The Global Challenge Kiev has finished. The StarCraft II Grand Final between MMA and DIMAGA was the last game of the evening. The tournament favorite MMA won 3-1 and took home the title. In return the crowed favorite DIMAGA won the SICK NERD BALLER title. The third place also went to a Ukrainian, Kas, who had to jump onto the stage on one leg since he had broken the other one prior to the event. The biggest surprise of the tournament was Belgian Protoss Feast who played his first ever Global Challenge and made it out of the group stage to the quarter-finals where he lost to future champion MMA. Yet his performance gained him a lot of fans and respect.

1. MMA 2. DIMAGA 3. Kas
SICK NERD BALLER DIMAGA

In the Counter-Strike tournament the story of Natus Vincere was crowned with a dominating victory over SK Gaming. The current Intel Extreme Masters champion had not qualified originally for the event and came in as a replacement. It was their first and only chance this season to qualify for the World Championship finals and they used it well.

1. Natus Vincere 2. SK Gaming 3. Moscow 5
MVP Na'Vi Zeus

The world of League of Legends has a new big name: Moscow 5. The Russian team won the tournament in such a dominating fashion that surprised almost everyone. They were known to be strong, but what they showed in the tournament was mind blowing.

1. Moscow 5 2. Team SoloMid 3. Team Dignitas
I CARRIED KIEV M5 Diamondez

We would to thank everyone who tuned into the streams, followed us on Twitter or Facebook and visited the website. You guys are the reason why we do this. The next stop will be in Sao Paulo, Brazil in February. We hope to see you there again.

[22:15] The final is over. MMA won the title of Kiev with a 3-1 over DIMAGA. In return the fan favorite from Ukraine won the SICK NERD BALLER Award.

We would like to say thank you to everyone who followed us this weekend on the streams, the website, on Twitter or Facebook. Special shout out to all the BarCrafts going on around the world. You guys are great.

We hope you liked it and we hope to see you in Sao Paulo!

[20:41] It is time for the last game of the Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge Kiev: The StarCraft II Grand Final between DIMAGA and MMA.

[20:21] Kas has done it. He won the 3rd place in Kiev with a 3-2 over Zenio in what has been the most epic series in the tournament so far. The crowd celebrates him like he just took the first place, they are proud of their fellow countryman.

Should DIMAGA win against MMA in the upcoming final the CyberSport Arena will go wild, for sure.

[19:49] The third place match in StarCraft II just entered its fifth and final map. Kas and Zenio are showing us a great series and it will now be decided on the last map.

[18:32] The first two out of three MVP titles have been decided:

MVP: Zeus (Natus Vincere)
I CARRIED KIEV: Diamondez (Moscow 5)

[17:50] The second local hero just won the second grand final. The support of the crowd here is amazing. But even more amazing was the outstanding play of Moscow Five. In two out of three matches they just outplayed Solomid like they did in their previous games using uncommon champions and builds and fighting for every buff available on the map with impressing teamplay. First thing Moscow Five did after killing TSM's Nexus for the second time? They packed their equipment. That's discipline you need to win a Global Challenge!

[17:38] DIMAGA managed to win his Semi-Final against Kas with a close 3-2. Afterwards the All-Korean Semi-Final between MMA and Zenio started. MMA showed his strength and why he is the tournament favorite with a clear 3-0 over Zenio. The Grand Final tonight will be DIMAGA vs. MMA.

Meanwhile Moscow Five and Team SoloMid are on the third and final round after the Americans won the second round in a very convincing fashion.

[16:25] The first StarCraft II Semi-Final between DIMAGA and Kas is tied at 2-2 right now and the fifth and deciding match is live.

Meanwhile in the League of Legends Grand Final, Moscow 5 continues to show a dominating performance and are leading right now with 1-0 against Team SoloMid.

[15:09] We've seen an amazing and entertaining series with some of the world's best League of Legends players and exciting champions such as (Jungle) Pantheon, AP Tristana and Akali. In the end Dignitas managed to take the third place. After congratulating to their victory, Ocelote sits down at Dignitas' area and starts in-depth AP carry talking with Scarra for several minutes.

[14:39] The League of Legends 3rd place match is still going on between SK Gaming and Team Dignitas. The score is 1-1 right now and the third map is live. The Grand Final between Moscow 5 and Team SoloMid will start in around 30 minutes.

The vote for the MVP in Counter-Strike will stay open until 16 CET / 17 EET.



[13:50] Natus Vincere just won the Counter-Strike Grand Final with 2-0 over SK Gaming. The two time Intel Extreme Masters champion showed a dominating performance and is now qualified for the world finals. And originally they weren't even qualified for Kiev. What a story to tell.

Important: The vote for the Counter-Strike MVP will stay open a little longer due to our current website issues.

[12:20] The 3rd place match in League of Legends between SK Gaming and Team Dignitas is underway. The Counter-Strike Grand Final is starting any second. The visitors at CyberSport Arena will surely give Natus Vincere a lot of support.

[12:05] The maps for the Counter-Strike Grand Final have been chosen. It will start on de_inferno, picked by SK, follwed by de_train, picked by Na'Vi. If a third map is needed it will be de_dust2. Oldschool!

[11:30] Everyone make sure that they cast their votes for the three MVP titles that will be given out today. Counter-Strike will be the first Grand Final and also be the first MVP title that we'll give out. So vote now.

VOTE NOW

[11:22] Hello and welcome everyone to the fourth and final day of the Global Challenge Kiev, live from the CyberSport Arena. A total of seven games will be played out today, including all three Grand Finals. See for yourself what we have in store:

22/01/12 11:00 CEST Grand Final: Na'Vi vs. SK Gaming
22/01/12 11:00 CEST 3rd Place Match: SK Gaming vs. Team Dignitas
22/01/12 14:00 CEST Semi Final #1: DIMAGA vs. Kas
22/01/12 14:30 CEST Grand Final: Moscow 5 vs. Team SoloMid
22/01/12 15:30 CEST Semi Final #2: Zenio vs. MMA
22/01/12 17:00 CEST 3rd Place Match: Kas vs. Zenio
22/01/12 18:30 CEST Grand Final: dimaga vs. MMA

Sunday will be the final day of the Global Challenge Kiev where all the finals will be played out. A total seven matches is awaiting you in StarCraft II, League of Legends and Counter-Strike. Starting time is 12:00 local time in Kiev, Ukraine.

22/01/12 11:00 CEST Grand Final: Na'Vi vs. SK Gaming
22/01/12 11:00 CEST 3rd Place Match: SK Gaming vs. Team Dignitas
22/01/12 14:00 CEST Semi Final #1: DIMAGA vs. Kas
22/01/12 14:30 CEST Grand Final: Moscow 5 vs. Team SoloMid
22/01/12 15:30 CEST Semi Final #2: Zenio vs. MMA
22/01/12 17:00 CEST 3rd Place Match: tbd vs. tbd
22/01/12 18:30 CEST Grand Final: tbd vs. tbd

See you tomorrow, enjoy the show and spread the word. eSports at its best at the Global Challenge Kiev of the Intel Extreme Masters.

Tomorrow not only the winners of the Global Challenge Kiev will be crowned but also the MVP titles will be handed out. These three titles are determined by one source: YOU!

The community can now vote for the SICK NERD BALLER (StarCraft II), I CARRIED KIEV (League of Legends) and the MVP (Counter-Strike).

In each category there are six players up for vote and it will run until the respective game final has ended. Now it is time to present the nominees:

VOTE NOW DIMAGA Kas Zenio MMA Feast White-Ra

VOTE NOW M5 Diamondez TSM Chaox TSM TheOddOne M5 Alex Ich TSM Xpecial M5 Dar1en

VOTE NOW Na'Vi Zeus SK GeT_RiGhT Na'Vi Edward SK f0rest M5 xek fnatic Gux

Prize Package

Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition CPU
BenQ XL2410T Display
Razer Bundle
Exclusive, unique MVP Hoodie

The winners will be announced together with the winning teams in each game after the respective finals. Now it is your turn to decide.

[00:03] MMA won the last quarter-final of the day with 3-1 against Feast. The Korean will now meet his fellow countryman Zenio in the semi-final.

You can now vote for the MVP's of Kiev in StarCraft II, League of Legends and Counter-Strike.

VOTE NOW

[23:08] Zenio won the quarter-final against NaNiwa with 3-1. His semi-final opponent is being played out now between Korean favorit MMA and Belgian underdog Feast.

[22:24] The third quarter-final is currently underway. Korean Zerg Zenio is facing Swedish Protoss NaNiwa who is living in Korea at the moment. At this moment the score is 1-1 in this best-of-five with the third map being played.

[21:44] Kas did it. He just won the fifth and deciding map against White-Ra and took the series with 3-2. Tomorrow he will face yet another fellow Ukrainian when he plays in the semi-final against DIMAGA.

[21:03] Dignitas didn't have any chance. At least that is what SoloMid made it look like. Two maps and an overall score of 34 to 4 kills. Tomorrow's grand final is set: Baylife Bros of TSM versus Moscow Five, Kiev's local heroes. Dignitas is still sitting paralysed in front of their PCs. But there is enough time to recover for the 3rd place decider against SK Gaming on Sunday.

[20:41] Moscow Five has just won the 3rd place in the Counter-Strike tournament with a 2-1 over fnatic. The final map was de_inferno which was won with 16:10. Congratulations to them.

Meanwhile the score between Kas and White-Ra in the All-Ukrainian StarCraft II quarter-final is 1:1 in a best-of-five.

Team SoloMid has won the first round against Team Dignitas and is up 1:0 in the second League of Legends semi-final.



[19:51] DIMAGA won his quarter-final against Pomi with 3-2 after he was down 0-2. A great comeback from the Zerg that is so loved by the crowed here. Pomi earned himself a lot of respect though with a stellar performance at his first ever Intel Extreme Masters tournament.

Meanwhile the Counter-Strike 3rd place between fnatic and Moscow 5 is underway and currently tied 1-1. The deciding map will be de_inferno.

In League of Legends the second semi-final is being played out at the moment. American teams TSM and Dignitas are in the first game in this best-of-three. The winner will face Moscow Five in the final who have shown some incredible play here so far.

[18:19] Moscow Five won the League of Legends semi-final against SK convincingly with 2-0. After M5 lost against SK in the Counter-Strike semi-final it was a sort of payback for the Russian eSports clan. Right now another Russian is trying to make a name for himself: Pomi is leading 1:0 against local favorite DIMAGA in the first StarCraft II quarter-final.

[18:15] New pictures from the first playoff day have been uploaded. So far not a single person was lifted by Carmac, but that shouldn't keep you from looking at them:

All pictures at Global Challenge Kiev Gallery
[17:23] The first League of Legends semi-final between SK Gaming and Moscow 5 is going into the second map any minute. Moscow Five continues to show amazing play at this Global Challenge and is currently leading with 1-0. Meanwhile the first StarCraft II quarter-final between DIMAGA and Pomi will start soon. The first 3rd place match will also be played today, in Counterstrike between fnatic and Moscow 5.

21/01/12 15:00 CEST Semi Final #1: SK Gaming vs. Moscow Five
21/01/12 16:30 CEST Quarter Final #1: Pomi vs. dimaga
21/01/12 17:00 CEST 3rd Place Match: fnatic vs. Moscow 5
21/01/12 18:00 CEST Quarter Final #2: White-Ra vs. Kas
21/01/12 18:10 CEST Semi Final #2: Team Solomid vs. Team Dignitas
21/01/12 19:30 CEST Quarter Final #3: Naniwa vs. Zenio
21/01/12 21:00 CEST Quarter Final #4: Feast vs. MMA

[15:48] The first map between SK and M5 will go into overtime after each team dominated one half. What a great start into the match.



[14:55] The second Counter-Strike semi-final between SK and M5 is coming up soon. The maps will be de_mirage, de_train and de_nuke if needed. Tune in to ESL TV.



[14:06] For all of you who are waiting for the League of Legends semi-finals to being later today, check out the following links:

Group Stage and Semi-Final Analysis
Semi-Final Preview

[13:20] Na'Vi has won the first map against fnatic under the constant cheers, clapping and support of the local fans. The atmosphere is fantastic. We've also created a preliminary ranking to show the influence Kiev had to so far on the World Championship qualification.

[10:55] Welcome to the third day of the Global Challenge Kiev. Today the Play-Offs are starting and currently fnatic and Na'Vi are setting up on the stage here at the CyberSport Arena. Check-out what else we have in store for you today:


21/01/12 11:00 CEST Semi Final #1: fnatic vs. Na'Vi
21/01/12 13:40 CEST Semi Final #2: SK Gaming vs. Moscow Five
21/01/12 15:00 CEST Semi Final #1: SK Gaming vs. Moscow Five
21/01/12 16:30 CEST Quarter Final #1: Pomi vs. dimaga
21/01/12 17:00 CEST 3rd Place Match: fnatic vs. Moscow 5
21/01/12 18:00 CEST Quarter Final #2: White-Ra vs. Kas
21/01/12 18:10 CEST Semi Final #2: Team Solomid vs. Team Dignitas
21/01/12 19:30 CEST Quarter Final #3: Naniwa vs. Zenio
21/01/12 21:00 CEST Quarter Final #4: Feast vs. MMA

To show the impact of the Global Challenge Kiev on the Season Rankings we have created a preliminary ranking that you can see below. For Counter-Strike and League of Legends this event is the last before the World Championship and that means the final results of this event will determine the final rankings. StarCraft II players still have a chance to improve their ranking at the Global Challenge Sao Paulo.

Preliminary Ranking Rules

These rankings are not final, they are preliminary
Teams and players who participate in Kiev are marked with a * behind their points
Teams and players that went out in the group stage received the points they are entitled too
Teams and players in the play-offs received the minimum amount of points they can receive (for now), so 4th place points for Counter-Strike and League of Legends, 25, and 5-8th place points in StarCraft II, 20.
The tie-breaker rules which determine the standing when two or more teams or players have the same points were not taken into account. This is why teams and players with the same amont of points are ranked at the same place.

Due to the huge time difference not all of you will be able to watch the show live. And with this news there is no need to! You will get all replays of all matches in this news without any spoilers! As soon as a match has ended, we will upload the replays to the respective match and link all replays here.

You don't have to click on each match trying to ignore the score screen. Each match has five map links. If a match didn't need all five maps, the remaining map links are empty. Download and watch them one by one, if you want to avoid any spoilers. Furthermore we will link all available VoDs. We will not add the names of the semi final and final participants to avoid this spoilers, too. The respective semi final consists of the two quarter finals winners under it. All replays of the groupstage are available in this news.

Download all at once:
Playoff Replay Package & Groupstage Replay Package

Grand Final - vs. - Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Semi Final #1 - vs. - Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Quarter Final #1 dimaga vs. Pomi Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Quarter Final #2 White-Ra vs. Kas Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD

Match for 3rd Place - vs. - Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Semi Final #2 - vs. - Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Quarter Final #3 Zenio vs. Naniwa Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Quarter Final #4 MMA vs. Feast Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD

[21:17] Intel Extreme Masters newcomer Feast from Belgium has just won his first match against qxc with 2-0. A very good start for the talented Protoss. Korean HerO won the opening match of Group D in an epic third match over local hero DIMAGA with 2-1.

[21:30] We just uploaded couple of more impressions from the CyberSports Arena. Have a look at our gallery, if you like watching Carmac lifting things.


[21:05] One hour of finest League of Legends conference at ESL TV is over and so is the LoL groupstage. Both French teams have been eliminated from group B and left the Arena immediately. This leaves Dignitas and Moscow for tomorrow's playoffs, where Dignitas will meet their fellow-countrymen from Solomid. But the first semi final will be SK Gaming against the local heroes from Moscow Five.

[18:45] Dignitas is back on track after winning over the French guys from aAa. The last and final games will start at 20:00 EET and still every team has the chance to reach the playoffs. So each of them will use the next hour to practice, practice, practice, you think? Well, aAa is scrimming with Sypher; Moscow Five seems to be confused about the discipline, since they are playing DotA 2 and Dignitas is just enjoying the Internet, while IamQtpie is playing the lovely game Binding of Isaac. As long as I Will Dominate from Dignitas still sticks to his previous statement:


[17:05] After White Lotus dropping out yesterday, Moscow Five is now the somehow local team and therefore supported by the audience at CyperSport Arena. Every kill or just a clutch play (such as Gangplank stealing Blue at Level 1 and teleporting to his top lane) gets applauded, especially when there is an AD Kennen involved. Next LoL match will be up in 40 minutes with Dignitas and aAa.

[13:59] While HasuObs is currently leading 1:0 against MMA, we can announce that the rematch of NightEnD vs. Zenio will be played after Group C has finished this afternoon.

[13:21] The first games have gone live. In League of Legends the all-French duel between Against All Authority and Sypher is currently on ESL TV while in Counter-Strike mousesports are playing their first match against Moscow Five, also on ESL TV of course.



[12:05] Before the start of today's StarCraft II matches we will let every player test the PCs until they are satisfied and commit to playing with confidence. If delays to the schedule occur it will be because we would like triple check that the players are comfortable.

[11:07] The first day of the StarCraft II tournament came with some lag issues which led to incidents and a lot of discussion in the community. Intel Extreme Masters Product Manager Michal 'Carmac' Blicharz wrote a long statement regarding that and posted it on reddit and TeamLiquid.

In the last match of the evening between Zenio and NightEnD, the decider for who takes the second play-off place in the group, was also affected by lag in the third and last map. A decision regarding a rematch was made later on and also published.

[10:58] Welcome to the second day of the event here in the CyberSport Arena in Kiev. Today we'll see the second half of the group stage being played out.

In Counter-Strike it will be a tough one with fnatic, WinFakt, Moscow Five and mousesports fighting for the top two places to advance to the play-offs. WinFakt captain described it in our interview as "a coin flip".

Due to the time difference and workdays not all of you will be able to watch the show live. And with this news there is no need to! You will get all replays of all matches in this news without any spoilers! We will upload the replays to the respective match and link all replays here.

You don't have to click on each match trying to ignore the score screen. Each match has three map links. If a match didn't need all three (or five at playoffs) maps, the remaining map links are empty. Download and watch them one by one, if you want to avoid any spoilers. Furthermore we will link all available VoDs. Please notice that some matches won't be streamed and therefore won't have a VoD. Have fun!

Download all at once:
Playoff Replay Package & Groupstage Replay Package

Group A Strelok vs. Naniwa Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD TITAN vs. White-Ra Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD TITAN vs. Naniwa Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Strelok vs. White-Ra Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Naniwa vs. White-Ra Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Strelok vs. TITAN Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Group C HasuObs vs. MMA Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD pomi vs. TargA Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD HasuObs vs. TargA Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD pomi vs. MMA Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD MMA vs. TargA Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD HasuObs vs. pomi Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD

Group B Kas vs. NightEnD Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Grubby vs. Zenio Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Grubby vs. NightEnD Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Kas vs. Zenio Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD NightEnD vs. Zenio Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 / Map 4 / Map 5 VoD Kas vs. Grubby Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Group D dimaga vs. HerO Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Feast vs. qxc Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD Feast vs. HerO Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD dimaga vs. qxc Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD dimaga vs. Feast Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD HerO vs.qxc Map 1 / Map 2 / Map 3 VoD

Throughout the first day of the Global Challenge Kiev, ESL TV produced several videos and interviews with some of the pro's. WinFakt captain lurppis talks about tomorrows group, TiTan thinks about StarCraft all the time, Scarra meets the real Carmac and we show you how the CyberSport Arena look from the inside.



TitaN: "Playing 5 hours per day and thinking about Starcraft all time"
ceh9: "We can't concentrate online as we do in LAN"
SK.ocelote: "We got really high chances doing good here!"
lurppis: "Playing our group is like a coinflip"
dignitas`Scarra meets Carmac, not famous Uszat

[22:19] We are approaching the end of the first day of the Global Challenge Kiev. Two more StarCraft matches will be played out. NightEnd will face Zenio and they'll play for the second place in Group B behind Kas, who is already through.

[20:51] The first group in League of Legends is finished. TSM and SK advance to the play-offs, leaving Curse and Ukrainian champion White Lotus on the spectator couches.

[20:33] Naniwa and White-Ra advance from Group A into the play-offs of the Global Challenge Kiev StarCraft II tournament. Strelok comes in third, tied with White-Ra but he lost the direct duel to him. Intel Extreme Masters newcomer TiTan comes in last.

[20:16] The last and most important League of Legends match for today is starting right now. Europe's top-notch team SK has to win against Curse from USA to advance to the playoffs. SK|ocelote stated earlier that he and his mates like to play under pressure. Both teams sitting next to eachother, divided only by to big brandings between them to prevent the slightest desire of ghosting.

[19:30] The first StarCraft II match of Group B is already going to be a 3-mapper. Kas and NightEnD will soon be on the third and deciding map. Afterwards WarCraft III legend Grubby will go against the first Korean of the tournament, Zenio. Live on ESL TV with MrBitter and RotterdaM.



[18:00] The StarCraft II tournament has resumed and Naniwa is currently playing against TiTan. Group B will start as scheduled with MrBitter and RotterdaM. Meanwhile Group A will continue until finished with Apollo and TLO.

[16:41] Due to technical issues the remaining matches of the StarCraft II tournament have been delayed until 18:00 local time.

[15:57] Naniwa might not be out of the tournament after all. He has come back to the players area and is now trying a different PC. We will keep you updated how this situation develops. For the fastest updates, follow us on Twitter.

[15:33] Naniwa has decided to forfeit the tournament after the first match due to technical issues. Meanwhile last-minute stand-in White-Ra has won his opening match against TiTan with 2-1 under the applause of the local fans.

[14:35] The first pictures from Kiev are available in our gallery.


All pictures at Global Challenge Kiev Gallery
[14:13] The start of the StarCraft II tournament is still delayed due to technical problems. We keep you updated.

[14:06] SK Gaming won their opening match against Lions with 16:11. Lions had a great comeback in the second half but in the end SK proved to be too strong.

[13:44] Na'Vi won their opening match against DTS with 16:8.

[13:25] TSM showed up late, so SK vs. White Lotus will be the first match in League of Legends. Curse vs. TSM will be played at 13:40 EET instead.

[13:17] Welcome to the Global Challenge Kiev live from the CyberSport Arena. We are about to start with Counter-Strike, League of Legends and StarCraft II.

Check out the schedule for all the streams and all the matches.

Ukrainian Protoss White-Ra will replace KiLLeR at the Global Challenge Kiev. The Chilean Zerg had to cancel his participation due to visa issues.

White-Ra, famous for his "special tactics", was scheduled to be at the event as a commentator in Russian but will now also play tomorrow in Group A against Naniwa, Titan and another Ukrainian, Strelok. Group A will start tomorrow at 13:00 local Ukrainian time, casted by Apollo and TLO.

Global Challenge Kiev Groupstage

Group A Strelok White-Ra Naniwa TitaN

Group B NightEnD Grubby Kas Zenio

Group C HasuObs MMA Pomi TargA

Group D dimaga Feast HerO qxc

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Besides the regular ESL TV casters Joe, MrBitter and RotterdaM other well-known names like dApollo, Deman, Zenon, Phreak and ReDeYe will cast the Global Challenge Kiev from the 19th - 22nd of January.

In addition to the English streams there will also be coverage in Russian, French and German. Once the event is live you can find all streams on ESL TV.



Tournament Schedule
Note: If two matches in one game start at the same time, the casters decide which will be streamed, unless already pointed out in the schedule.

StarCraft II

Shaun 'dApollo' Clark (Groups A & C)
Ben 'MrBitter' Nichol (Group B & D + Play-Offs)
Kevin 'RotterdaM' van der Kooi (Group B & D + Play-Offs)

League of Legends

Leigh 'Deman' Smith
Daniel 'Zenon' Klein
David 'Phreak' Turley
Joe 'Joe' Miller

Counter-Strike

Paul 'ReDeYe' Chaloner
Joe 'Joe' Miller

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The Global Challenge Kiev StarCraft II tournament saw two last-minute replacements. In Group A Serbian player Beastyqt had to cancel and will be replaced by Strelok. The Terran player will be the third Ukrainian at the event next to Kas and DIMAGA.

In Group B DieStar from Poland also had to cancel and will be replaced by NightEnD from Romania. This means each group at the event will have two Protoss players, one Terran and one Zerg.

Global Challenge Kiev Groupstage

Group A Strelok KiLLeR Naniwa TitaN

Group B NightEnD Grubby Kas Zenio

Group C HasuObs MMA Pomi TargA

Group D dimaga Feast HerO qxc

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The Global Challenge Kiev is starting next week Thursday, on the 19th of January, and two BarCraft events are lined up so far in Barcelona and Graz, Austria.

If you live in either city or close by, use the chance to enjoy some of the finest eSport in StarCraft II, League of Legends and Counter-Strike while having drinks and being surrounded by fans like yourself.

Should you know of other BarCraft events that will take place, please leave a comment here or on Facebook or send a tweet to @IntelEM.

BarCraft events for the Global Challenge Kiev

Graz - Friday 20th - Facebook - iBarCraft
Barcelona - Sunday 22nd - Facebook - iBarCraft
Berlin - Sunday 22nd - Facebook - BerlinBarCraft.de
Düsseldorf - Sunday 22nd - Facebook - typesc.net
Paris - Sunday 22nd - Facebook
Oslo - Sunday 22nd - BarCraft Oslo
Lund - Sunday 22nd - Facebook
Aachen - Sunday 22nd - BarCraft Aachen


Best of luck and a lot of fun to all the organizers, employees and fans who are making these events happen. Have an awesome time with the Intel Extreme Masters.

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

AbsoluteLegends and mTw break-up leads to SK replacment

After winning the European qualifier for Kiev under their tag and announcing that the players joined the clan, Absolute Legend EU's license to participate in the Intel Extreme Masters went to mTw, a recognized organization within ESL tournaments.

Soon three of their players left the clan again, leaving mTw without the majority of players that is necessary to keep the gained slot. mTw and the newly formed CLG.eu came to a mutual agreement to make sure that the slot would not go to waste: CLG.eu would be playing with their new lineup and receive all the prize money but all ranking points would go to mTw. Soon after both parties called the agreement off.

This left the ESL with no other choice but to disqualify both parties from the tournament and give the spot in the tournament to the runner up from the EU qualifier: SK Gaming.

Since then both parties and also SK member CandyPanda have released statements regarding the incident:

Statement from CLG.eu
Statement from mTw
Statement from SK|CandyPanda

Curse replaces APictureOfAGoose

The American participant APictureOfAGoose had to cancel their participation in early January. A statement released on reddit named family problems for members Mandatorycloud and Lemongod as the reason not to go. The replacement was decided in a match between Counter-Logic Gaming and Curse with the latter taking win and the spot.

China slot not fillable after iG cancels

The Chinese top team iG was unable to get visas in time for their trip to the Ukraine. No other team from China was able to fill in for them so the spot went to the French team Sypher who will participate in their second Global Challenge, having already been in New York.

With all these changes the groups for the $32,000 tournament in Kiev look like this:

Group A SK Gaming White Lotus Team SoloMid Team Curse

Group B against All authority Gambit BenQ Team Sypher Team Dignitas

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Next week the Global Challenge Kiev will start and it is time to announce the groups for the StarCraft II tournament. Korea will be represented by TeamLiquid members Zenio and HerO, former Code S Winner MMA and Swedish pro Naniwa who is currently living in Seoul.

American qxc will replace DDE who had to cancel his participation. The case of Norwegian participant TargA is quite unique: He is currently living in Australia and participated in the South-East Asian qualifier for Kiev. Since no Chinese player was able to come, despite all efforts, and because Chinese New Year takes place during the event, DieStar from Poland will fill that last spot since he was next in line from the European qualifier.

Global Challenge Kiev Groupstage

Group A Beastyqt KiLLeR Naniwa TitaN

Group B DieStar Grubby Kas Zenio

Group C HasuObs MMA Pomi TargA

Group D dimaga Feast HerO qxc

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

After the HomeStoryCup IV has been finished we've updated the Season Rankings. The new leader is HSC IV winner MC who has surpassed the former leader and Global Challenge Cologne winner PuMa. The top three is completed by the winner of the Global Challenge Guangzhou, IdrA from America. HSC IV finalist and 2nd place finisher Sound is new in the Top 10 and has his ticket for the World Championships already secured.

#	Player	Region	Qualified for WC 2011/12	Points
1st	MC	Asia	*#1 Asia	190
2nd	PuMa	Asia	Top2 Cologne	165
3rd	IdrA	America	*#1 America	110
4th	DongRaeGu	Asia	Top2 New York	110
5th	elfittaja	Europa	*#1 Europe	100
6th	Fruitdealer	Asia	Top 2 New York	80
7th	Sound	Asia	Top2 HSC IV	80
8th	JYP	Asia		75
9th	MaNa	Europe		65
10th	KiLLeR.cl	America		60

Full Ranking with all details

In case of a tie-break situation the player or team, in Counter-Strike and League of Legends, with the better results is considered ahead. Should there still be a tie-break situation afterwards, the event ranking is deciding. It is calculated by the total points the players or teams of a specific event have accumulated over the entire season.

The Global Challenges in Kiev and Sao Paulo will be the final two chances for players to either qualify directly or collect valuable points for the rankings. The top 24 players will meet in March at the CeBIT 2012 and fight for the title of the Intel Extreme Masters World Champion.

Over the weekend the American qualified team for the Counter-Strike tournament in Kiev, Team EG, disbanded and was subsequently dropped by their organization. As a result the team will not participate in the Global Challenge Kiev.

Due to no other eligible American team being able to fill the spot, it went to the Ukrainian team Natus Vincere. The reigning Intel Extreme Masters champions will make their first appearance this season and it is their only chance to qualify for the World Championships in March.

Na'Vi will be the second Ukrainian team in the tournament besides national champion DTS, whom they will now face in Group A. The other opponents in the group stage will be Swedish teams Lions and SK Gaming.

Group A Lions eSportKlubb SK Gaming DTS Natus Vincere

Group B Moscow Five fnaticRC Team WinFakt mousesports

The $40,000 tournament will take place from the 19-22nd of January 2012 in the CyberSport Arena in Kiev. The two teams in the final will automatically qualify for the World Championships in March.

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The German Counter-Strike team mousesports will participate in the Global Challenge Kiev. The decision was made after none of the invited teams from Asia was able to make the trip to the Ukraine. mousesports originally missed out on Kiev after placing 6th in the European qualification, one place short of the Top 5 which qualified for the event.

In October 2011 mousesports made it to the final of the Global Challenge Guangzhou where they lost against fnatic from Sweden. They'll now face them again in Group B together with WinFakt from Finland and Moscow Five from Russia.

Group A Lions eSportKlubb SK Gaming DTS Team EG

Group B Moscow Five fnaticRC Team WinFakt mousesports

The $40,000 tournament will take place from the 19-22nd of January 2012 in the CyberSport Arena in Kiev. The two teams in the final will automatically qualify for the World Championships in March.

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

When the 18 year old Jérémy Vansnick, better known as Feast, managed to qualify for the Global Challenge Kiev it was the biggest surprise of the qualification. The Belgian Protoss player who is part of Team Millenium, had managed to go through all three stages of the European qualification and defeated 11 opponents on his way. We sat down with Feast to get to know this young talented player a little better.

Brackets of Feast's route to Kiev - Stage 1 - Stage 2 - Stage 3

Interview with m*Feast

Hello Feast. Congratulations on your qualification to the Global Challenge Kiev. How does it feel?

Hello Nils & thanks! It feels really great to go to a major event such as the Intel Extreme Masters, I'm looking forward to meet the StarCraft 2 personalities and also to size myself with most of them in game.

You had a very hard route to Kiev, maybe the hardest of all players. Give us an overview of what you had to go through to qualify.

It all started with the Belgium National Qualifier where I defeated good players such as ELVIS or LLLOrly and then I went into the big deal. Stage 1: I defeated DoKy (2-0) and roxkisSlivko (2-0). Stage 2: I defeated DarkMace (2-0) and Aristeo (2-0) then I lost to KroLu (1-2), I went into the loser’s bracket and won versus AiForsen (2-0). Stage 3 was definitely the hardest: I faced players like NightEnD (2-1), aTnDelphi (2-0) and Grubby (2-0) to be qualified and then I lost to Dimaga (0-2) for the seeding. I faced Dimaga in a lot of tournaments recently (MSI Pro Cups) and I’m really impressed with his gameplay, he definitely is a nightmare to me. When I won versus Grubby it was great since I qualified but I also was a bit sad since he’s a good friend of mine and I wish him the best!

Was there ever a point where you thought it might be over?

First of all I never expected to be qualified so... In some way, it was already over when I started ^^. I did not really realize that I was slowly but steadily heading towards the final qualification until the last second as I was really focused on the game.

Back to your question : When I lost to NightEnD on the first map, I was pretty sure it was over even if I kept telling myself it wasn’t.

To many people you are probably the most unknown player that will go to Kiev. Tell us who is Feast and the person behind the nickname?

I’m a regular everyday normal 18 years old guy: I sweat and bleed doing nothing, completely powerless, like any of my zealots on the battlefield against marine/marauder’s kitting.

More seriously, I’ve always been a player in general, from the casual games on PS, such as the Final Fantasy sequel. My favorite type is the Strategy games which lead me to play WarCraft III, where I played Orc.
It has been quite a long time that I wanted to start my ProGamer career but it’s only recently that I really decided to jump in as I realized I couldn’t do everything I wanted at the same time; I stood for too long in between and it made the people around me hesitate as if I was passionate about ProGaming or if it was something temporary that I used in order to not be studying. Now that I have finished school, it is the right time for me to spread my wings and fly!

What are your own expectations for the Global Challenge?

I know it might look cliché but: I just really want to do the best I can. I want to show the world that I’m here now and I intend to be a better gamer for myself and the ones who are supporting me. I know that at my current level I won’t go far, so I will use these 3 weeks to train like I never did, in order to be at my top level. To be more specific: Every player goes to a tournament with the intend to win it. To not fool anyone by using too much humbling, since I feel like I’m only starting, I would like to achieve a TOP8, in order to not look ridiculous.

As usual there will be four players from Korea at the event. Is there any Korean you would like to see in Kiev?

I will only train my style to make it better against any existing style, so I do not mind who’s coming, hopefully they won’t be unbeatable. And since I do not know them all too well, I won’t pick any.
Every time a Korean shows up to a foreign tournament, their opponent are considered like challengers, I like that. Being the challenger seems to be my kind of fittings.

Are you happy with the state of Protoss at the moment?

Protoss lacks harassment's options and attack capabilities. The “in-between phase” of all-in game / and macro game seems too small, which means that you will need to be either too defensive or too offensive.
At the moment TvZ feels like it’s more action-packed and intense than any other match-up, I would like to say that about a Protoss match up but the game mechanics seems to interfere. Sit back and wait most of the game has never been fun and it’s sad when it’s your strongest option.

How developed is the Belgian StarCraft II scene?

It’s nearly nonexistent, it would be more suitable to speak of a Benelux scene. When I see great countries such as Germany or Sweden who managed to grow E-sports into their culture, I wish I could help Belgium in some way. I hope I will be able to elevate them as I grow in the esport scene.

What are your StarCraft II plans for 2012?

I plan to represent Millenium and it’s sponsors (MSI, Winamax and GeIL) as best as I can.
I hope to make every opportunity a step closer to my final goal, be one of the best, if not the best SC2 gamer in the world. Follow me on www.twitter.com/millfeast - www.facebook.com/millfeast and when I’m streaming on www.twitch.tv/millfeast!

The Dutch WarCraft III Legend Grubby was the seventh and last European player to qualify for the Global Challenge Kiev. The third stage of the qualification was finished Monday night and besides Grubby the Russian players TITAN and Pomi managed to win the last available spots.

On Sunday DIMAGA, HasuObs, Feast and Beastyqt had already managed to qualify for the $21,000 tournament that will take place from the 19-22nd of January 2012. They will be joined by Ukranian Champion Kas who completes the field of European participants.

Belgian underdog Feast and the Serbian gamescom participant Beastyqt crowned their impressive performances that saw them going through all three stages of the European qualification, resulting in 11 matches for each of them to finally qualify. The tournament in Kiev will be the first Intel Extreme Masters for several players like Feast, TITAN or Pomi and it will be interesting to see how they will perform against established professionals from Europe, Korea and America.

Empire.Kas dimaga HasuObs Feast

Empire.Beastyqt RoX.Pomi roxkisTITAN Grubby

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The field for the final stage of the European Counter-Strike qualification was packed with the biggest names but in the end only five teams would punch their ticket to Kiev. Moscow Five, Lions, SK Gaming, fnatic and WinFakt made it through and will now compete for a total of $40.000 in January 2012. The tournament groups have been drawn and we also asked HLTV's Nix0n to share his thoughts about the qualifier.

Global Challenge Kiev Groups

In Group A the Ukrainian Champions DTS will have to go against Swedish top teams Lions and SK Gaming and eliminate at least one of them to go into the semi-finals. Over in Group B fnatic and WinFakt will meet again after their semi-final match at the Global Challenge Guangzhou which was won by the Swedes. If Moscow Five continue their strong performances in recent months, they are a serious contender for the play-offs. The Asian spot is currently still open.

Group A Lions eSportKlubb SK Gaming DTS Team EG

Group B Moscow Five fnaticRC Team WinFakt Asia

HLTV|Nix0n on the Stage 3 Qualifier

With such a stacked third and final qualifier for the Kiev Global Challenge, upsets had to come. I suppose the first two upsets were SK and ESC dropping to the lower-bracket already in round two, but then again, they lost to strong teams.

As for the teams who qualified, I'm not really surprised we see three Swedish teams making it to Kiev, we all know the country is probably the country to produce the most talents and teams, for Counter-Strike 1.6. The biggest surprise, if you like, would probably be WinFakt, but as they won against strong teams such as SK and mouz, the truly deserve the spot and Moscow Five continue their strong shape in the last quarter of the year, qualifying with a win against mouz.

As for the teams that did not make it to Kiev, it is obviously disappointing not to see ESC and Na´Vi not qualifying for the last Global Challenge, but more importantly, they also miss out on the World Championship, which is a huge blow for them, but certainly also for the competition as a whole.

Global Challenge Kiev Groups

American newcomers APictureOfAGoose will face their fellow countrymen from Team SoloMid in Group A together with Ukrainian champions White Lotus and the European team from AbsoluteLegends.mTw. Russias Team Empire, who fought their way through the loser bracket in the qualifier, has to face French top team Against All Authority, Americas Team Dignitas and Asian qualificant iG.

Group A clgaming.eu White Lotus Team SoloMid APictureOfAGoose

Group B against All authority Gambit BenQ iG Team Dignitas

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The long European qualification road to Kiev will come to an end. This upcoming Sunday and Monday, the 18th and 19th of December, the StarCraft II and Counter-Strike Stage 3 qualifiers will be played. The 7 best StarCraft II players and the 5 best Counter-Strike teams will go on and participate in Kiev in January 2012.

StarCraft Stage 3 (Brackets)

The StarCraft II qualification will take place on Sunday and Monday, the 18th and 19th. The double-elimination bracket with 32 players contains a lot of big names and there are still six players from Stage 1 in the race for a Kiev spot. MrBitter and RotterdaM will be back in action to cast the event on both days, to make sure you miss nothing.

LoWeLy * Snute ** DieStar ** White-Ra ** KroLu * Naugrim * Adelscott ** RoX.Pomi **

VPBenQlsLivko * Feast * Delphi ** XlorD ** CNSarenS ** sYz ** Beasyqt * BlinG **

Znow Bischu Socke HasuObs Na'Vi.Strelok dimaga Tefel Tarson

ToD Satiini hUnT3R roxkisTITAN Grubby Nbs NightEnD VortiX

Note: * are players still from Stage 1 and ** players from Stage 2

Counter-Strike Stage 3 (Brackets)

The Counter-Strike qualification will be played on Sunday, the 18th, in a double elimination Best-of-One. The top 5 teams will be going to the Global Challenge Kiev. It is impressive to see how many teams from the first Stage are still in the race. ESL TV with the one and only Joe Miller will broadcast the event live.

ENTiTYmk * Team h4u * The Elder Gods * Team WinFakt * ALTERNATE ** defs * ekO ** NPME_EKB *

TBH. eSports * ALSEN * eSuba ** Underdogss * OG * LDLC ** FF ** Moscow Five

SK Gaming fnaticRC Lions Anexis zeDANES rullestolracers mousesports Na'Vi

ESC ICY BOX eSahara GRAND MF ps x6tence Free Agents HEADSHOTBG

Note: * are teams still from Stage 1 and ** teams from Stage 2

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

In a double elimination bracket 64 players from all over Europe tried to make it into the Top 16 and thus earn themselves a spot in the third and last stage. A lot of well known names had qualified for this second stage but some of them went out quite early on.

elfittaja, HayPro and Sjow are out

Top seed MaNa failed to show up and subsequently dropped out of the qualification. Second seeded elfi- failed to show up for his first match but fought his way through the Loser Bracket afterwards where he was ultimately stopped by Delphi. Team Liquid member HayprO lost his opening match surprisingly against PoYo and dropped to the Loser Bracket. There his bad was over quickly after another first round loss against fellow Swede Cytoplasm. Another all Swedish duel also caused a surprise when well-known international player SjoW lost against Naugrim, who also went on to qualify for the next Stage. SjoW on the other hand fought his way through the Loser Bracket before he was knocked out in the deciding game against BlinG from the UK.

White-Ra one step closer to a homegame

Among the more prominent players who managed to advance are DieStar, White-Ra, Adelscott, Delphi, XlorD and Empire.Beastyqt. The latter one also had to fight his way through the Loser Bracket after a surprising loss in the Winner Bracket against Polish player KroLu. Below you'll find the 16 players who managed to advance. Players marked with * are from the original Stage 1 qualifier.

StarCraft II Stage 2 Qualifier (Brackets)

LoWeLy * Snute DieStar White-Ra

KroLu * Naugrim * Adelscott RoX.Pomi

VPBenQlsLivko * Feast * Delphi XlorD

CNSarenS sYz Beasyqt * BlinG

The deciding Stage 3 will take place on the 18th of December with 32 players in a Double Elimination Bracket. The Top 7 will go to Kiev in January 2012.

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Last night saw the second and final day of the American Final Qualifier for the StarCraft II tournament at the GC Kiev. Surprisingly none of the two qualified players represents the United States this time. Instead the Canadian DDE and Chilean KiLLeR will travel to the Ukraine in January 2012.

The Canadian Terran won the Winner Bracket and collected wins against well-known names like Axslav, qxc and StrifeCro along the way. KiLLeR had been sent to the Loser Bracket early in the tournament after a loss against StrifeCro. He then went on and fought his way back, having to face Axslav and qxc as well after their losses to DDE. His final match was again against StrifeCro in the Consolidation Final where he was able to take revenge for the earlier defeat and secured himself a spot in the Grand Final and a spot in Kiev.

American Qualifiers for GC Kiev
Lee DDE Dong Yeon
Felipe KiLLeR Zuñiga

Over at the National ESL the tournament brackets are online and demos can be found when clicking on the "vs" of a match.

Global Challenge Kiev 19th - 22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Last Saturday the second American Preliminary Qualifier for the League of Legends was played out. The top four teams will now participate in the Final Qualifier for the Global Challenge Kiev. These are the eight teams who'll fight it out on December the 3rd.

American Final Qualifier - 3rd of December 2011

Qualifier #1 Team SoloMid APictureOfAGoose v8 eSports Counter Logic Gaming

Qualifier #2 Team Dignitas Team Curse compLexity EpikGamer

The Final Qualifier will be a double elimination best-of-three tournament and the top three teams will win a spot at the $32.000 tournament at the Global Challenge Kiev in January 2012.

Global Challenge Kiev 19th - 22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

On Monday the 28th of November the American StarCraft II Final Qualifier for the Global Challenge in Kiev will start. Over the past weeks 12 players were determined through three preliminary Qualifiers. In addition four players got invited directly. Together these 16 will now compete for two spots to Kiev in a double elimination bracket that will be played out on Monday and Tuesday night.

The whole Qualifier will be broadcasted live by ESL TV's very own MrBitter and RotterdaM. Broadcast will start on Tue, 29/11/11 02:00 CEST and on Wed, 30/11/11 02:00 CEST. Unfortunately invitee TT1 had to cancel his participation. He was replaced by well known pro qxc. Also head over to TeamLiquid and join the discussion in the official thread.

American Final Qualifier for GC Kiev (Winner & Loser-Bracket)

Invited KiLLeR qxc DDE DDoRo

Qualifier #1 Axslav Attero LzGaMeR StrifeCro

Qualifier #2 EGiNcontroL Machine KiF1rE DREAMMass

Qualifier #3 CuHz.714 Nathanias MGComplete.602 TokenFlyer

Global Challenge Kiev 19th - 22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Tomorrow night, Saturday the 25th of November, the second and last Pre-Qualifier in League of Legends for the Global Challenge Kiev will be played in America.

The final four teams will advance to the Final Qualifier which is due to be held on Saturday, the 3rd of December. Eight teams will participate and the top three will win their spot for Kiev.

Well known names like Team Curse, Team Dignitas, compLexity or AbsoluteLegends are still in the race on the road to Kiev. Head over to the National ESL to see the sign-ups so far and the tournament tree once the event is live. Below you can find the four teams who advanced from the first Pre-Qualifier:

League of Legends Pre-Qualifier #1 (Bracket)

Team SoloMid
v8 eSports
Counter Logic Gaming
APictureOfAGoose

On Saturday it was all about League of Legends when the 16 qualified teams met in the final qualifier to determine who would take the three spots to Kiev. The final results saw the #2 and #3 from the GC New York, SK Gaming and Team Sypher both loosing in the Loser Bracket to Gambit BenQ, who qualified for Kiev in the end. In the Winner Bracket against All authority and clgaming.eu also qualified.

EU Final Qualifier (Brackets)

against All authority
clgaming.eu
Gambit BenQ

In Counter-Strike the Stage 2 qualifier was played out with 15 teams advancing to the third and last Stage. The last spot will be played out between KerchNET and Moscow Five who rescheduled to a later date. On December 18th the teams will be joined by 16 directly qualified teams in Stage 3 and the top 5 will go to Kiev.

Stage 2 teams who advanced (Brackets)

ENTiTYmk Team h4u The Elder Gods Team WinFakt

ALTERNATE defs ekO-esport.com NPME_EKB

TBH. eSports ALSEN eSuba Underdogss

OG Team LDLC.com FF open

Stage 3 directly qualified teams

SK Gaming fnaticRC Lions Anexis

zeDANES rullestolracers mousesports Na'Vi

ESC ICY BOX eSahara GRAND MF

ps x6tence Free Agents HEADSHOTBG

Global Challenge Kiev 19th - 22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The field is comprised out of the 16 teams who advanced from Stage 1 and the 16 teams who qualified directly for Stage 2. You can watch the tournament live on ESL TV from 15:00 CET on, hosted by Joe Miller.

Stage 2 Qualifier Bracket

Teams qualified from Stage 1 (Bracket)

Team WinFakt NPME_EKB DooM CS1.6 sideshow

TBH. eSports Inyourmind.CS oldskool gamers Antwerp Aces

team-mystic ENTiTYmk Defining Stars The Elder Gods

Limitless cios eps Underdogss volgare

Teams qualified directly for Stage 2

addicted 2 games HeLlSlAyErZ teamteam v2 ekO-esport.com

Team h4u ALTERNATE MVK KerchNET

DELTAeSports Fear Factory Team LDLC.com Moscow Five

HK eSuba hadokeN IEM swisswave

LIVE on ESL TV 20th November - with Joe Miller

You can watch this whole exciting qualifier live on ESL TV, hosted by Joe Miller and Leigh 'Deman' Smith. The show starts at 15:00 CET and you should keep your Saturday free to enjoy all the action.

Tournament Bracket

SK Gaming Bullet In Time Team Empire guru RPB

Eclypsia2 Team Smieszkow aAa Cruel Ultimatum

Team ALTERNATE Imperium Gamers mTw-AL.eu CheapEloBoost.com

Team Sypher Volibear is too OP Fourchette Tueuse Ministry of Defence.LoL

LIVE on ESL TV 19th November - with Joe Miller and Leigh 'Deman' Smith

The final qualifier will take place on the 28th and 29th of November and will be casted by MrBitter and RotterdaM live on ESL TV. Details will be published at a later date. Below are the 16 players who will battle it out and the top two will go to Kiev in January 2012. You can find the bracket over at the National ESL.

Invited KiLLeR TT1 DDE DDoRo

Qualifier #1 Axslav Attero LzGaMeR StrifeCro

Qualifier #2 EGiNcontroL Machine KiF1rE DREAMMass

Qualifier #3 CuHz.714 Nathanias MGComplete.602 TokenFlyer

Global Challenge Kiev 19th - 22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Players who are interested in competing can sign up until ten minutes prior to the start, which is at 8PM EST. Head over to the website for all the information, the bracket, participants and sign-up information.

The top four players will earn a spot at the final qualifier where a total of sixteen will compete for two spots in Kiev. So far the following players will be competing for them:

Invited KiLLeR TT1 DDE DDoRo

Qualifier #1 Axslav Attero LzGaMeR StrifeCro

Qualifier #2 EGiNcontroL Machine KiF1rE DREAMMass

Qualifier #3 #1 #2 #3 #4

Sign-Up 16th November - 3rd American SC2 Pre-Qualifier

Teams who are interested should send an application to masters.application@esl.eu. Please provide the following details:

Application Details

Teamname
First- and Familynames of the players
Nicknames of the players
Latest achievements from tournaments, cups or leagues

Important: Every player must be OVER 16 years old at the time of the event.

The selected team will be contacted in December. The Global Challenge Kiev will take place from the 19-22nd of January.

Apply for the GC Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

Below you find a complete overview of all the teams and players that managed to advance. The next qualifier will be held on Wednesday, the 16th, in America. It is the 3rd and last preliminary for StarCraft II where the last four places for the final qualifier are given out.

League of Legends West Pre-Qualifier #2 (Bracket)

Fourchette Tueuse
Eclypsia2
Team Sypher
Gambit BenQ

League of Legends East & Nordic Pre-Qualifier #2 (Bracket)

CheapEloBoost.com
Guru Gaming
Imperium Gamers
Bullet In Time

League of Legends Pre-Qualifier #1 (Bracket)

Team SoloMid
v8 eSports
Counter Logic Gaming
APictureOfAGoose

StarCraft II Pre-Qualifier #2 (Bracket)

EGiNcontroL
Machine
KiF1rE
DREAMMass

Counter-Strike Stage 1 Qualifier (Bracket)

Team WinFakt NPME_EKB DooM CS1.6 sideshow

TBH. eSports Inyourmind.CS oldskool gamers Antwerp Aces

team-mystic ENTiTYmk Defining Stars The Elder Gods

Limitless cios eps Underdogss volgare

StarCraft II Stage 1 Qualifier (Bracket)

mTL.Stunter Feast gS.Vut923 GLCheesyJunk

Empire.Beastyqt LoWeLy HayprO KenZy

MgZPtak Rmdx Pitro Acer.Bly

VPBenQlsLivko Naugrim KroLu dignitas.DreAm

Global Challenge Kiev 19th-22nd of January 2012 - CyberSport Arena

The first tournament is already Friday night when the Very Last Chance Cup for the European StarCraft II scene will be played out. The winner gets the chance to participate in the Stage 1 qualification which takes place on Sunday, the 13th of November.

11.11.11 - Friday

Very Last Chance Cup

Tomorrow, Saturday the 12th, the Americans will play their first League of Legends qualifier with names like CLG, TSM and Team Curse participating. They'll also host the second StarCraft II qualifier. Meanwhile in Europe, the second League of Legends qualifier will also be played and it is the last chance for teams to qualify for the Final Qualifier.

12.11.11 - Saturday

West Preliminary Qualifier 2 | East Preliminary Qualifier 2
Preliminary Qualifer 1
Preliminary Qualifier 2

On Sunday the 13th, the European Stage 1 qualifiers for StarCraft II and Counter-Strike will take place. They'll feature a lot of players and teams which are either lesser-known internationally or come from countries which are not so well represented in eSports. It will be very interesting to see what those teams and countries have to offer and who will advance to the next stage. The StarCraft II qualifier will be broadcasted live on ESL TV.

13.11.11 - Sunday

Qualifier Stage 1
Qualifier Stage 1

Watch SC2 on ESL TV European Stage 1 Qualifier

The top four of each qualifier and four invited players will meet in the final qualifier from the 23-25th of November and fight for two spots for the Intel Extreme Masters event in the Ukraine in January 2012.

The first four players who managed to advance to the final qualifier are Axslav, Attero, LzGaMeR and StrifeCro. A full bracket with all games is available online.

Invited KiLLeR TT1 DDE DDoRo

Qualifier #1 Axslav Attero LzGaMeR StrifeCro

Qualifier #2 #1 #2 #3 #4

Qualifier #3 #1 #2 #3 #4

The next chance for the American StarCraft II scene is this upcoming Saturday, the 12th of November and then again on Wednesday the 16th of November. All information regarding the sign-up and times can be found over at the National ESL.

Disappointed you missed the sign-up for your qualifier or was your team knocked out early? Well, today is your lucky day as we can announce a special last chance marathon cup for StarCraft II & Counter-Strike that all European players & teams can take part in to earn a spot in the stage qualifiers for the Global Challenge in Kiev.

Details of the Last Chance Cup - Counter-Strike

The Last Chance Cup will take place completely this Tuesday, 8th of November from 18:00 CET onwards. All matches will be played back to back in a marathon, teams must be prepared to play 5 matches on a tight schedule lasting at least 5 hours if they want to qualify.

The cup will feature up to 32 teams in one map, single elimination. Remember there is just one Stage 1 spot to qualify for!

Tournament facts

Date: Tuesday, November 8th
Time: Starts at 18:00 CET, Brackets release at 17:00 CET
IRC required: Channel #masters.cs
Gamespecific rulebook for this cup
As in all national cups ESL Wire and recording demos is mandatory!
The team which reaches the limit of 16 rounds first wins the match
Missing ESL Wire Anti-Cheat will result in a Default Loss
A no-show will also result in a Default Loss
When you are not on the server 10 minutes after the match was supposed to start, then it will result in a no-show. (This doesn't apply if you have problems and contact an admin before the match but keep in mind we can not wait forever!)

CS Cup signup here*
* Admins will decided which teams will get the chance to play in this qualifier if more than 32 teams signup.

Details of the Last Chance Cup - StarCraft II

The Last Chance Cup will take place completely this Tuesday, 8th of November from 18:00 CET onwards. All matches will be played back to back in a marathon.

The cup will feature an unlimited number of players in a single elimination bracket. The normal match mode will be best-of-one, but depends of the amount of signups several rounds might be played in best-of-three. Information on that will be released tomorrow. Right now there are at least one Stage 2 and three Stage 1 slots available!

Tournament facts

Date: Tuesday, November 8th
Time: Starts at 18:00 CET
Signup till 17:40 CET
Check in between 17:40 - 18:00 CET
Check-in is first come, first serve.
First time? Read the Guide
A no-show will also result in a Default Loss

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