Russian team RoX.KiS and two other teams will start their bid for an ESL One Frankfurt qualification today as the European qualifiers start its group stage. The top three teams in this qualifier will join Natus Vincere, Alliance and three others in the $150,000 LAN finals of the competition which will be held in Frankfurt, Germany on 28-29 June.
The Russian team is included in the two games scheduled today. Their first game is against Team Dog, a team who seemingly can't figure them out. Over their last five matches, the RoX is leading with a dominant 4-1 score. RoX's next game is against one of the qualifier winners, Serbian team ONE (previously known as Sensei gaming).
Every game in the group stage is very important, as the format gives a lot of emphasis to the standings. Two of the three available slots will be consumed by two of the four group topnotchers. Meanwhile, the final slot will be given to the winner of a single-elimination tournament of the two losers of the prior match and the second and third placers of each group.
Twelve of the sixteen teams in the group stage were invited directly. Meanwhile, the other four (Monomaniac, ONE, Duza and Hehe United) went through the open qualifiers to reach this stage.
The American and Asian qualifiers have both yet to start. America's open qualifier and the first wave of the Asian regional qualifiers are both scheduled to start this 19 April.
Source: ESL Gaming
