ESL FACEIT Group reveals further details of ESL Challenger League Season 47

Featuring 80 teams from five different regions, ECL Season 47 introduces the online league to South America and Australia & New Zealand while continuing to ensure a strong basis for the zero-to-hero pathway of teams from Europe, North America, and Asia. The full breakdown of each region’s format, and slot and prize pool distribution, as well as details on the ECL Relegations can be found below.

Europe
Featuring 24 teams, the EU region will see the following format:

• Group Stage 1:
  • The 24 teams will be divided in four groups of six and battle it out against one another in a single round-robin format with best-of-three matches. The top two squads of each group proceed to Group Stage 2 HIGH, the third and fourth placed teams advance to Group Stage 2 MID, and the final two teams make their way to Group Stage 2 LOW.
• Group Stage 2:
  • Competing in best-of-three, double-elimination matches, the 24 teams will be divided in three groups of eight, based on their performance in Group Stage 1. Each Group Stage 2 group will see the following progression:
    • Group HIGH: The top two teams advance to the Playoffs’ Upper-Bracket (UB) Round-of-four (Ro4); the third till sixth placed teams proceed to the Playoffs’ UB Ro8; and the two last placed teams continue their battle in the Playoffs’ Lower-Bracket (LB) Round 1.
    • Group MID: The top two teams make their way to the Playoffs’ LB Round 1, while the remaining six teams will continue their ECL journey in the next season.
    • Group LOW: The top two teams will return in the next ECL season; the third till sixth placed teams will compete for their spot in the next ECL season in the ECL relegations (more information below); and the two last-placed squads will be relegated to the ESEA League Advanced division.
• Playoffs:
  • The Group Stage 2 HIGH teams, as well as the top two of Group MID proceed to a double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The two best teams advance to the best-of-five Grand Final, with the team coming from the Upper-Bracket taking a 1-0 lead.
  • Furthermore, both the winner and the runner-up will secure a spot in ESL Pro League Season 20*.

The EU region features a $100,000 total prize pool:

The teams competing in ESL Challenger League Season 47 Europe will be known once ECL Season 46 and the relegations thereafter have concluded on the 17th of December 2023.

North America
Featuring 16 teams, the NA region will see the following format:

• Group Stage:
  • Competing in a double round-robin format, the 16 teams will play two-game series, with two best-of-ones played consecutively. The top ten teams advance to the Playoffs; the 11th and 12th placed teams continue their ECL journey in the next season; the 13th and 14th placed squads will compete for their spot in the next ECL season in the ECL relegations (more information below); and the two lowest placed teams will be relegated to the ESEA League Advanced division.

• Playoffs:
  • The ten best teams from the Group Stage proceed to a double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The two best teams advance to the best-of-five Grand Final, with the team coming from the Upper-Bracket taking a 1-0 lead.
  • Furthermore, both the winner and the runner-up will secure a spot in ESL Pro League Season 20*.

The NA region features a $80,000 total prize pool:

South America
Featuring 16 teams, the SA region will see the following format:

• Group Stage:
  • Competing in a double round-robin format, the 16 teams will play two-game series, with two best-of-ones played consecutively. The top ten teams advance to the Playoffs; the 11th and 12th placed teams continue their ECL journey in the next season; the 13th and 14th placed squads will compete for their spot in the next ECL season in the ECL relegations (more information below); and the two last-placed teams will be relegated to the division below ESL Challenger League.
• Playoffs:
  • The ten best teams from the Group Stage proceed to a double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The two best teams advance to the best-of-five Grand Final, with the team coming from the Upper-Bracket taking a 1-0 lead.
  • Furthermore, both the winner and the runner-up will secure a spot in ESL Pro League Season 20*.

The SA region features a $60,000 total prize pool:

With ESL Challenger League Season 47 being the first season to take place in South America, the 16 slots will be distributed as follows:

• The winner of ESL Brasil Premier League Season 2 2023
• Five teams invited based on their position in the ESL World Ranking (cutoff date is on December 18, 2023);
• Four teams qualified via Open Qualifiers:
  • Open Qualifier #1: November 28 - 29 | Sign-up here
  • Open Qualifier #2: November 30 - December 1 | Sign-up here
• Six teams qualified based on their position in ESEA League Open Season 47, concluding on December 17.
  • The registrations for the 47th season of the ESEA League are now open for all until October 18, 2023 | Sign-up here

Asia
Featuring 16 teams, the Asia region will see the following format:

• Group Stage:
  • Competing in a double round-robin format, the 16 teams will play two-game series, with two best-of-ones played consecutively. The top ten teams advance to the Playoffs; the 11th and 12th placed teams continue their ECL journey in the next season; the 13th and 14th placed squads will compete for their spot in the next ECL season in the ECL relegations (more information below); and the two last-placed teams will be relegated to the division below ESL Challenger League.

• Playoffs:
  • The ten best teams from the Group Stage proceed to a double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The two best teams advance to the best-of-five Grand Final, with the team coming from the Upper-Bracket taking a 1-0 lead.
  • Furthermore, both the winner and the runner-up will secure a spot in ESL Pro League Season 20*.

The Asia region features a $40,000 total prize pool:

The teams competing in ESL Challenger League Season 47 Asia will be known once ECL Season 46 and the relegations thereafter have concluded on the 17th of December 2023.

Australia & New Zealand
Featuring ten teams, the ANZ region will see the following format:

• Group Stage:
  • Competing in a double round-robin format, the ten teams will play two-game series, with two best-of-ones played consecutively. The top five teams advance to the Playoffs; the sixth placed team continues its ECL journey in the next season; the seventh and eighth placed squads will compete for their spot in the next ECL season in the ECL relegations (more information below); and the two last-placed teams will be relegated to the division below ESL Challenger League.

• Playoffs:
  • The five best teams from the Group Stage proceed to a double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The two best teams advance to the best-of-five Grand Final, with the team coming from the Upper-Bracket taking a 1-0 lead.
  • Furthermore, both the winner and the runner-up will secure a spot in ESL Pro League Season 20*.

The ANZ region features a $10,000 total prize pool:

• The winner of ESL ANZ Champs Season 17.
• One team invited based on its position in the ESL World Ranking (cutoff date is on December 18, 2023);
• Four teams qualified via Open Qualifiers:
  • Open Qualifier #1: November 28 - 29 | Sign-up here
  • Open Qualifier #2: November 30 - December 1 | Sign-up here
• Four teams qualified based on their position in ESEA League Open Season 47, concluding on December 17.
  • The registrations for the 47th season of the ESEA League are now open for all until October 18, 2023 | Sign-up here

ESL Challenger League Relegations
Commencing in 2024, the promotion from a region’s highest ESEA League division into ESL Challenger League will follow a point based system with each ESEA League season awarding points to participating teams based on their placement during that season.

The winners of the two seasons feeding into the first next ECL season, directly qualify for that respective season in their region – the winners of ESEA League Season 48 and 49 claim a direct spot in ECL Season 48. The first till seventh teams with the most points from Europe, and the first till third teams in the other four regions, will qualify for the ECL Relegations of their respective region.

The ESL Challenger League Relegations will have the following format:

• Europe:
  • Stage 1: Eight teams (the third to seventh teams with the most points amassed from the two corresponding ESEA League seasons, the 21st and 22nd placed team of the previous ECL season, and one possible team invited based on its position in the ESL World Ranking) compete against each other in a double-elimination bracket. The top four proceed to the next phase.
  • Stage 2: Eight teams (the first and second teams with the most points amassed from the two corresponding ESEA League seasons, the 19th and 20th placed team of the previous ECL season, and four teams coming from Stage 1) face each other in a double-elimination bracket with the top four qualifying for the next ESL Challenger League season.

• North America, South America, and Asia:
  • Stage 1: Four teams (the second and third teams with the most points amassed from the two corresponding ESEA League seasons, the 14th placed team of the previous ECL season, and one team invited based on its position in the ESL World Ranking) compete against each other in a double-elimination bracket. The top two proceed to the next phase.
  • Stage 2: Four teams (the first team with the most points from the two corresponding ESEA League seasons, the 13th placed team of the previous ECL season, and two teams coming from Stage 1) face each other in a double-elimination bracket with the top two qualifying for the next ESL Challenger League season.

• Australia & New Zealand:
  • Stage 1: Four teams (the second and third teams with the most points amassed from the two corresponding ESEA League seasons, the 8th placed team of the previous ECL season, and one team invited based on its position in the ESL World Ranking) compete against each other in a double-elimination bracket. The top two proceed to the next phase.
  • Stage 2: Four teams (the first team with the most points from the two corresponding ESEA League seasons, the 7th placed team of the previous ECL season, and two teams coming from Stage 1) face each other in a double-elimination bracket with the top two qualifying for the next ESL Challenger League season.

For the latest updates about the ESL Challenger League, head over to the official website, and follow ESL CS on X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook. For more general information, visit eslfaceitgroup.com and follow EFG on LinkedIn.

Assets can be found in the press kit which is available here.

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*In the event that a team has already secured their spot in ESL Pro League Season 20, declines the invitation, or is otherwise ineligible to participate, the third place team can inherit the slot. If this team has a slot already or declines the invitation, the procedure continues for the fourth placed team of the season. If none of the top four teams takes the slot, it will be transferred to the regional ESL World Ranking (at the time of the cutoff date). Additional details regarding the slot allocation for ESL Pro Tour competitions can be accessed here.