Prize Pool Distribution
Format Diagram
Format Details
Stage 1 - Challenger Cup - May 4th & 5th
The Challenger Cup is divided in 2 groups. All teams registered in the Challenger Cup will play at least 5 matches against other teams in their corresponding group. The Challenger Cup follow the standards of a Swiss-system tournament. The first set of matches will be seeded by standings and new teams will be seeded at the bottom in a random fashion. Each match will consist of 1 map as detailed below. Whichever team finished higher in the season standings will start home - for all matches.
All teams will be ranked by number of wins (& ties) then by Buchholz then by +/- points then by points total. If a tie happens, the teams will play a single-elimination map. The best team of each qualifier group will proceed to Stage 2.
Stage 2 - Challenger Cup Final - Between May 5th & 11th
The 2 teams coming from the qualifiers will play a match in a 'Best of 3' maps format. Whichever team finished higher in their respective qualifiers bracket will be home. Each team will ban one map. The away team will ban a map first. After the ban phase, the home team will pick a map/side first.
The winning team will qualify for Stage 3.
Stage 3 - Round-robin Group Stage - May 11th & 12th
8 teams (Rank #1 to #7 from the Worldwide Season Standings and 1 coming from the Challenger Cup) will be split in 2 groups. Each team will play the other teams in their respective group in a Round-robin format. Each match will consist of 2 maps. Whichever team finished higher in the season standings will start home and reversed for the second map. For each bracket, each team will ban one map. The away team will ban a map first. The home team will pick a map/side first.
All teams will be ranked by number of map-wins then by +/- points then by total points. The top 2 teams from each group will be granted a spot for Stage 4.
Stage 4 - Semifinals & Final - May 18th & 25th
4 teams will participate in a single-elimination bracket. The team which finished higher in its round-robin group will be home. For each bracket, each team will ban one map. The away team will ban a map first. The home team will pick a map/side first.
The Semifinals matches will be 'Best of 3' maps format.
The Final match will be 'Best of 5' maps format.
Final-stage: Semifinals and Grand Final (
Challonge)
Stage 5 - ESL's VR League Finals - June 8th & 9th