The ESL One Cologne North American qualifier, which will give out the last two spots for the upcoming major, starts in just under two days and here's the viewer's guide with everything you need to know.
Eight North American teams are in the battle for the last couple of spots for ESL One Cologne, including Cloud9, Liquid, CLG and more, with the groups looking as follows:
Group A
Group B
Cloud9
CLG
Team Liquid
Mythic
Tempo Storm
Maximum Effort
Noble Esports
eLevate
Those will be played in the usual GSL-like best-of-one format, from which the top two sides advance to a best-of-three single elimination semi-finals. Winners of each semi-final receive a spot at the major.
The qualifier begins on Saturday, when most of the group stage is going to be played out, with the exception of the decider match, followed up by the semi-finals on Sunday:
Saturday, August 1st
19:00
Cloud9
vs. Noble
A1
BO1
20:15
Tempo Storm
vs. Liquid
A2
BO1
21:30
A1 winner
vs. A2 winner
A3
BO1
22:45
A1 loser
vs. A2 loser
A4
BO1
00:15
CLG
vs. eLevate
B1
BO1
01:30
Maximum Effort
vs. Mythic
B2
BO1
02:45
B1 winner
vs. B2 winner
B3
BO1
04:00
B1 loser
vs. B2 loser
B4
BO1
Sunday, August 2nd
19:00
A3 loser
vs. A4 winner
A5
BO1
20:15
B3 loser
vs. B4 winner
B5
BO1
21:45
Semi-final #1 (B3 winner vs. A5 winner)
BO3
01:00
Semi-final #2 (A3 winner vs. B5 winner)
BO3
Note that the times mentioned above merely serve as an estimate, the matches will start as soon as possible after previous ones come to an end.
ESL have stressed that the event will not be open for the public, but all matches will naturally be broadcasted on ESL's official stream, which you will be able to find on our main page once it goes live.