K23, Mythic qualify for ESL Challenger League S41

4-4-2022 13:33

With their win in ESEA Advanced Season 40, the two teams have achieved direct qualification to the ESL Challenger League.

As the lower ESEA leagues are coming to a close, teams are fighting for spots in the higher divisions, as the league system provides them with a shot at qualifying for ESL Pro League. The regular season finished with 24 teams qualifying for the playoffs, which concluded with a double-elimination bracket.

The European division of the ESEA Advanced Season 40 was won by K23, who beat Sangal in the grand final in a quick 3-0. They were amongst the highest rated teams in the event, but the event didn't go as smoothly for them as they might have expected, as they dropped maps to FAMBIT, AVE, MAD Lions and Sangal in the upper bracket final. Once they faced Sangal again in the rematch however, they made no mistake, taking advantage of their one map head start and quickly booked their spot in the next season of the ESL Challenger League.

xsepower was K23's highest-rated player at the tournament

Perhaps the most surprising team to miss out on qualifying altogether is FORZE, who with their #20 ranking were the highest rated team in the event but finished outside the qualifying spots after first losing to MASONIC and getting relegated to the lower bracket, where they eventually fell to FAMBIT.

The teams who have narrowly missed out on direct qualification, which are MAD Lions, Sangal, Run or Die, MASONIC and FAMBIT, will have another opportunity to qualify from the ESL Challenger League S40 Relegation, where they will battle with the eight worst performing ESL Challenger League teams for four spots in next season's league.

The team list for the ESL Challenger League S40 EU Relegation, which will be happening from April 4-8, is as follows:

In the North American division it was Mythic who prevailed in the grand final against Unjustified. The team consisting of NA stalwarts Ryan "⁠freakazoid⁠" Abadir, Erik "⁠fl0m⁠" Flom and Austin "⁠Cooper⁠" Abadir dominated the playoffs, dropping just one single map on their way to the final. Their final match went according to expectations, as they closed out the series with a 3-0 win. The tournament was a very successful one for freakazoid, as he recorded a 1.39 rating across the whole event.