ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018 brings the best CS:GO teams to Brazil

Starting on June 13 and concluding on the 17th, the ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018 is  one of the most important Counter Strike Global Offensive tournament this month. A part of the Intel Grand Slam Season 1 series, it has a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000. The money will be divided among the eight most successful teams and the event provides participants with a chance to win the $1 million grand slam payout.

Tournament format and prize structure

Compared to other CS:GO events, ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018 is a competition reserved to the elite. There are only eight participating teams, divided into two groups of four squads each. During this stage of the tournament, which unfolds between June 13th – 15th, games are played in a two double elimination format. These two groups are seeded based on the ESL CS:GO World Rankings and the two most successful teams will advance to the playoffs.

The decisive stage begins on June 16 and concludes one day later, while being played in a single elimination bracket. The winners of semifinals are decided in a best-of-three series, while finalists compete in a best of five series. $200,000 will be divided between eight teams, with the winners and the runners up winning more than half of the amount. Group A will feature FaZe Clan, SK Gaming, Space Soldiers and Torqued, while mousesports, Team Liquid, BIG and Não Tem Como play in Group B.

An important milestone for CS:GO Teams

The guaranteed prize pool is big enough to justify the excitement generated by this tournament. In addition to the money up for grabs, this competition represents an important milestone for the Intel Grand Slam. This championship will award $1 million to the team that wins the first four premier events hosted by DreamHack Masters or the ESL. There are a total of 10 events and once a squad prevails, all the remaining competitions count. The goal is to reach four victories before anyone else.

To spice things up even further, the organizers are offering a prize of $100,000 to the spoiling team. This is a bonus for the Counter Strike Global Offensive squad that prevents their peers from reaching four victories. Only those who defeat a team that has already won three events will receive the spoils bonus. Both this financial incentive and the massive reward of $1 million are offered on top of the guaranteed prize pools of individual tournaments.

At the time of writing, no team is within striking distance and the most successful ones have only won two events so far. Astralis, FaZe Clan and SK Gaming are currently tied for the lead with two victories each, while Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas and G2 Esports have prevailed once. Astralis is in the privileged position of having seven remaining chances, but they won’t participate in ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018. Everyone will be watching FaZe Clan and SK Gaming, as the only CS:GO teams with two victories already. The former has three chances remaining to win the Intel Grand Slam, while SK Gaming just one.