Changes to EMS One structure

The Electronic Sports League (ESL) has announced some minor changes to the structure of the RaidCall EMS One.

Rather than just the eight LAN finalists, the fall season of RaidCall EMS One will also feature the third-place finishers of the group stage, bringing the number of teams who assure direct entry into the cups to 12.

This means that only eight teams, instead of twelve, will come from the A-Series to battle it out in the cups next season.

The move comes as a result of the number of big-name teams who made it to the group stage this season. The ESL thinks that since most of the top sides are already in the competition, it does not make sense for some of them to go through the A-Series again.

"The basic premise of our tournament format is to allow up-and-coming teams to compete with established powerhouses," Lari "D.Devil" Syrota, Product Manager of RaidCall EMS One, said.

"Now, the latest results in our cups have proven that the competitive environment in CS:GO has reached a level where plenty of teams can impose a real threat to anyone, and many of the matches even in the first rounds could have gone either way.

"Taking this into account, it would be counter-intuitive to have these teams go through the A-Series again and again – the third-place finishers in our groups cannot be considered "challengers" whatsoever, as they clearly belong to Europe's elite.

"This is why it is logical to grand them a fixed spot in our following season as well. This change will hopefully also make the A-Series more attractive as a platform where new talent is fostered – even though I must admit that even with four top teams less, the Premier Division will still be stacked. Playing CS:GO professionaly isn't easy, that's for sure."

The group stage of this EMS One season will rune from June 10th to 13th, while the LAN finals will take place on June 29th-30th, inside the ESL TV's studio, in Cologne.