[hkes_show_google_ad] Team SoloMid and Team Kinguin have qualified into ESL Pro League 2017 Season 1 on Thursday, after their respective victories in Mountain Dew League Season 23. TSM defeated Rush 2-1 in the North American MDL Finals, while Kinguin bested Team-LDLC 2-0 in the European Finals. TSM finished second in the MDL NA regular season with a 13-3 record, qualifying for the online playoffs, where they swept past both RONIN and eUnited 2-0 and advanced to the offline finals against Rush. TSM took an opening win on Mirage 16-9, but Rush fought back on Overpass and won 19-16 after overtime. However, TSM were the victors on the final map Cobblestone 16-9. As for Kinguin, they finished tied for first alongside LDLC in the MDL EU regular season with a 13-3 record in the regular season, and moved on to the online playoffs. There, they defeated Team Spirit 2-0 in the quarterfinals and Rogue 2-1 in the semis. Meanwhile in the offline final against LDLC, it was a clean sweep for Kinguin after they won Cobblestone 16-2 and Overpass 16-9. Here’s what the team list for EPL 2017 Season 1 looks like so far:

NORTH AMERICA		EUROPE
Cloud9	compLexity Gaming	Astralis	Team EnVyUs
Counter Logic Gaming	Echo Fox	FaZe Clan	Fnatic
Immortals	Team Liquid	G2 Esports	HellRaisers
NRG Esports	OpTic Gaming	mousesports	Natus Vincere
Renegades	SK Gaming	Ninjas in Pyjamas	North
Winterfox	Team SoloMid	Virtus.pro	Team Kinguin
NA S4 Relegation #1	NA S4 Relegation #2	EU S4 Relegation #1	EU S4 Relegation #2

While both TSM and Kinguin have promoted from ESEA’s MDL into EPL, both Rush and LDLC still have a chance for promotion through the NA and EU relegation matches, where they will face the third place team from the MDL online playoffs and the twelfth and thirteenth-placed teams from EPL. In NA, Selfless Gaming and Splyce will defend their EPL slots against Rush and Luminosity Gaming, while in EU EPL teams Heroic and PENTA Sports will fend off LDLC and Rogue. The top two teams from each region will compete in EPL Season 5, while the bottom two will compete in MDL Season 24. Dates for the relegation matches have yet to be announced, however EPL 2017 Season 1 is set to kick off on Feb. 7. [hkes_show_google_ad]