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The final games in the qualifying series of the North American and European Esports Championship Series Season 5 are over. We now know the four teams from each section that will progress to the Esports Championship Series Finals. London’s SSE Arena will host them from June 8-10.
Let’s take a closer look at how the qualifiers of this massive CS:GO event panned out.
North American Qualifiers
Of the two qualifying sections, North America’s was closer by a mile. In it, 10 teams battled across six weeks. Each squad played 18 games to try and earn a place in the finals. If not, teams tried to secure their place in the tournament for the next season by finishing fifth through eighth.
The two teams finishing at the bottom of the table in 9th and 10th would enter the Season 6 Challenger Cup. They’ll take on the top Challenger teams to try and preserve their place in the tournament.
Final table
| Pos | Team | Record | Won – Lost | Diff. | Points |
| 1 | NRG Esports | 17-1 | 283-182 | 101 | 51 |
| 2 | Cloud9 | 13-5 | 279-212 | 67 | 39 |
| 3 | Team Liquid | 10-8 | 265-227 | 38 | 30 |
| 4 | Luminosity Gaming | 10-8 | 220-223 | -3 | 30 |
| 5 | Renegades | 10-8 | 206-236 | -30 | 30 |
| 6 | eUnited | 9-9 | 197-210 | -13 | 27 |
| 7 | SK Gaming | 9-9 | 210-202 | 8 | 27 |
| 8 | Rogue | 8-10 | 202-235 | -33 | 24 |
| 9 | OpTic Gaming | 4-14 | 187-268 | -81 | 12 |
| 10 | compLexity Gaming | 0-18 | 148-213 | -65 | 0 |
With compLexity Gaming withdrawing from the tournament, they forfeited all their games. Those were awarded as wins to the other nine teams.
And in the end, this did impact the results in an incredibly tight qualifying campaign. It all rested on the Week 6 results as to who would join NRG Esports and Cloud9 in the finals.
Crucial wins for Luminosity Gaming over SK Gaming put SK were up against it. Despite beating Team Liquid twice a day later, this NA favorite finished with a 9-9 record and out of the qualifying positions.
eUnited will also rue a missed opportunity. Two defeats to Rogue saw them miss out on qualification.
In the end, Team Liquid and Luminosity Gaming pulled ahead of Renegades on leg difference. All three teams finished with 10-8 records and 30 points. At the foot of the table, compLexity Gaming and OpTic Gaming will enter the Challenger Cup.
European Qualifiers
The European qualification campaign wasn’t quite as dramatic, but there were still a number of top performers and some surprise teams not making it through to the finals in London. There’s also a big-name team battling to remain in the next season after finishing in the bottom two places.
Final table
| Pos | Team | Record | Won – Lost | Diff. | Points |
| 1 | Astralis | 17-1 | 298-180 | 118 | 51 |
| 2 | G2 Esports | 12-6 | 276-225 | 51 | 36 |
| 3 | FaZe Clan | 10-8 | 268-235 | 33 | 30 |
| 4 | Fnatic | 10-8 | 212-206 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 9-9 | 255-225 | 30 | 27 |
| 6 | GODSENT | 8-10 | 216-231 | -15 | 24 |
| 7 | Mousesports | 7-11 | 237-248 | -11 | 21 |
| 8 | Virtus.pro | 7-11 | 182-250 | -68 | 21 |
| 9 | Gambit Esports | 6-12 | 187-266 | -79 | 18 |
| 10 | Team EnVyUs | 4-14 | 205-275 | -70 | 12 |
With Astralis and G2 Esports almost secure in qualifying, the final week of fixtures clarified which teams would join them in June’s finals.
After a dramatic few days of fixtures, three defeats for Ninjas in Pyjamas (two to G2 Esports, plus one to FaZe Clan) was enough to see them miss out. Then, Fnatic and FaZe Clan picked up the wins they need to finish three points clear.
There was a shock at the bottom of the table though. Gambit Esports, despite two wins against mousesports, dropped into the bottom two, finishing 9th on 18 points. That means the winners of the ROG Masters 2017 and the PGL Major Krakow 2017 will now be fighting for their ECS life in the Challenge Cup.
ECS Season 5 Finals
The eight qualifiers above will compete in the ECS Season 5 Finals in June. There is a prize pool of $660,000 up for grabs. A top prize of $250,000 goes to the winning team.
The tournament draws teams into two double-elimination format groups. The top two teams from each group make it into the playoffs. Here, the top team from Group A will take on the runner-up of Group B (and vice versa) to decide which two teams will contest the final.
Qualifiers (with seedings)
- Europe – Astralis (1), G2 Esports (2), FaZe Clan (3), Fnatic (4)
- North America – NRG Esports (1), Cloud 9 (2), Team Liquid (3), Luminosity Gaming (4)
Our tips for the Finals
Although there’s still plenty of time for teams’ form to change, the fact that Astralis and NRG Esports qualified with just one losing game each out of 18 suggests they’ll be the big favorites.
However, there are a number of teams that could throw a spoon in the works. FaZe Clan’s No. 3 ranking in Europe will be a concern to the top American teams. Then, Fnatic’s form of late has also been much improved. The same is true of Cloud9, who always have the ability to turn it on in the big tournaments.
All in all, I think NRG Esports’ move to the top of the American rankings is significant. I think they are due their first big tournament win.
