ESL One Cologne 2016 is less than two months away and the time is approaching to determine the final lineup of teams who will compete at the event. We of course know the eight Legend teams who secured their slot at Cologne at the last Major: reigning champions from Luminosity Gaming, as well as Natus Vincere, Astralis, Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, Counter logic Gaming and Virtus.pro. Joining them will be eight Challenger teams which will be decided through the offline qualifier.
Offline qualifier
The ESL One Cologne offline qualifier will take place on June 9-12 2016 in the ESL studios in Katowice, Poland. The matches happening on the 11th and 12th (Saturday and Sunday) will be open to public however, with very limited seating. Information about ticket sales as well as the qualifier format will come soon.
The teams
A total of 16 teams from around the world will travel to Katowice to battle it out for a slot at the Major. Eight of the teams have received direct invitations due to their placement at the previous Major, while the other eight have been determined by the CIS, Asia, Europe and Americas Minors, with the Americas one being currently played out. The competing teams are as follows:
- EnVyUs
- FaZe Clan
- G2 Esports
- Mousesports
- Splyce
- Gambit Gaming
- FlipSid3 Tactics
- Cloud9
- FLuffy Gangsters (CIS Minor winner)
- Team Empire (CIS Minor runner-up)
- TyLoo (Asia Minor winner)
- Renegades (Asia Minor runner-up)
- Team Dignitas (EU Minor winner)
- HellRaisers (EU Minor runner-up)
- America Minor winner (19th to 22nd of May)
- Americas Minor runner-up (19th to 22nd of May)
The Major approaches
ESL One Cologne will take place a month after the offline qualifier, on July 8-10. Be sure not to miss the world's biggest CS:GO event and get your ticket here!
Remember to keep your eyes peeled to the ESL CS Twitter and Facebook for all important updates and the qualifier and the event itself.