ESL ONE: ROAD TO RIO
Match schedule
In the context of the world pandemic, the schedule of esports events has been seriously changed. An exception is tournaments, which can be hosted after they have moved online.
As we know, almost all competitions where viewers can attend and the contact between participants is possible are canceled or delayed to an unknown time during the coronavirus pandemic. For example, the decision to limit the number of yearly-hosted Majors to one instead of initially-scheduled two was made in the popular esports discipline CS:GO. Rio de Janeiro, which has to host the tournament in May, will be a venue for the only world championship. But it will take place on November 9-22. It is worth noticing that the organizers have decided to increase the prize pool of the competition significantly, having increased it to $2 000 000.
The format of the upcoming Major
The sixteenth CS:GO Major will be hosted in full accordance with the standard format. As usual, 24 teams, which will be fighting for the long-anticipated title in a few stages, will be participants of the tournament. However, the qualifying system will be fully changed for the upcoming tournament.
Valve has announced the cancelation of direct invitations for teams to the stages Challengers and Legends. All participants of the autumn Major will be determined, according to special regional ratings. According to the majority of experts and bookmakers, such changes in choosing participants were caused by the delay of the competition due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To receive a spot in the main CS:GO competition of the year, it was decided to host a series of qualifying regional tournaments ESL One: Road to Rio, on the outcome of which the roster of participants will be determined. The dates of the qualifiers for every region - from April 22 to May 17.
Participants of ESL One: Road to Rio and slots in the Major
Region | Teams | Slots to ESL One Rio 2020 |
Europe |
|
10 slots
|
CIS |
|
5 slots
|
North America |
|
6 slots
|
South America |
|
1 slot
|
Oceania |
|
1 slot
|
Asia |
|
1 slot
|
ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe
16 teams will take part in the European qualifying round of ESL One: Road to Rio, $105 000 will be up for grabs for them. Teams-participants will be divided into four equal groups where they will have to play by a Round Robin system.. The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoff stage where the battle for prizes will continue.
16 lucky teams, which will be fighting for advancement to the Major, include eight European teams, which have stood out at StarLadder Berlin Major 2019. The rest eight spots were received by the teams, which have won regional qualifying rounds to Minors of ESL One Rio 2020.
According to bookmakers, the Danes from Astralis and the French from Team Vitality have the biggest chances to proceed to the upcoming Major.
ESL One: Road to Rio – CIS
In the tournament ESL One: Road to Rio for the CIS countries, 12 participants will be fighting for $50,000 and the main thing, invites to the Major.
Teams will be competing for five invites, which include two for the first places at the tournament, they will allow playing at the Legends stage.
The teams Virtus.pro with the Kazakh roster, famous NaVi, in which Russians and Ukrainians, play are the main contenders to advance to the world championship among 12 participants of the qualifiers.
ESL One: Road to Rio – North America
12 teams, which will be competing for $70,000, will fight in the USA and Canada to make it to the world championship. They will struggle hard to proceed to the playoff stage where the desired invites will be up for grabs. Five slots in the qualifying round were received by the teams, which have stood out at the last year’s Major in Berlin.
As almost all bookmakers who take bets on esports think, Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses are the main contenders to advance from this region.
ESL One: Road to Rio – Asia
8 participants, which will be fighting for $10,000, will face in the battle for invites from the Asian region. Teams will be competing in a Round Robin system, after which the playoff lineup will be determined. There will be hosted matches for prizes and the long-awaited spots in the Major.
Knowing the gaming potential of the Chinese teams, we can be sure that the battle for the victory will happen between Vici Gaming and TYLOO.
ESL One: Road to Rio – Oceania and South America
4 teams will take part in one and another regional qualification, they will be fighting for the only spot from the region. Prize pools of the tournaments are equal, which amount to $10,000. Teams will play by a Round Robin format and determine two finalists. They will play for an invite and the main prize. It is unlikely that one of the winners of the qualifiers from these regions will get into the fight for the title at the Major. The only thing we can state for sure is that participants from Oceania and South America will be rooted for seriously. Such a thing always happens with underdogs.