The 38th season of ESEA Premier: Europe in CS:GO is reaching its conclusion, as the tournament’s main phase has just finished. Four teams from Group A and four from Group B have advanced to the playoffs, which begin on Oct. 12 after IEM Fall Europe concludes.
The best squad in Group A turned out to be Team BLINK, which managed to fall short only once in this stage, losing to Sprout in August. Sprout also survived the group stage, moving forward as the fourth seed. The second and third best teams in Group A are French mix DBL Poney and Turkish team Sangal Esports, respectively. SAW, Enterprise, Akuma and Apeks fell short and failed to qualify for the next stage.
Three Polish teams found themselves in Group B, which left many Polish fans worried. Nevertheless, the squads came out strong, with x-kom AGO, Wisla Kraków, and Anonymo Esports all managing to end up in the top four. The final team among the playoff contenders is LDLC, which managed to finish third in the group. GamerLegion, Endpoint, Movistar Riders, and SKADE won’t be moving on to the next phase.
Now, some teams will have earned a two-week break before the playoffs begin. A lot is at stake here. The winner will qualify directly to Season 15 of ESL Pro League. The runner-up will have to try his luck in Season 15 of the EPL Conference, which is a new addition to the ESL Pro Tour calendar and will give an additional two slots in the upcoming season of Pro League.
It’s also worth adding that each team competing in ESEA Premier’s playoffs gets a place in the next season of the league and a share of a prize pool. The winner will collect $20,000.
As for the playoff bracket, the winner of each group faces the fourth team of the opposite group, while the runner-ups will battle it out with the third seeds from the opposing groups. The playoffs will feature a double-elimination bracket, meaning every contender gets a second chance. The matchups for the upper bracket quarterfinals will go as follows:
- x-kom AGO vs. Sprout
- LDLC vs. Double Poney
- Sangal Esports vs. Anonymo Esports
- Team BLINK vs. Wisla Kraków
ESEA Premier Season 38 will return on Oct. 12. The games will be streamed on ESL’s main Twitch channel.
