The first day of the first open qualifier for the Europe Minor leading up to the ESL One Rio Major has been played out, narrowing over 600 teams down to eight.
Only the top two teams from each open qualifier will advance to the closed qualifier, where eight invited teams will wait.
GeT_RiGhT and f0rest are signed up for the qualifier with Dignitas
Below you can find the list of notable teams that signed up for the first open qualifier for the Europe Minor:
Stay tuned for live updates from the Minor qualifier, which will be added to this article as the tournament goes on.
01:45 The top eight teams have decided
Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro wasn't able to make it into the second day of the qualifier, falling to Teodor "SPELLAN" Nikolov's SKADE in the final match, while Secret edged out Lyngby Vikings after a double-overtime game to advance in the bracket.
Round-of-eight matchups, which will be played out tomorrow at 17:00 , are as follows:
Dignitas vs. GamerLegion AGO vs. Sprout SKADE vs. Complexity Secret vs. BIG
01:17 Complexity, Sprout join round-of-eight
Sprout secured a convincing win over Japaleno on Mirage to book a spot in the second day of the qualifier, while Complexity was no less impressive on Dust2 against upset team Apologis, winning 16-6.
00:57 Half of the top-8 decided
Dignitas join BIG, GamerLegion, and AGO as the first four teams to secure a spot in the round-of-8, which will continue tomorrow at 17:00 .
00:47 BIG conclude the first day successfully
The German side went strength to strength in the qualifier, finishing the day with a 16-5 victory over FATE on Inferno. They will face the winner of Secret - Lyngby Vikings in their first match tomorrow.
00:24 First top-8 teams found
The Swedish side GamerLegion is the first one to reach the round-of-eight and finish their job for the day after handling Apeks on Nuke 16-9.
23:54 Round of 32 concluded
You can find the results of the last matches that do not have featured matchpages on our website below:
ALTERNATE aTTaX, who were playing with their coach Robin "ScrunK" Röpke instead of Marko "kressy" Đorđević due to an electric scooter incident, weren't able to overcome their countrymen BIG on Inferno. BIG play the winner of FATE - Wisla Krakow next.
23:16 Nordavind, Copenhagen Flames eliminated
bodyy's fiveupset Nordavind in the first Europe Minor Open Qualifier, eliminating Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen and co. Meanwhile, Secret continued their run, reaching top eight by defeating Copenhagen Flames, one of the last remaining Danish team in the qualifier.
23:10 Dignitas survive Nexus scare in round-of-32
The Romanian side Nexus managed to push Dignitas to the limit on Inferno, but the Swedish side won a crucial low-buy at 14-13 to bring the game back and secure the victory.
22:50 BIG take on aTTaX in German derby
In round 5 matches, ALTERNATE aTTaX is playing against BIG, while Dignitas are taking on the Romanian side Nexus. Previously, LDLC has overcome the new Tricked lineup, while Apeks continue their run by taking down SMASH and are now playing HAVU on Vertigo.
In the Iberian derby, Giants (playing without Ricardo "fox" Pacheco), secured a 16-10 victory over the team of Ricardo "roman" Oliveira and Christopher "MUTiRiS" Fernandes, SAW.
21:57 First round 5 matches starting
Copenhagen Flames will take on Secret in round five, while Dignitas face off against Nexus after handling DIVIZON 16-1. Another big name in the qualifier, GamerLegion, made it to round 5 where they await the winner of Tricked - LDLC.
21:52 Snax and co. out of qualifier
ex-Virtus.pro (playing as robin hoodzi on ESEA) has lost a game on Nuke to Apologis16-11, ending their run in the qualifier in round 3.
21:33 Underdogs face off
In round 4 of the qualifier, we will see some prospect teams face off against each other, with some of the notable matchups listed below:
Juggernauts vs. hREDS Budapest Five vs. Nexus NLG vs. GamerLegion LDLC vs. Tricked Apeks vs. SMASH SJ vs. Bpro Sprout vs. Demolition Crew AGF vs. Japaleno Izako Boars vs. Illuminar Turkey5 vs. FATE SAW vs. Giants
21:24 Favorites reach round 4
By beating QSKE16-4 on Inferno, Dignitas continued their run in the Open Qualifier, while Complexity reached round 4 where they will take on eXploit. With 16-3 and 16-2 victories, BIG joined round four, where they are going to play Arena Bulls.
20:22 Rounds 1 & 2 finished, favorites march on
Practically all notable teams managed to advance through the first two rounds of the EU Minor Open Qualifier 1, with SpeedRunners being one of the exceptions, falling to eclcats. Out of the big names, Dignitas defeated MK while Complexity overcame ErrorGG.
In round 3, Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski's team will take on TheDice (POV stream available), while Illuminar will face Absolute Legends.
19:23 Dignitas take on MK in first EU Minor match
Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund and co. will take on Emiliyan "spyleadeR" Dimitrov's MK. The match is streamed by slop3 and co casted by Faruk "pita" Pita in Swedish. Watch this match and the rest of Dignitas' run here.
Edit: The match is also streamed on the official ESL Twitch channel.
18:55 Closed Qualifier invites revealed, cause uproar among players
The invite of Heretics to the Europe Minor Closed Qualifier didn't sit well with many players, who raised concerns about ESL's decision.
18:05 Bracket has been drawn
You can find the bracket on ESEA. Most of the notable teams have been given a pass into the second round of competition, including the likes of Dignitas and BIG.
17:47 AGO to play with 16-year-old in place of Furlan
The Polish side AGO has decided to use 16-year-old player Maciej "F1KU" Miklas instead of one of their longest-standing members Damian "Furlan" Kislowski in today's qualifier. The team didn't reveal the reason behind the move. F1KU is one of the players contracted to the team as a part of their seven-player lineup.