Introducing the ESL Pro European Championship (EPEC) - a tournament that will see the strongest teams from the most recent season of ESL’s National Championships compete for European glory and a slot on the next MDL relegation for the two finalists.
The first iteration of the EPEC will already take place from October 13-14 this year in Poznan, Poland, and it will have a prize pool of 70,000€. As the National Champions of the strongest country, Poland’s AGO Esports are already directly invited to the offline finals, where only the four strongest teams will have the chance to battle for the title. The remaining three open spots will be determined via the EPEC online phase on August 28-29.
Participating in the online portion of the tournament will be the most recent ESL National Champions from 9 different countries or regions, plus the runners-up from the strongest three.
This gives us the following online qualifier teams:
Poland: Team Kinguin
Germany: EURONICS Gaming, [tbd]
France: aAa, LDLC
UK: Endpoint, fish123
Spain: KPI Gaming
Southeast Europe: Nexus Gaming
Italy: Forge
BeNeLux: Defusekids
Turkey: No Quarter Cartel
Rules
- Two round robin groups of 6, Bo1, Top3 from each group qualify for final group of 6. Top3 from the final group qualify for the offline event.
- In the final group, the results from day 1 against the other qualified opponents from your own group will be carried over (so the matches A1-A2,A1-A3,A2-A3,B1-B2,B1-B3,B2-B3 will not be played again)
- ESL Pro League season points rules: Regular win gives 3 points, OT win 2 points, OT loss 1 point, regular loss 0 points. Ties will be resolved by ESL Pro League rules.
Schedule
Day 1: Tue 28th August
- 15:30 Group A & B Round 1 (6 matches)
- 17:00 Group A & B Round 2 (6 matches)
- 18:30 Group A & B Round 3 (6 matches)
- 20:00 Group A & B Round 4 (6 matches)
- 21:30 Group A & B Round 5 (6 matches)
Day 2: Wed 29th August
- 17:00 Final Group Round 1: A1vsB3 & A2vsB2 & A3vsB1
- 18:30 Final Group Round 2: A1vsB2 & A2vsB1 & A3vsB3
- 20:00 Final Group Round 3: A1vsB1 & A2vsB3 & A3vsB2
In addition to the EPEC, we’re also excited to reveal the new way for all European ESL National Championship CS:GO Teams to qualify for the MDL - the Climber Cup.
In the current system, the five strongest European nations get the chance to play their way into the MDL. But beginning with the Relegation for MDL Season 30, there will a online tournament, the Climber Cup, taking place before the Relegation kicks off. In that tournament, each European country with an ESL operated National Championship will be represented by one team. The best teams from that competition will then move on to the MDL Relegation to fight for a spot in the next season.
The list of countries currently eligible for the Climber Cup tournament are:
- Poland
- DACH region (Germany, Austria & Switzerland)
- France
- UK
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Italy
- Turkey
- South-East-Europe
- Czech Republic and Slovakia
The team that will be eligible from each National Championship will be the best ranked team that has use for the slot (meaning that teams that already hold a slot for EPL, MDL or MDL Relegation will be skipped and the next best team from the same region will inherit it). The eligible team will then join the next possible Climber Cup event for their chance to advance to the MDL.
This means the top four teams from the ESEA Advanced division will still qualify for the MDL relegation tournament identically to the previous season. Make sure your team doesn't miss out on the ESEA League by registering before September 3rd. More information about the ESEA League is available here.
You think you got what it takes to make in into the MDL? Then be sure to check out whether there’s a National Championship on ESL Play for your home country or compete in the ESEA League!
