Two groups consisting of the best 4 teams of the world have been drawn.
The finals will have a total of 8 teams contesting for the lion’s share of the $500,000 prize-pool with the top 4 HLTV teams (Astralis, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid and Fnatic) in the attendance after qualifying from a total of 10 weekly cups, five played in North America and five in Europe. Other teams in the tournament are MIBR, Sharks, Ninjas in Pyjamas and AVANGAR.
The groups were decided with a team-selection method where the two qualified first-qualified teams (AVANGAR and Sharks) picked teams for the opposite groups and the groups look the like:
Group A
- Evil Geniuses
- Team Liquid
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Avangar
Group B
- Astralis
- Fnatic
- MIBR
- Sharks
The tournament will be played in a BO1-BO3 GSL group stage format which will lead to a single-elimination BO3 playoffs stage and will be played at Esports Arena in Arlington, Texas for the second time from November 28 to December 1 with last 2 days open to public.
The schedule for the tournament is as follows (Indian standard time):
Thursday, November 28
- 20:30 Evil Geniuses vs. AVANGAR (BO1)
- 22:00 Liquid vs. NiP (BO1)
- 23:30 Astralis vs. Sharks (BO1)
- 01:00 fnatic vs. MIBR (BO1)
- 02:30 Group A winners’ match (BO3)
- 05:30 Group B winners’ match (BO3)
Friday, November 29
- 20:30 Group A elimination match (BO3)
- 23:30 Group B elimination match (BO3)
- 02:30 Group A decider match (BO3)
- 05:30 Group B decider match (BO3)
Saturday, November 30
- 23:30 Semi-final #1 (BO3)
- 02:30 Semi-final #2 (BO3)
Sunday, December 1
- 23:30 Showmatch
- 02:30 Grand final (BO3)
