SL i-League Invitational S3 Minor open qualifiers have come to an end last night, granting four teams a spot in the regional qualifiers.
Two teams from NA - Team Phoenix and Blue Pikachu, one team from EU - SFT esports, and one team from China - Braveheart earned their way into the first of the Valve Minor's regional qualifiers after long hard battles.
While it was no surprise to see the Korean overlords, Team Phoenix cruise through the open qualifiers, it was a surprise to many to find out the team will be representing the North American region in the upcoming events instead of the SEA region. Luckily for Blue Pikachu, a second spot was awarded to the region, allowing them to also advance.
SFT esports, a new formed European mix featuring CIS carry player Ilya "Illidan" Pivcaev had knocked out Troels ‘syndereN’ Nielsen's new team. They then upset the new team MeedorFeed with Aliwi 'w33' Omar and Maurice 'KheZu' Gutmann with a convincing 2:0 sweep.
Braveheart bested Newbee Young and then Team Serenity in two consecutive sweeps to round out a flawless performance and run through the qualifiers.
The four teams will now join the invited teams in the regional qualifiers. No details have been announced yet regarding the lineups or the dates. The other three regions - CIS, SEA and SA which concluded last weekend will now begin their battle in the closed qualifiers tonight.
SEA, CIS, and SA regional qualifiers attendees
| Southeast Asia | CIS | SA |
|---|---|---|
 Fnatic |  Team Empire |  Midas Club Elite |
 Mineski |  Natus Vincere |  Mad Kings |
 TNC |  Team Spirit | SG Esports |
| WG.Unity | Vega Squadron | Elite Wolves |
| Fire Dragoon | Gambit Esports | ?Digital Chaos.SA |
| Execration | M19 | Infamous |
| Clutch Gamers | Double Dimension (OQ winner) | Luccini Gaming (OQ winner) |
|
| XAKOHCHE (OQ runner-up) |
|
The entire regional qualifier process for SL i-League Invitational S3 will be broadcast in English by Beyond the Summit, in Russian by SLTV and in Chinese by ImbaTV.
The SL i-League Invitational Season 3 Minor will be held at the CyberSport Arena in Kiev, October 12-15th. The first Minor will feature 8 of the best teams from around the world. Six teams will earn their place in the regional qualifiers, two teams will be directly invited - yet to be announced. All teams will compete for the $300,000 prize pool and the first qualifying points towards an invite to The International 8.
