Korea's 1654 team Open Division ended in thrilling fashion last Sunday, as Requiem Six bested EXL-CLEA 4-3 in the grand final to claim first place. As the champions, Requiem Six were awarded ₩5,000,000 ($4,642~ USD) in prize money as well as an invite to Contenders Trials: Korea. Second and third place teams, EXL-CLEA and CRusher, also received invites to Trials.

The large amount of signups for Korea's Open Division has been a breath of fresh air in a scene that has been largely shrouded in negativity in recent times. Trials is set to kick off this month, in which eight teams will compete for four spots in Contenders: Korea.

In other Open Division news, squads across the globe will compete in in their Open Division playoffs over the next week, although some regions have yet to play tiebreakers for their final playoffs spots. The top eight teams from South America and ANZ will receive direct invites to the inaugural season of their Contenders Divisions, in contrast to the Trials spots up for grabs in other regions.

Prizes were dispersed for Open Division 2018 Season 1: Korea as seen below:

  • 1st Requiem Six - ₩ 5,000,000 ($4,642~ USD) - Trials Invite
  • 2nd EXL-CLEA - ₩3,000,000 ($2,785~ USD) - Trials Invite
  • 3rd CRusher - ₩1,000,000 ($928~ USD) - Trials Invite
  • 4th The Face - ₩1,000,000 ($928~ USD)
  • 5th-8th Team Nexus - ₩500,000 ($464~ USD)
  • 5th-8th Mad Dogs - ₩500,000 ($464~ USD)
  • 5th-8th Milky Way - ₩500,000 ($464~ USD)
  • 5th-8th MAXTILL TK - ₩500,000 ($464~ USD)