Elisa expands esports operations globally and joins forces in order to form a $2,7m CS:GO tournament tour for 2021-2022, paving a way towards a new tier 1 event for the global esports fans

26.4.2021 - 10:53

The new partnership will bring together the tournament operations of names such as Home Sweet Home, Funspark and Elisa Esports. The tournaments will operate under a shared pointing system for the teams and create a completely new international series with the locally most relevant teams for European esports fans across the continent.

Elisa Esports announces three new partnerships in order to strengthen its position in European esports field, namely with GRID, Relog Media and Funspark. The new Masters tournament tour will bring together the most interesting and fascinating esports teams across Europe, who go head-to-head and compete for a $2,7m total prize pool across 2021 and 2022 – all under the same and easy-to-follow tournament structure. Each tournament organizer (Elisa Esports, Relog Media and Funspark) will continue to provide their own individual prize pools, but now with participating in common tour and thus creating together a $2,7m CS:GO tournament tour.

The partnership with GRID will notably improve Elisa Esports’ capability in making use of the data in the played games, allowing for example a completely new way for spectators to get more insights about the played game in a live form. Furthermore, the tournament partnership with Relog Media and Funspark will significantly increase the amount of content to be available for European and Finnish esports fans and audience.

“With the extended tournament structure co-operated with Relog Media and Funspark, we wanted to provide a new way for European top teams to better their rankings and compete, even if they are not official partners with the largest commercial leagues. Our tour will attract an extraordinary combination of interesting teams in the world, which has been a long-awaited element by our viewers and fans across the Nordics and Europe. For our viewers we wanted to tell that we have listened, and acted accordingly”, says Teemu Koski, Head of Elisa Esports.

“Throughout 2020, we have put a significant effort in order to truly understand what our viewers and fans would love to see us deliver, both in terms of the content for the viewers and the professional opportunities for Finnish and Nordic esports teams. Partnering up with GRID, Relog Media and Funspark proves that we’re on the right track, and we will continue to work hard in order to serve the people who love esports”, adds Pasi Lindqvist, Senior Business Designer from Elisa.

By creating and joining a shared tournament structure through each organizers’ Masters-events, Elisa Esports plans to add a new layer to the existing Elisa Invitational tournament structure. First, Elisa Invitationals are expected to be organized quarterly with a total prize pool of $400k, which furthermore is planned to gather the winning teams of Elisa Invitationals to Elisa Masters events with a separate $250k prize pool. Similarly, the other two tournament organizers will host their Masters-events.

All of the tournaments (Elisa Invitational, Home Sweet Home & Funspark) will operate an overarching Points System which is based on GRID scoring data for the teams, which allows an easy way for teams and spectators to follow the journey throughout the annual seasons. All of the Masters events from each tournament organizer are planned to lead up to a new flagship CS:GO event called “Elisa Champion of Champions” tournament, which is currently expected to take place in the Fall 2022. Champion of Champions will attract a globally significant pool of teams, more information of which will be provided when final decisions about the event are made. More information about the point system and Elisa Champion of Champions event is to follow in coming weeks and months.

The content of Elisa Invitationals, Elisa Masters and Elisa Champion of Champions will be broadcasted on Elisa Esports’ Twitch channels in both Finnish and English. Other language broadcasters and local media partners will be shared before each event.

Next Elisa Invitational will be organized on 28th June to 3rd July 2021. This event will follow the regional and main swiss stages played throughout May and June. The Swiss stages will qualify 8 teams to Elisa Invitational Summer, whereas 4 other teams are receiving direct invites. The invited teams will be announced closer to the event. Elisa Invitational Fall and Elisa Invitational Winter will be organised later in 2021.

“We can expect nothing less than a year-long party for the fans, as the new structure brings together the most interesting teams and players across Europe, week after week”, comments Teemu Koski.

Elisa Invitational and Elisa Masters in a nutshell:

Four Elisa Invitational events with $100,000 each, Elisa Masters with $250,000
- Completed: Elisa Invitational Spring 2021 ($100,000 total prize money)
- Elisa Invitational Summer 2021 ($100,000 total prize money)
- Elisa Invitational Fall 2021 ($100,000 total prize money)
- Elisa Invitational Winter 2021 ($100,000 total prize money)
- Elisa Masters 2022 ($250,000 total prize money)
New Elisa Invitational format, applied to Elisa Invitational Summer 2021
- Stage 1 – Qualifiers
  - May 1st – May 2nd
  - 64 Finnish teams in a Single-Elimination Bracket in Saturday’s Open Qualifier
  - hREDS, KOVA, SJ and the winner of the Open Qualifier in Sunday’s Closed Qualifier
  - Winner secures a spot in Stage 2, Regional Swiss
- Stage 2 – Regional Swiss
  - May 6th – May 30th
  - Every week from Thursday to Sunday at 5pm and 8pm CEST
  - Swiss Group (Best-of-3) with 15 invite teams such as Nordavind and Young Ninjas, and 1 qualifier team
  - Top 8 teams will advance to Stage 3, Main Swiss
- Stage 3 – Main Swiss
  - June 3rd – June 27th
  - Every week from Thursday to Sunday at 5pm and 8pm CEST
  - Swiss Group (Best-of-3) with 8 invite teams such as HAVU and ENCE, and 8 teams from the Regional Swiss
  - Top 8 teams will secure spots in Stage 4, the Playoffs
- Stage 4 – Playoffs
  - June 28th – July 3rd
  - Single-Elimination Bracket with 4 rounds of play: Opening Matches, Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Grand Finals
  - 12 teams in total; 8 teams in the Opening Matches from Main Swiss, 4 teams invited to the Quarter Finals

Elisa Champion of Champions Tour in a nutshell:

Qualification Stages (2021-2022)
- Home Sweet Home tournaments ($1,200,000 total prize money)
- Elisa Invitational tournaments ($400,000 total prize money)
- Funspark tournaments ($330,000 total prize money)
LAN Stages (2022)
- LAN Sweet LAN Masters tournament ($250,000 total prize money)
- Elisa Masters tournament ($250,000 total prize money)
- Funspark ULTI Grand Finals ($300,000 total prize money)
Format
- Online Qualification Stages, where teams collect points
- Offline LAN Stages, where teams collect points
- Elisa Champion of Champions tournament in 2022, where teams with the most points will battle for the title of the Champion of Champions
2,7 million USD Prize Pool across a handful of tournaments in 2021-2022

13.4.2021 - 17:46

Elisa Invitational Spring 2021 is set to begin on the 15th of April! Here’s how you can catch up with all the content for the Elisa Invitational.

Where: Online
When: 15. – 18.4.2021
Teams: 8
Prize Pool: $50 000

FORMAT

Group Stage

4 team GSL Double-Elimination Brackets (Group Openers + Winners Match BO1, Elimination + Decider Match BO3)
2 best teams qualify to Playoffs from each bracket

Playoffs

2 x Semi-Finals (BO3), Grand Final (BO3)

TEAMS

Group A

SKADE – Invited
Nordavind – Invited
HAVU Gaming – Qualified from Elisa Nordic Championship regional tournament
Apeks – Qualified from Elisa Nordic Championship regional tournament

Group B

ENCE – Invited
DBL Poney – Invited
Tricked – Qualified from Elisa Nordic Championship regional tournament
Young Ninjas – Qualified from Elisa Nordic Championship regional tournament

TALENTS

Rikumikko “T_Panda” Kangasmäki – Host
Roope “RobuJohnson” Leppänen – Analyst
Joona “natu” Leppänen – Analyst
Josh “Dweg” Nathan – Caster
Jamie “TheEternalJay” Martin – Caster
Harvey “Skriv” Rodgers – Caster

Timo “Stimby” Pölkki – Caster
Santeri “Uppis” Puusaari – Caster
Peetro “Torpeedro” Aittola – Caster
Topi “OfficialToivo” Hirvilammi – Caster

SCHEDULE

15.4. THURSDAY – Group A

Opening match 14:00 CEST – HAVU vs. Apeks BO1
Opening match 15:30 CEST – SKADE vs. Nordavind BO1
Winners Match 17:00 CEST – TBD BO1
Losers Match 19:00 CEST – TBD BO3

16.4. FRIDAY – Group B

Opening match 14:00 CEST – ENCE vs. Young Ninjas BO1
Opening match 15:30 CEST – DBL Poney vs. Tricked BO1
Winners Match 17:00 CEST – TBD BO1
Losers Match 19:00 CEST – TBD BO3

17.4. SATURDAY

Decider Match 16:00 CEST – Group A TBD BO3
Decider Match 19:00 CEST – Group B TBD BO3

18.4. SUNDAY

Semi Final #1 12:00 CEST – TBD BO3
Semi Final #2 15:00 CEST- TBD BO3
Grand Final 19:00 CEST – TBD BO3

Follow our Twitter for results and real time schedule.

See you on Twitch!

31.3.2021 - 11:55

Elisa Invitational Spring 2021 – stronger than ever! Elisa Invitational will be played between qualified teams from Elisa Nordic Championship and some of the most prestigious teams in the world. The tournament takes place from 15th to 18th of April, with a total prize pool of $50,000.

The tournament will feature eight top teams, including the Finnish domestic supersensations; HAVU and ENCE. Four teams have proven themselves worthy and qualified from the local Elisa Nordic Championship tournaments. These teams are HAVU, Tricked, Apeks and Young Ninjas. The rest of the slots will be filled by invites of some of the top teams in the world.

The tournament features Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Elisa Invitational was held twice in 2020, and now it’s returning bigger than ever!

Elisa Invitational Spring 2021 in a nutshell:

Tournament Play
- Group Stage 15. – 17.4.
- Playoffs 18.4.
Format
- Group Format
  - 4 team GSL Double-Elimination Brackets (Group Openers + Winners Match BO1, Elimination + Decider Match BO3)
  - 2 best teams qualify to Playoffs from each bracket
- Playoff Format
  - 2 x Semi-Finals (BO3), Grand Final (BO3)
Teams
- 4 qualified teams from their own regional Elisa Nordic Championship tournaments
  - HAVU (Finland), Tricked (Denmark), Apeks (Norway) and Young Ninjas (Sweden)
- 4 world top teams invited
  - ENCE (Finland) and 3 other teams to be announced soon
$100,000 Prize Pool
- A total of $50,000 shared between the regional leagues
- $50,000 up for grabs in Elisa Invitational
  - 1^st Place $25,000
  - 2^nd Place $10,000
  - 3^rd and 4^th Place $5,000
  - 5^th and 6^th Place $1,500
  - 7^th and 8^th Place $1,000
Exact schedule: elisaviihde.fi/sport/lajit/e-urheilu
You can find more information about the tournament, as well as current esports news at elisaesports.fi
For the latest news regarding everything Elisa Esports, follow @elisaesports in Twitter and Instagram!