Since the beginning of June when the $100,000 Atlantic Showdown was announced, scores of European teams have clamoured for the chance to qualify as one of the four best teams in the region and be flown out to compete against their North American counterparts at Gamescom in Cologne. We are now down to the final 16.

Europe has had four qualifying tournaments already to whittle down the competition, four teams qualifying from each. The 16 best teams in Europe will now battle it out in a double-elimination tournament to determine the four representatives in the Atlantic Showdown, but who made it through thus far?

The Victorious

Qualifying in the first tournament were Misfits, SG-1, ANOX, and REUNITED. With no upsets in the bracket and two of the top four in Europe instantly through, this was a slam dunk tournament. Despite the risk of two top teams meeting in the single elimination bracket, Lady Luck stepped in and persuaded the other two top teams to wait until the following week. These four teams earned the seeding of 1 through 4.

Heavyweights Creation eSports and Rogue rocked up to the second qualifier, making their way through alongside Bringos and Melty. The delay for Creation and Rogue could hurt them a little however, as they are now in the group seeded 5-8.

By the third qualifier, most of the elite teams were already through. This opened the field to teams like Bikini Beach eSports and The Gatekeepers, as well as allowing strong teams like Prets and 2sTroNk to claim their place. These teams claimed seeds 9-12.

The teams who squeaked in on the final qualifier were OWKings, Team Aera, b.fly, and WEUNITED. OWKings had been unlucky with their previous qualifiersbut managed to overcome Le Mixx to get their spot, while Aera had been stumped by Russian teams ANOX and Pret in previous qualifiers. These four teams earned the lowest seeds of 13-16.

The teams were seeded based on the tournament they qualified in, but randomly placed 1-4 within their group. This has vastly overinflated the seeding of teams like ANOX, sat at #1 seed, and SG-1, currently #2; but it has criminally underrated WEUNITED and OWKings who sit at #15 and #16 respectively. There are few teams who are seeded sensibly as a result, and the tournament desperately needs its lower bracket to remain fair.

As a result of the random seeding, there are going to be many amazing matches all throughout the tournament. In just the first round we have ANOX against OWKings (laughably tagged as the best team against the worst) as well as 2sTroNk vs. Bringos and WEUNITED vs. SG-1. It’s unfortunate that ESL will be unable to cover all of these fixtures and the lack of a demo system means many will be lost to the ether.

Key match-ups will occur all throughout the bracket, with Creation set to play REUNITED as early as the Upper Bracket Quarter Finals. Another team to keep a close eye on is the upcoming WEUNITED squad, who face tough but beatable opposition in SG-1 and then Rogue. If they can deliver an upset, it could change the dynamic of the tournament.

It is set to be a highly interesting and stacked field.

Only four teams can make it out alive.