posted by aliasalina,
The format:
Group Stage: October 5th - 20th
- One group of all 16 teams (11 invited, 5 through qualifiers)
- Swiss system – teams stop playing after three wins or three losses
- Teams never play against an opponent twice
- Three wins necessary to proceed to playoffs, where a total of eight teams meet
Playoffs: October 23rd - November 1st
- Double elimination bracket in Bo3
- Grand Final in Bo5
The participants
Who to watch?
Team Secret enter the tournament as a promising candidate for the title. The European team looks back on a winning streak of eight tournaments in a row – all going 3:0 in the finals. This might very well be their ninth win unless the other competitors manage to break their spirit.
The brand new free stack mudgolems will also compete in the tournament. The promising lin-eup around Adrian 'Fata' Trinks and Neta '33' Shapira fought their way through the qualifiers and are in for some interesting matches.
As Topias 'Topson' Taavitsainen recently turned into Topdad, he skipped the latest tournament to take care of his family. OG included their coach Titouan 'Sockshka' Merloz to their active line-up at OGA Dota PIT Season 3: EU/CIS, but it seems like Topson is ready to play again at the ESL One.
Natus Vincere are going to compete with players from the former FlyToMoon who they recently signed – which might restult in suspenseful encounters. The squad kicked off their first tournament under new colours quite successful: Vladimir 'RodjER' Nikogosyan and his team-mates scored a fourth place finish at OGA Dota PIT Season 3: EU/CIS, where they first claiemd their slot trough the qualifiers and then went on to beat veterans Nigma and the weakened OG squad.
Tune in to the official ESL Livestream to watch all matches!
Which team are you rooting for?
Photo credit: Valve / ESL
Comments