The organizers of the ESL Challenger February tournament have announced the final list of invited teams. It was originally planned that the competition would take place at DreamHack Anaheim, but due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation it was moved online. The prize fund for the event, which will take place in February, will be $100,000.
Invitations went to two teams from the top 10 world rankings – FURIA and Virtus.pro, as well as Movistar Riders and Dignitas. At the first stage of the tournament, they will meet with teams from different regions that have qualified in local events. These are the French HEET, North American Complexity, recently signed Extra Salt, as well as representing South America 9z and Australian ORDER.
The decision that the event will be held online was made recently due to the worsening situation with the Omicron strain. The teams will have to play online while in Europe, but the tournament format will remain the same. The playoffs will take place from February 11 to 13. The team that takes first place will receive half of the prize fund ($50,000), and the other half will be shared by the remaining seven teams.
