Last night, while the teams yet to qualify for the ESL UK Premiership played their games, some UK teams set their eyes on a slightly bigger prize – a spot in the next CSGO Major, ESL One Cologne. Let’s take a look at how they all did individually as they set off on their mission to make it to the Cologne offline qualifiers.
A team that looks to have been created for the sole purpose of this qualifier, only having been created on the 23rd of June. Like many of the teams in this event started off with a free ride into the round of 512 where they came up against the Romanian team Turning Point. They put up a good fight against this team but sadly ended up losing 16-10 and exiting the qualifier after their first game.
What looks to be another mix team created to take part in this qualifier. They were unlucky to be one of the few teams that had a game in the round of 1024, and things really didn’t go to plan. A 16-1 scoreline against a French mix team.
This lineup has a wealth of experience from previous events and last season’s UK Premiership under the MALIK flag. Getting a bye in round 1 catipulted them straight into the round of 512 where they came up against a European mix team “hey kids” who they disposed of quickly in a 16-6 victory. They then met the German team “streakonly” who proved even less of a challenge and won 16-3 making them the first of our UK teams to make it into the round of 256, and they weren’t going to stop there. Next up was another German team, “key-preisvergleich.de”, who despite having some sold wins so far in this event (16-6, 16-1) couldn’t stop Choke Gaming beating them with another 16-6 victory where they would move on to the round of 32 and bring night 1 of the qualifiers to an end.
Despite having a bye in round 1 and a former UK EPS player from the Call of Duty 4 days (Marc from Team Infused) this team failed to make it out of the starting blocked by not showing up to their game giving the unpronoucable team “sisäpäivä” from Finland a free ride to the round of 256.
These guys had a busy night. They were unlucky enough to have a game in the round of 1024 where they had a closer than expected scoreline for  a game this early on in the night, with a 16-9 victory against “Team Paria”. This moved them onto an even closer game which could have ended their dreams had a round or two not gone their way, a very close 16-13 victory agains Team Aces. In the round of 128 they could relax a little with what appeared to be an easier opponent, dropping just 6 rounds the “The Dirty Five” from Sweden moving them one step closer to day 2 of the qualifier. Their last game of the night was against a Polish team called “Its sunday”. Bad punctuation and and grammar aside, this team put Infused through their paces dragging the game out to overtime where Infused manage to edge ahead making the final score 21-19 and securing their spot in day 2.
A bye in round one putting them with the top 512 teams in this event sat they put up against “Aimbat” from Sweden. Either they played and lost, or didn’t show up – the score on the ESL page says 1-0 to “Aimbat” and nothing else so use your imagination. Personally I like to think they showed up and spent 16 rounds trying to knife BARBARR and kHRYSTAL.
Play3r Gaming had a pretty stress free start to the evening with a bye in round 1 and a no-show in round 2, instantly putting them in the top 256 without a single shot being fired. Sadly their night didn’t go much further with a 16-12 defeat to the Norwegian team, “GamersLeague eSports”.
Sadly SharkBait had a very apt name for this event, getting a bye in round 1 only to lose 16-1 to the Belarusian team “JAMALUNGA”.
If there was one team we expected to see do well, it would be this one – the rumored “EZSkinz” lineup and dubbed “UK Super Team”. Sadly something didn’t quite click for them as they lost in their first game against the well known Danish mix team “Flaekkeholdet” in a shocking 16-9 defeat.
Team RGS had a very similar fait to SharkBait also, a bye in round 1 leading on to a crushing defeat at the hands of the Swedish team “dodareY” with a final score of 16-3
Vuze hopped into this tournament in the round of 512 after being one of the lucky many to get a free pass in round 1. They played against the Russian team “MoscowLegion” and disposed of them convincingly in a 16-12 victory. Sadly their night ended there as the Portuguese guys from “DragonWave.White” made short work of them in a whirlwind 16-2 victory.
Out of all the UK contenders for this event, Xenex by far had the easiest route. They joined the tournament in the round of 512 and sent their opponents “Team Croata” packing in a rapid 16-2 victory. Next up was “afroninjas” who put up a good fight but were eventually defeated after getting 13 rounds on the board. They then faced their final team for the night, French side “CITRONCHIENS” who were sent packing after Xenex racked up 16 rounds to their 8.
PHEW! Great turnout for the UK there. Best of luck to the teams who made it though to day 2.
