Monte, MIBR, OG among teams taking part in CCT Online Finals 3; BESTIA snubbed

A total of five top 30 squads will compete in the online event starting on Monday.

Monte are the highest-ranked team on the invite list

GRID have announced the 16 teams attending CCT 2023 Online Finals 3, the $200,000 event set to go live between September 18-25. The tournament will feature the best performers from Europe and South America's regional CCT competitions, and will set them against each other in a double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches.

The invite list caused controversy, as 9z, who ended the regional competitions as the top team in the CCT leaderboard, stepped down due to their participation at ESL Pro League Season 18 and BESTIA were overlooked despite being the No. 4 team on the ladder.

BESTIA claimed there was a precedent for them to receive the invite set in the first edition of the online event, when Fluxo (No. 1 in South America) stepped down, and Corinthians (No. 4) were invited to replace them.

GRID explained their decision to HLTV, stating that only top 3 teams in their circuit receive a guaranteed invite and time constraints following 9z's decision to decline participation made travel arrangements for the Argentine squad "extremely hard."

9z's travel arrangements had not been booked yet, however, which should have made it possible for BESTIA to be invited according to the team's coach, Rodrigo "⁠pino⁠" Manarino. Instead, other South American teams already in Europe were invited.

BESTIA were not given an invite despite a spot becoming available after the forfeiture of a team in their local ranking

A total of five teams ranked inside the HLTV top 30 will attend the competition in the form of Monte, MIBR, OG, 1win, and Aurora. Felipe "⁠insani⁠" Yuji and company will compete as the highest-ranked South American squad after a respectable showing at EPL S18. The three other teams from the region will be Sharks, Fake Natty, and Paquetá.

Into the Breach with new in-game leader Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev will also be in attendance, looking to continue on their upward trajectory following their second-place finish at the BLAST Fall Showdown qualifier last week. 00NATION's new roster will be a team to keep an eye on after their triumph in the Pinnacle Cup V powered by Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische and Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro.

ALTERNATE aTTaX, SINNERS, and Looking4Org have been hovering around the top 30 over the past two weeks while Sprout are yet to recover their ranking due to their transfer activity during the summer. Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter and company have been inconsistent this summer, but have recently shown their ability to upset more established teams such as fnatic and Falcons.

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Preasy and HAVU round up the list of teams attending the competition. The Danish quintet was formed in August around graduates from Copenhagen Flames, and have climbed all the way to the No. 55 spot in the HLTV ranking.

It will be the third edition of the event since the organizers announced their decision to move the studio finals to an online setting in March. Virtus.pro, the champions of CCT Online Finals 2, will not defend their title this time around as they'll be competing at ESL Pro League Season 18.

The CCT Online Finals 3 team list is as follows:

Monte
MIBR
OG
1win
Aurora
00NATION
ALTERNATE aTTaX
SINNERS

Looking4Org
Preasy
Sprout
Into the Breach
Sharks
Fake Natty
HAVU
SELVA