$155,000 Fragadelphia 17 circuit goes live in April

Nerd Street Gamers have revealed the upcoming Fragadelphia circuit which will culminate in a $100,000 finals event in September. The total circuit with boast a $155,000 prize pool, which is an increase of more than $60,000 compared to last year. Last year's event concluded in early March with Fragadelphia 16, where Strife took home the title after defeating Apeks Rebels.

The circuit will kick-off in Georgetown, TX on April 30th with a 2-day event, where a maximum of sixteen teams will be able to compete. The prize pool for the event will scale from $1,000 to $2,500 depending on the number of teams in attendance. The event, taking place at the local Localhost venue, will award points to a points leaderboard similarly to the Fragadelphia 16 circuit. The "early bird" sign-ups for the event open at 12:00AM tonight.

The points leaderboard will work similarly to last season but with a small change to the way deductions are applied to players' points. Previously, a player could only lose 20% of their points earned at any single event no matter how many times they switched team. In the new ruleset, which now more-closely resembles Valve's former RMR ruleset, players will lose 20% of their total points each time they move to a new team. Also following on from the previous rules, if a team cannot keep a core of three players between events in which they participate, all players on the team will incur a 20% penalty.

The full list of events leading up to the finals at The Block in Philadelphia are:

• April 30th - Georgetown, TX - $2,500 (16 teams max.)

• May 7th - Denver, CO - $10,000 (32 teams max.)

• May 14th - Brentwood, MO - $2,500 (16 teams max.)

• June 11th - North Brunswick, NJ - $2,500 (16 teams max.)

• June 18th - Chicago, IL - $10,000 (32 teams max.)

• June 25th - Fullerton, CA - $2,500 (16 teams max.)

• July 16th - Philadelphia, PA - $10,000 (32 teams max.)

• August 12th - Fullerton, CA - $15,000 (48 teams max.)

• September 8th - Last Chance Qualifier - 8 slots in the finals (64 teams max.)
  (Note: All events are two-day events except the LCQ which is played on a single day)

The finals, which kick-off right after the LCQ, will take place from September 9th to 11th also at The Block, Nerd Street's flagship location. The number of teams to qualify to the event via the points standings has not yet been revealed. It is also unclear whether there will be any online events, such as ESEA Cash Cups previously, which will also award points towards the standings.

The full list of Fragadelphia 17 circuit events can be found here.