Last night the epic26 main stage hosted another edition of the Phoenix UK podcast, of which the first portion announced the seeds for the event. When the sign-up window slammed shut at 10pm last night, 43 teams were registered for the tournament, meaning the prize pool for this event will be £5250, in the following distribution:
First: £2700 + Free Tickets to epic27
Second: £1450 + £20 Discount to epic27 Tickets
Third: £850 + £10 Discount to epic27 Tickets
Fourth: £250 + £10 Discount to epic27 Ticket
Tournament admin Umar “Maru” Aswat later tweeted the seeds out for an ease of reading pleasure. As such, the seeds are as follows:
Top Eight
1st: London Esports (Astroo, ec1s, dOMM, Ardiis, Frei)
2nd: The LDN Slayers (Smooya, r0m, MiGHTYMAX, Thomas, stan1ey)
3rd: reflexEU (whisk, L1NK, Kray, Adam9130, frazehh)
4th: Fierce Esports (kpiz, Carcass Hype, em1n, fZaN)
5th: CeX (resu, Nukeddog, LiamS, Murky, znx)
6th: Revelation Gaming (Russ, Impact, hawk, Jsav, leaff)
7th: 7.2 and below (Kryptix, masE, Surreal, Luzuh, Sliggy)
8th: NEDS (m0g, PCAIL, JayCMX, mrhui, Emyrgreen)
As expected, London Esports and The LDN Slayers were handed the top two seeds, but high-flying ESL Premiership squad Revelation Gaming were provided a lower seed than some may have thought. The reasoning for this was provided by Maru last night, where he stated that the lack of LAN results for the team in recent months counted against them in this regard.
reflexEU being handed the third seed is also a small surprise for some. That team is made up of four dizLown EU players but that team benefited from having LAN places over the past few months, including 3rd/4th at ESL Premiership Winter finals in January. Another notable mention is the traditional “old-guard” mix lineup in the top eight, with Sliggy and Kryptix leading a strong looking 7.2 and below squad.
Mid Eight
9th: SenseiScottJohn (swaggyavi, Ping, krusht, yura, angry)
10th: Horus eSports (MBL, Finui, shaney, Rybak, Pommey)
11th: Walter Walkers (MT, Cypher, br0die, DaNi, RezzeD)
12th: Demise (xacty, bmagic, LukeJM, dexie, Peggy)
13th: UTMadeeka (DJWhitey, SHEEKEY, Ruleh, Canefis, Fluffs)
14th: IGI Esports (Greenyy, Walter, LeLewk, square, Cynic)
15th: Ben Price (hste, trouto, Husky, Barter, benzkii)
16th: The Rat Pack (Jacky, Esio, Jack3y, Banelor, Puls3)
Final Eight
17th: G0id Squad (shoobie, Ducky, Stempy, Transfer, cloudy)
18th: Team Exilium (Wrinkles, Doodlies, journey, Varionn, dell)
19th: Madeeka U12s (Wilksy, triux, The_FID, Miixer, CNR97)
20th: Team Sausage (Monsta, DM, sham, 5habo, Kai)
21st: Madeeka.fe (cryptid, ConBrock, JackB, CrYths, mkat)
22nd: WhatAboutColdzera (Jargon, bsmth, Milzy, Stop_It, ifan)
23rd: Suns Out Guns Out (logaN, DyyLN, Wong, EddieK2, archerlv)
24th: Madeeka Down Under (Ryde, Bradtv, Tink, JPBT, cJe)
The full list of teams, including the remaining 19 unseeded teams, can be found on the Tournament Page. Coverage of epic26 will continue on UKCSGO.com over the weekend, with the groups set to be released next up.