ESL has announced in a statement that it plans to abolish direct invites for minors to teams that played in the Legends stage of the FACEIT major.
In a move that is expected to have massive ramifications for the qualification process of the majors, ESL explained its decision as a move to make the format of the Minors “completely inclusive”, with all teams required to qualify online.
The #IEM Katowice 2019 Minors open and closed qualifier dates are set!
Want to join the elite in Poland? This is all you need to know: https://t.co/vyel8tXohD pic.twitter.com/uW1HXDZSZ3
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 9, 2018
This means that all the teams that did not qualify for the top 8 in the FACEIT Major 2018, will have to qualify for the minors via the regional closed qualifiers. The official rulebook of the qualifiers will be released by ESL next week along with the registration links for each tournament.
This comes as a blow to Mousesports, who crashed out of the Legends stage with a 0-3 defeat and will now have to play in the European closed qualifier with some of the top Tier 2 teams of Europe.
ESL has also released the dates of the qualifiers which is as follows:
Europe Minor
- Open Qualifier #1 – October 22-23
- Open Qualifier #2 – October 29-30
- Open Qualifier #3 – November 10-12
- Open Qualifier #4 – November 24-25
- Closed Qualifier – December 11-12
CIS Minor
- Open Qualifier #1 – October 24-25
- Open Qualifier #2 – November 2-3
- Open Qualifier #3 – November 6-7
- Open Qualifier #4 – November 11-12
- Closed Qualifier – December 20-21
Americas Minor
South America (two spots):
- Open Qualifier #1 – October 24-25
- Open Qualifier #2 – November 3-4
- Closed Qualifier – November 17-18
North America (six spots):
- Open Qualifier #1 – October 22-23
- Open Qualifier #2 – October 29-30
- Open Qualifier #3 – November 10-11
- Open Qualifier #4 – November 26-27
- Closed Qualifier – December 11-12
Asia Minor
Oceania (two spots):
- Oceania Open Qualifier #1 – November 2
- Oceania Open Qualifier #2 – November 13
- Oceania Closed Qualifier – November 17-18
China (two spots):
- China Open Qualifier #1 – November 1
- China Open Qualifier #2 – November 6
- China Closed Qualifier – November 15-17
Southeast Asia (one spot):
- SEA Open Qualifier #1 – November 1
- SEA Open Qualifier #2 – November 6
- SEA Closed Qualifier – November 15-17
East Asia (two spots):
- East Asia Open Qualifier #1 – November 1
- East Asia Open Qualifier #2 – November 6
- East Asia Closed Qualifier – November 15-16
Middle East (one spot):
- Middle East Open Qualifier #1 – November 2
- Middle East Open Qualifier #2 – November 8
- Middle East Closed Qualifier – November 15-16
All of them in Katowice! Same system as London, mainly due to visas for teams from certain regions.
— Michal Blicharz (@mbCARMAC) October 9, 2018
UPDATE: ESL’s Vice President for Pro Gaming, Michal “CARMAC” Blicharz, has confirmed on Twitter that, similarly to the FACEIT London Major 2018, all Minors will take place in Katowice, Poland.
