Three partner Fantasy games go live

Test your Counter-Strike knowledge and compete for skin prizes across three separate editions of the HLTV Fantasy game.

The knockout stage for Elisa invitational Winter 2023 starts on Tuesday as 12 teams prepare to take on the online event's single-elimination bracket. The second phase of the competition will be accompanied by a non-seasonal edition of the HLTV Fantasy game, meaning it will not provide points for the Spring Season Leaderboard.

ESL Challenger Melbourne 2023's European closed qualifiers and RES Eastern European Master also go live this week on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Both online qualifiers will go along with their own Fantasy games, allowing users to compete for skin prizes in the HLTV x Roobet League.

Elisa invited four teams directly to the quarter-finals of their event, meaning the remaining eight squads in the first playoff round will have the opportunity to earn extra points from their additional matches. The likes of 9INE, HAVU, and Copenhagen Flames have impressed in online competitions this year, and a deep run from such teams could benefit users that added players from the round-of-12 to their fantasy squads.

BIG, ATK, Movistar Riders, and GamerLegion all begin their challenge in the quarter-finals, which means their players will earn six points each. The potential semi-final matchup between BIG and GamerLegion guarantees one of the two won't make it to the grand final, something for users to keep in mind when building their teams.

The HLTV x Roobet league for Elisa Invitational Winter Playoffs will have the following skin prizes:

1. Driver Gloves | Racing Green (Field-Tested)
2. AWP | Hyper Beast (Field-Tested)
3. AK-47 | Asiimov (Field-Tested)

The ESL Challenger Melbourne closed qualifier will host eight teams in a double elimination bracket, from which only one squad will advance to the main event. Sprout are the most recognizable team in the qualifier, but recent roster changes have pushed them below Aurora and FORZE in the rankings.

1win's Denis "⁠deko⁠" Zhukov is the game's most expensive player with an impressive $228,000 price tag, while Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas appears as the cheapest option at $169,000. More than 31% of users have selected Aurora's Viktor "⁠Lack1⁠" Boldyrev ($185,000), making him the most picked player despite his unimpressive 0.96 rating in 2023.

The HLTV x Roobet league for ECL Melbourne Closed Qualifier will have the following skin prizes:

1. Driver Gloves | Racing Green (Field-Tested)
2. AWP | Duality (Field-Tested)
3. AK-47 | Black Laminate (Field-Tested)

RES Eastern European Masters Spring 2023 will evenly divide eight teams into two GLS-style groups for the first portion of the tournament. The two best squads from each set will advance into a classic single-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches.

Cloud9 are the favorites to qualify for the BLAST Showdown after their recent run at ESL Pro League Season 17, in which they topped Group A over G2 and Outsiders. Bad News Eagles and Eternal Fire are the only teams that could potentially challenge the Russians for the qualifying spot, but it's unlikely that they'll be able to take them down in a BO3 playoff match due to Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov 's men current form.

The HLTV x Roobet league for ECL Melbourne Closed Qualifier will have the following skin prizes:

1. Driver Gloves | Racing Green (Field-Tested)
2. AWP | Electric Hive (Field-Tested)
3. M4A1-S | Atomic Alloy (Field-Tested)

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Please take note of the Fantasy rules before competing as they provide important information regarding the prizes, eligibility, and selection of winners. Fantasy is free of charge and can be played in official HLTV leagues, as well as independently organized private and public ones.

Start playing Fantasy by going to the Fantasy page here.