ESL announce qualifier dates for upcoming Pro Tour events

Information on IEM Dallas, as well as ESL Challenger Melbourne and Hannover, was included in the announcement.

ESL has released qualifier information about IEM Dallas, as well as ESL Challenger events in Melbourne and Hannover. Also included was the distribution of invite and qualifying slots for each event.

For IEM Dallas, a 16-team event held May 29-June 4, there will be six partner team slots, five invite slots including a 'local hero', and five qualifying slots. The 'local hero' slot goes to one of the best-performing national teams, while the other invites are determined by the ESL world ranking, with those invites set to go out February 13. In Dallas there will be two qualified teams from Europe and one apiece from North America, Oceania, and South America.

ESL Challenger Melbourne, an eight-team tournament set to take place April 28-30, will have four invite slots and four qualifying slots. One of the invite slots will go to a 'local hero', with the remaining three handed out based on ESL's world ranking. The invites will be sent out on February 13. As for the qualifying teams, one each will come from regional qualifiers being held in Europe, North America, Oceania and Asia.

ESL Challenger Hannover, slated for June 9-11, is a similar story to Melbourne, however the details are slightly different. There will be no 'local hero' invite, meaning all four invited teams will be selected via the ESL world ranking, whilst the qualifying regions are Europe, North America, South America, and South Africa. The invites for this event will be sent out on April 3.

The qualifier links, as well as detailed information regarding schedule times and format, will be revealed in the next couple of weeks. Information on Melbourne and Dallas is due first, with Hannover to follow.

Also mentioned as part of the announcement was the cutoff date for IEM Cologne invites, which as per usual will be based on the ESL world ranking. That date is June 12.

The qualifier dates are as follows:

IEM Dallas

Europe Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier #1: March 11-12
Open Qualifier #2: March 22-23
Closed Qualifier: March 25-27

North America Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier #1: February 28-March 1
Open Qualifier #2: March 2-3
Closed Qualifier: March 4-5

Oceania Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier #1: March 20-21
Open Qualifier #2: March 22-23
Closed Qualifier: March 24-25

South America Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier #1: March 16-17
Open Qualifier #2: March 26-27
Closed Qualifier: April 12-13

ESL Challenger Melbourne

Europe Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: February 25-26
Closed Qualifier: March 8-10

North America Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: March 19-20
Closed Qualifier: March 27-28

Oceania Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: March 15-16
Closed Qualifier: March 18-19

Asia Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: February 27-28
Closed Qualifier: March 2-3

ESL Challenger Hannover

Europe Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: May 3-4
Closed Qualifier: May 20-22

North America Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: April 11-12
Closed Qualifier: April 13-14

South America Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: April 14-15
Closed Qualifier: May 3-4

South Africa Qualifiers:

Open Qualifier: April 20-21
Closed Qualifier: April 24-25