MLG World Finals European qualifiers start today: 10 teams in contention for main even spot

The MLG World Finals European qualifiers will kick off today, September 15th, at 16:00 CEST. Ten teams – Team Empire, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Alliance, Natus Vincere, Vega Squadron, 5Jungz, (monkey) Business, Monkey Freedom Fighters, Golden Boys, and CIS Rejects – will compete over the course of four days for a chance to qualify for the $250,000 MLG World Finals, scheduled to take place at the Ernest N. Morial Center in New Orleans, LA, between October 16-18.

The MLG World Finals European qualifiers begin on September 15th, at 16:00 CEST, with the best-of-three series between Vega Squadron and Golden Boys, followed by CIS Rejects versus Alliance, at 19:00 CEST.

Live broadcast will be provided on the Major League Gaming dedicated channel.

Out of the ten European contenders, only one will join MVP.Phoenix, Team Secret, CDEC Gaming, LGD Gaming, Evil Geniuses, and Virtus.Pro, in New Orleans. The European qualifiers will end on September 19th.

According to MLG, details about the upcoming North-American qualifiers will be released the following week.

MLG World Finals European qualifiers

Invited teams

Ten teams from the European region were directly invited to participate in the qualifiers. Team Empire (winners of the MLG Pro League Season 1 tournament) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (winners of the MLG Season 2 tournament) will start the qualifiers directly in the semifinals.

• Team Empire – The Russian organization has parted ways with Maxim “yoky” Kim and Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko, on August 25th, and welcomed former XX5 player, Ivan “ubah” Kapustin. Team Empire’s new roster includes former Aspera player, Andrei “The_apathy” Aleshkov, and Evgeny “Fervian” Aksenov (formerly of Yellow Submarine), as a substitute. As winners of the MLG Pro League Season 1, Team Empire will start the MLG World Finals European qualifiers directly in the semifinals.
• Ninjas in Pyjamas – The Swedish team has not made any changes to their roster. Ninjas in Pyjamas have been seeded directly into the qualifiers’ semifinals, after winning the MLG Pro League Season 2.
• Alliance – Alliance have revealed their new roster on August 25th. The all-Swedish lineup includes Johan “Mynuts” Andersson and Gustav “s4” Magnusson, as well as Loda, Akke and AdmiralBulldog.
• Natus Vincere – Na’Vi have welcomed former Kompas Gaming and Yellow Submarine player, Andrew “PSM” Dunaev, on September 2nd. Dendi, XBOCT, Funn1k and SoNNeikO have remained with the Ukrainian organization.
• Vega Squadron – Apart from registering two substitute players – Igor “Nexus” Lisakovsky (formerly of sQreen’s Squad and Moscow 5) and Kirill “Sunlight” Kachinsky (formerly of Power Rangers) – the CIS team has not made any roster changes. Vega Squadron have recently qualified for ESL One New York.
• 5Jungz – Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi’s team is comprised of a mix of known professional players, including Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, Adrian “FATA-“ Trinks and Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov.
• (monkey) Business – Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein’s new team was revealed on August 28th and includes David “MoonMeander” Tan and Tal “Fly” Aizik, formerly of compLexity Gaming, Amer “Miracle-“ Barqawi and Andreas “Cr1t-“ Franck Nielsen.
• Monkey Freedom Fighters – The MFF mix is comprised of WehSing “SingSing” Yuen, Titouan “PARIS” Merloz, Ionuț “Ar1sE” Turtoi, Sébastien “7ckingMad” Debs, and Yazied “Yapzor” Jaradat.
• Golden Boys – The Greek squad is the recently departed London Conspiracy roster, with new member Verros “Maybe Next Time” Apostolos replacing Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannokopoulos.
• CIS Rejects – Registered for the first Dota 2 Major on September 3rd, the mix is comprised of Artem “ARTES” Gorobey, Bogdan “Iceberg” Vasilenko, Ivan “Gorec” Kartankov, Ivan “VANSKOR” Skorokhod, and Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko.

Format

Match schedule

• Vega Squadron vs. Golden Boys (Bo3) – September 15th, 16:00 CEST
• CIS Rejects vs. Alliance (Bo3) – September 15th, 19:00 CEST
• Na’Vi vs. Monkey Freedom Fighters (Bo3) – September 16th, 16:00 CEST
• 5Jungz vs. (monkey) Business (Bo3) – September 16th, 19:00 CEST
• Quarterfinals #1 (Bo3) – September 17th, 17:00 CEST
• Quarterfinals #2 (Bo3) – September 17th, 20:00 CEST
• Semifinals #1 (Bo3) – Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. TBD – September 18th, 17:00 CEST
• Semifinals #2 (Bo3) – Team Empire vs. TBD – September 18th, 20:00 CEST
• Finals (Bo3) – September 19th, 18:00 CEST

Broadcast

Live coverage of the MLG World Finals European qualifiers will be provided by joinDOTA on the Major League Gaming dedicated channel.

MLG World Finals

The MLG World Finals, Major League Gaming’s 100th event, will take place between October 16-18, at the Ernest N. Morial Center in New Orleans, LA. Six invited teams – MVP.Phoenix, Team Secret, CDEC Gaming, LGD Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Virtus.Pro – and two qualified ones from the European and North-American regions will compete for a +$250,000 prize pool and the championship title.

Tickets are available for prices ranging from $49 to $249.

MLG concluded their most recent event – the MLG Pro League Season 2 LAN finals hosted at X-Games 2015 – on June 8th. Ninjas in Pyjamas won the title and $66,899 prize money, after defeating Alliance in the Grand Finals, 2:1.

Major League Gaming

Major League Gaming (MLG) is a North American professional esports organization founded in 2002 and headquartered in New York. Pioneer of the competitive gaming industry, MLG has held many tournaments throughout the United States and Canada, awarding over $13.5 million in prize money. Major League Gaming competitions have been broadcast on television, ESPN.com and other broadband sites. The MLG World Finals will be the organization’s 100th gaming event.