Starting on the 22nd of April, the qualification for ESL One Cologne 2017 kicks off, giving teams from Europe and North America a chance to earn a spot alongside Virtus.pro, SK Gaming, FaZe, Fnatic and Natus Vincere! The qualifiers for both regions consist of two open and one closed qualifier.
The open qualifiers with an unlimited number of teams will be using a best-of-one single elimination bracket until the decider matches in the final round of the qualifier, which will be played in best-of-three mode. These winners will take a spot in the closed qualifiers, where they will join the six invited European and four invited North American teams. In North America two of the invited teams will gain a spot directly into the semifinals of the closed qualifier.
Europe
Open Qualifier #1: 22nd and 23rd of April - Start time: 18:00 CEST
Open Qualifier #2: 28th and 29th of April - Start time: 19:00 CEST
Closed Qualifier: 21st of May
- 12:00 CEST: two quarter finals
- 15:00 CEST: two quarter finals
- 18:00 CEST: semi final #1 (winner qualifies for ESL One Cologne)
- 21:00 CEST: semi final #2 (winner qualifies for ESL One Cologne)
North America
Open Qualifier #1: 22nd and 23rd of April - Start time: 14:00 EDT
Open Qualifier #2: 29th and 30th of April - Start time: 14:00 EDT
Closed Qualifier: 20th of May
- 12:00 EDT: two quarter finals
- 15:00 EDT: semi final #1
- 18:00 EDT: semi final #2
- 21:00 EDT: grand final (winner qualifies for ESL One Cologne)
We are looking forward to finding out the remaining three teams for ESL One Cologne and maybe we even see some underdog soon taking the stage among legends at the LANXESS arena!
Also stay tuned by following ESL Counter-Strike on Twitter and Facebook for more news about ESL One Cologne and the qualification, which will see another region joining the fight for another spot in the main tournament soon!