ATK qualifies for ESL Pro League Season 18

Last week, we reported that ATK Arena’s CS:GO squad, featuring South African player Gareth ” MisteM” Ries as the in-game leader (IGL), came in third place at the ESL Challenger League Season 45 North America, missing out on the spot at the ESL Pro League Season 18.

We were wrong. While ATK did end in third place, and normally only the winner qualifies for that respective ESL Pro League, things have changed. In ESL Pro League Season 30, starting in Malta on 30 August 2023, 32 teams will compete, and ATK Arena will be one of them!

A press release we’ve received explains:

“This weekend, Season 45 of the CS:GO competition ESL Challenger League (ECL) came to a thrilling conclusion, with three teams from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific qualifying directly for Season 18 of the Tier 1 competition: ESL Pro League (EPL). There, Apeks, ATK and Rare Atom will be facing off against 29 other top-tier teams for a share of the $850,000 prize pool, a win in the race to secure Intel® Grand Slam V and its $1,000,000 cash prize, and direct qualification for the first following ESL Pro Tour Championship competition.
 
EPL Season 18 is set to begin in Malta on August 30th, running for five weeks until October 1st and seeing 32 teams compete for their share of the $850,000 prize pool. The tournament will pit the world’s best CS:GO squads against one another, with this league also serving as a connection between Tier 1 and Tier 2 – allowing winners of Tier 2 ESL tournaments to compete.”

22 teams have already qualified or are partner teams. The remaining 10 teams will qualify via ESL Challenger Katowice (one team), ESL National Championships (four teams), their spot in the ESL World Ranking (three teams), or regional qualifiers (two teams).

We are very excited about ATK’s attendance at ESL Pro League Season 18, and we will bring you full coverage of the event, so stay tuned.

Header image via ESL.