Americas Minor NA Closed Qualifier bracket revealed; Swole Patrol to field s0m
ESL have released the bracket for the Americas Minor closed qualifier, which will see sixteen teams duking it out for six of the eight remaining spots at the Americas Minor in Katowice, Poland.
The list of opening matchups for the Americas Minor closed qualifier are:
 NRG vs. iNTACT |
| Spacestation vs. Singularity |
 Ghost vs.  oNe |
| Old Guys Club vs. eUnited |
| Rogue vs. Test Takers |
| Mythic vs. Envy |
Swole Patrol vs.  Bravado |
| Furia vs. Luminosity |
The few standout matches in the first round of the upper bracket include Swole Patrol taking on fellow MDL team Bravado, Mythic taking on the recently-demoted Envy, Furia taking on Luminosity, and Rogue being the only Pro League team in their section of the bracket — where they will take on Test Takers, followed by either Envy or Mythic.
The bracket will be played out in a double-elimination format, with all matches being played in a best-of-three series. The top four teams in the upper bracket, as well as the top two teams in the lower bracket, will proceed to the Americas Minor for the IEM Katowice 2019 Major.
The Americas Minor closed qualifier is currently set to run from December 12th to the 14th, with six teams proceeding to the Minor in Katowice. All of the opening matches will play out at 5:00 PM EST, followed by the upper bracket quarterfinals at 9:00 PM EST.
Shortly after the bracket was released by ESL, Sam "s0m" Oh announced over Twitter that he will be filling in for Swole Patrol for the closed qualifier. The player will replace Braxton "swag" Pierce, due to swag being permanently banned from all Valve-sponsored events.
Dust2.us has also learned that Brandon "Ace" Winn will play with Swole Patrol for the closed qualifier, despite the fact the loan was originally announced as lasting only for the remainder of the MDL season. It is unknown whether the player will be able to continue playing with the team should they qualify for the Americas Minor.
Swole Patrol's roster for the Americas Minor closed qualifier is set to be:
- Ryan "freakazoid" Abadir
- Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro
Edgar "MarKE" Jimenez- Brandon "Ace" Winn (On loan)
- Sam "s0m" Oh (Stand-in)
Two other major contenders in the bracket who have yet to announce their fifth player include Spacestation and Rogue, however a recent report from our sister site Dust2.dk indicate Rogue will be trialing Jesper "TENZKI" Plougmann for the month of September.
