ESL One Cologne 2020: All teams announced for online CSGO event
ESL / Helena Kristiansson[jwplayer MGioi8Ba]ESL have confirmed the full lineup of CS:GO teams for ESL One Cologne, their flagship annual event that will be held online in 2020 for the first time.
Due to travel restrictions still in place around the world, the Cologne event has had to be moved totally online, which also requires a region split for the competition.
The tournament is now spliced up into tournaments in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania. This means that fans will have to wait a little longer before seeing the best NA teams face off against the best of EU.
But, in a surprising twist, MiBR are actually going to compete in the European region for the event, rather than North America. According to HLTV, MiBR are bootcamping in Europe ahead of the event.
Ladies and Gentlemen, here they are!
Confirming all teams in all divisions for #ESLOne Cologne 2020 🏆 👀https://t.co/GSSnKBKcV4 pic.twitter.com/vTEEuq3Lh3— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 23, 2020
ESL One Cologne teams
Europe
- Astralis
- Natus Vincere
- mousesports
- Team Vitality
- BIG
- Heretics
- OG
- MAD Lions
- Fnatic
- G2 Esports
- FaZe Clan
- NiP
- Sprout
- Complexity
- Heroic
- MIBR
North America
- Team Liquid
- Evil Geniuses
- Cloud9
- Triumph
- Thieves
- FURIA
- Gen.G
- Chaos
Asia
- TYLOO
- Invictus
- ViCi Gaming
- Beyond
Oceania
- Renegades
- AVANT
- ORDER
- Chiefs
MiBR taking part in Europe means they avoid rivals FURIA, their toughest challengers Evil Geniuses, and even Chaos EC — who were at the centre of controversy due to unsubstantiated cheating accusations in a game vs MiBR themselves.
The prize pools are not all created equal however. There will be a total of $500,000 in prize money, but the lion’s share will be distributed between the EU and NA regions.
ESL One Cologne Prize Pool
- Europe: $325,000
- North America: $135,000
- Asia: $20,000
- Oceania: $20,000
ESL One Cologne starts on August 18, running until August 30. Being online muddies the prestige of what is typically the most coveted event outside of the CS:GO Majors, but the players themselves will take no notice with all that cash on the line.
After Cologne, ESL is also hosting the next Major, the first set to take place in Brazil. However, it was delayed until November, again due to the ongoing global situation.