “fy” Linsen

• Lu “Fenrir” Chao

• Daryl “iceiceice” Koh Pei Xiang

• Xie “Super” Junhao

• Chen “Hao” Zhihao

The qualified

Alliance

One of the most successful European teams and former TI champions, Alliance has several big tournament wins under their belt. They secured their slot at ESL One Frankfurt by going through European upper bracket qualifier A, sweeping all of their opponents including teams such as Cloud9 and Natus Vincere, and won the qualifier without dropping a single game.

Team roster:

• Jonathan “Loda” Berg

• Per Anders “Pajkatt” Olsson Lille

• Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg

• Sébastien “7ckngMad” Debs

• Joakim “Akke” Akterhall

Virtus.pro

Formerly known as ASUS Polar, Virtus.pro secured their Frankfurt ticket by emerging victorious in European upper bracket qualifer B, beating teams like Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Empire on the way.

Team roster:

• Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev

• Sergey “God” Bragin

• Alexander “DkPhobos” Kucheria

• Artem “fng” Barshak

• Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk

Invictus Gaming

The reigning ESL One Frankfurt champions are coming back to defend their title! Having won the Chinese qualifiers in a convincing manner without losing a single game along the way, can they prevail in Frankfurt two years in a row?

Team roster:

• Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei

• Luo “Ferrari_430” Feichi

• Luo “Luo” Yinqi

• Wong Hock “ChuaN” Chuan

• Zeng “Faith” Hongda

Team Malaysia

Formerly known as EHOME.my, Team Malaysia secured a slot at Frankfurt by winning the SEA qualifiers. Still being a fairly new team, they do not have as rich a portfolio as their opponents, but may still bring plenty of surprises to Frankfurt.

Team roster:

• Chai Yee “Mushi” Fung

• Lee Kong “kYxY” Yang

• Chong Xin “Ohaiyo” Khoo

• Joel Chan “XtiNcT” Zhan Leong

• Wai Pern “Net” Lim

Cloud9

Attendees of both last year’s ESL One Frankfurt and New York, Cloud9 had a rocky road to this year’s Frankfurt finals. They started out seeded into round three of the upper bracket qualifier, where they were defeated 2-0 by Alliance. The team was then moved to the lower bracket qualifier, where they played four games and won all of them in a decisive 2-0. They finally secured their slot at Frankfurt yesterday by defeating Natus Vincere.

Team roster:

• Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao

• Adrian “FATA” Trinks

• Pittner “bOne7” Armand

• Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein

• Rasmus “MiSeRy” Filipsen

An event not to be missed!

Which such an amazing lineup of teams, ESL One Frankfurt 2015 is shaping up to be one of the biggest Dota 2 tournaments in history – be sure not to miss out on being part of this fantastic event!

Get your ticket here!

For all the latest information about ESL One Frankfurt, head over to the event’s official website.

Let’s take a closer look at how both qualifiers unfolded.

SEA qualifier

The SEA qualifier consisted of three single elimination rounds and a final. We saw four matchups in each of the first two rounds as four teams were seeded into round two, with all of the games ending in decisive 2-0 wins up until round three. Check out all of the results leading up to the final below!

Round one

Round two

Round three

The final battle for a slot at Frankfurt came down to Mineski and Team Malaysia, with the latter coming out victorious in a convincing 2-0 fashion!

Check out the full match below:

Chinese qualifier

The Chinese qualifier was one step shorter and began with a round of eight. It then continued into a round of four and onto the final. Here’s a breakdown of all of the matches:

Round one

Round two

The final game came down to TI4 winners Newbee and defending ESL One Frankfurt champions Invictus Gaming, who had not lost a single game in the qualifier. In the end, the reigning Frankfurt champions proved their skills and defeated Newbee 2 to 0. They will travel to Frankfurt to defend their title.

Watch the match VODs here (coming soon)!

Only one spot left!

There is now only one spot left for the finals in Frankfurt, and it will be secured by the team who wins the European lower bracket qualifier. The next match will take place on April the 30th at 18:00 CEST as Cloud 9 take on Team Empire!

Tune in here on April the 30th!

For all the latest information, be sure to check out the official website and follow us on Twitter!