ESL Impact heads to Valencia

The next event in ESL's #GGFORALL initiative is set to start tomorrow at DreamHack Valencia, giving the opportunity to another eight all-female teams to build their LAN experience. The format for the tournament is identical to the Impact League finals in Dallas, except for the slightly smaller prize pool.

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The four invited teams to the tournament are Nigma Galaxy, FURIA, CLG Red, and BIG EQUIPA; each placing top four at the Impact League finals. The remaining teams qualified from European, North American, and South American qualifiers. Those teams are, NAVI Javelins, GODSENT, Mindfreak, and MIBR.

NAVI Javelins and GODSENT both come from the European qualifier. Mindfreak, an Australian team, qualified from the North American qualifier while they were still in Dallas for the Impact League finals. And finally, MIBR came out on top of the South American qualifier.

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The teams will start off in two GSL-style groups with the top two from each proceeding to the single-elimination playoffs. Group A features Nigma Galaxy, BIG EQUIPA, NAVI Javelins, and Mindfreak. On the other side, Group B will see FURIA, CLG Red, GODSENT, and MIBR face off for the two playoffs spots.

The opening matches for tomorow are;

04:30AM — Nigma Galaxy vs Mindfreak
06:10AM — NAVI Javelins vs BIG EQUIPA
07:50AM — FURIA vs MIBR
09:30AM — GODSENT vs CLG Red

The event broadcast will be direct from Valencia, rather than a studio in Stockholm, by the following talent:

Sam "Tech Girl" Wright (Desk Host)
Hege "Hedje" Botnen (Analyst)
Stephanie "missharvey" Harvey (Analyst)
Anders "Anders" Blume (Commentator)
Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam (Commentator)
Lucy "LucyLuce" Eastwood (Commentator)
Veronique "Vearless" Zonneveld (Commentator)
Anastasija "Heccu" Tolmačeva (Sideline Reporter)

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As the event is set to feature the top four from the Dallas finals, it is expected that they will be the top performers again, with Nigma Galaxy and FURIA being favourites to win the event outright. Their previous clash ended in a 2-1 grand final that unfortunately saw FURIA disastrously crumble to Nigma after a 16-14 first map win.

Of course, of note are the three newcomers to the ESL Impact LAN environment; NAVI Javelins, GODSENT, and MIBR. Neither of the three teams were at Dallas and hence will be potential dark horses with their performance on LAN still unknown. Should any of them step up to the challenge, the invitees will potentially have their work cut out for them.

The full schedule and results for the event can be followed here, from July 1st to July 3rd, where the winning team will take home $50,000, with the runners-up receiving $20,000.

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