ESL announced that the third season of the Intel Grand Slam is postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament organizer explains this decision by the fact that in a situation where competitions are divided into several divisions, it is difficult to determine with sufficient confidence which team is dominant – but identifying the strongest team in the world is the ultimate goal of these competitions. ESL also stated that games that are played in regional divisions will not count towards participation in the Intel Grand Slam.
ESL expects that in August, by the time of ESL One Cologne, it will be possible to return to the usual format of LAN matches. We can hope that the tournament will take place, albeit without spectators, but with the teams in person in the studio. However, it remains unclear whether the German authorities will give permission for such an event – everything will depend on how the epidemiological situation develops by that time.
To win the Intel Grand Slam and win the $1 million prize, a team must win six out of ten tournaments during the year, or four tournaments, one of which is a Masters Championship. NAVI, Astralis, fnatic and several other teams have a chance of winning this year.
