ESL Challenger Valencia Open Qualifiers set to begin Thursday

Teams have already begun signing up for the North American open qualifiers for ESL Challenger Valencia, set to take place Thursday, May 19th, and Saturday the 21st. The attending teams will duel inside a single-elimination bracket for the chance to qualify for the closed qualifier which is scheduled the following week, on the 26th. For many prospective teams, this will prove to be a great opportunity to garner experience against their top peers and a chance to catapult themselves to the EPL Conference and potentially even Pro League.

ESL Challenger Valencia is one of many Challenger events inside of the ESL Pro Tour. The goal of ESL Challenger is to give aspiring teams the opportunity to prove themselves as the next best teams in international Counter-Strike. The Challenger level tournaments not only give chances for attending teams to qualify for EPL Conference but also gain points as a part of the Pro Tour.

The two first-place teams of each open qualifier will earn their way to the closed qualifiers, where they will compete against two invited teams in a four-team double-elimination bracket for a sole qualification spot to ESL Challenger Valencia, which takes place in Spain on July 1st. The North American representative will then compete at Valencia against seven of the top prospective teams across the other notable regions inside of Counter-Strike for a chance to qualify for EPL Conference S17, giving these teams a clear pathway to pro. The EPL Conference proved to be a legitimate outlet for growing teams in its debut season. The surging Extra Salt squad went on a tear in the event, claiming first place before the core eventually signed with Complexity.

Teams will have until 05:45PM to sign up for the first open qualifier, with games beginning fifteen minutes later at 06:00PM. At the time of publication, notable Americas teams such as ATK, Brazen, Gaimin Gladiators, GODSENT, Limitless, and Party Astronauts have all thrown their hats in the ring. With the best upcoming teams in the region signing up, the open qualifiers are set up to be an entertaining bracket.

Female Counter-Strike players can also get in on the qualifying action, as ESL is also hosting an Impact tournament at the same event. For anyone looking to get in on the action, signups are open until May 28th at 03:45PM with games beginning shortly after at 04:00PM. The Female iteration of the Valencia tournament will also pit the eight best teams in female CS:GO against one another, with one of the teams coming by way of the North American open qualifier.