ESL release IEM Katowice Minor Closed Qualifier invites
ESL have released the invites for the closed qualifier portion of the Americas Minor qualifiers. Twelve teams in total have received invites, eight in North America and four in South America.
Major attendees Rogue are one of the teams to pick up an invite, flanked by the next two teams in the top four of the Americas Minor, NRG and eUnited. Fellow ESL Pro League team Envy are also set to be in attendance.
Ghost and Swole Patrol also pick up invites, however both teams will have to find replacements for Joshua "steel" Nissan and Braxton "swag" Pierce, respectively, due to their current Valve-ban status.
The list is rounded out with Spacestation, who are coming off the back of a number of roster changes, as well as lone Brazilian team Luminosity, meaning all South American teams based in North America are allowed to compete in the qualifier. Curiously, although INTZ are also North America-based, they are set to be competing in the South America qualifier.
It's worth noting that South African team Bravado have not received an invite to the North America closed qualifier, they could potentially be in receipt of the final unannounced Middle East qualifier spot for the Asia Minor. This is due to the ESL announcement that African teams were expected to compete in the Middle East qualifier.
The invited teams make up half of the closed qualifier team list, with North America set to feature 16 teams in total, seeing six reach the Minor, and South America featuring eight teams and allowing two to progress. The closed qualifiers are set to take place between December 12th-14th for North America, and November 17th-18th for South America.
The invites for the North America closed qualifier are:
 Envy |
eUnited |
 Ghost |
 Luminosity |
| NRG |
Rogue |
| Spacestation |
Swole Patrol |
The invites for the South America closed qualifier are:
| Imperial |
INTZ |
 Isurus |
Sharks |
The open qualifiers for the Minor begin next week, with the first North America open qualifier set to take place over October 22nd-23rd, with the first South America qualifier taking place on October 24th-25th. Full details on these qualifiers, and others, can be found on the Dust2.us calendar.
