Team Liquid and Space Soldiers have overcome their opponents in the grand finals of the North American and European closed qualifier for ESL One: Cologne 2017.
Following the conclusion of both the North American and European closed qualifiers for ESL One: Cologne 2017, Heroic, Team Liquid and Space Soldiers emerged victorious, each securing a spot at the LAN finals in Cologne, Germany. The three contestants join twelve invited teams to duke it out on July 7th-9th at the ever familiar LAXNESS Arena. Teams will be fighting for the champions' bragging, as well as a whopping $250,000 in prize money.
Below is a table with all confirmed participants of ESL One: Cologne 2017:
 FaZe Clan |  Virtus.pro |  Fnatic |  Natus Vincere |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas |  SK Gaming |  G2 Esports |  North |
 Cloud9 | Immortals | mousesports | |
| Heroic |  Space Soldiers | Team Liquid |  Chinese Qualifier #1 |
Heroic were the first team to secure a place at the LAN finals of ESL One: Cologne 2017 via an open qualifier. The Danes took the high road, advancing via the winners' bracket of the closed qualifier. On their way they initially clashed with 
BIG, dispatching the Germans with a 16:12 and 16:10 sweep on de_Cobblestone and de_Mirage respectively. Next on the chopping block were Team Dignitas, who also fell in two of three maps. The team kicked off on a commanding note, securing de_Inferno with a 16:4 score, followed by a grindy and extremely close match-up on de_Nuke, where the Danes managed to pull through at a nail-biting 16:14. Upon the conclusion of their match with Dignitas the Danes had secured a placement at the LAN finals.
Next on the list of teams to qualify were Team Liquid. The team faced Misfits in the semi-finals, where we saw a an initial victory on de_Overpass (13:16) from Sean Gares' team, followed by two consecutive victories for Team Liquid on de_Cobblestone (16:5) and de_Train (16:11). This victory secured the team's placement in the grand final against Counter Logic Gaming. Unfortunately for the aforementioned team they were unable to secure a single map against Liquid, falling at a close 16:14 on de_Cobblestone, followed by a more devastating loss on de_Inferno at 16:8. After this two map sweep Team Liquid had secured their placement at the LAN finals of ESL One: Cologne 2017.
Last but not least Space Soldiers came through with a strong performance against their opponents. Much like Heroic, the team didn't concede a single map over the entirety of their run in the closed qualifier. Commencing their run in the round of 12, Space Soldiers met the Bulgarian roster of 
Outlaws. The team proved to be no big deal for the Turks, who dismantled their opposition 16:3 on de_Cobblestone, following up with a strong finish with 16:7 on de_Train.
The quarter-finals saw a more prominent opponent in Team EnVyUs. Despite technically being the favourites the Frenchmen fell to Space Soldiers - de_Cache (12:16) and de_Train (6:16). At this point the Turks were one step away from securing their first placement at a top tier event. The final obstacle on the way was the Swedish roster of GODSENT. Much like Outlaws the team was unable to stop Space Soldiers, crumbling in two maps. First we saw de_Cobblestone with a 16:5 W for the Turks, shortly followed by a 16:5 victory on de_Mirage, one that would cement Space Soldiers' placement at the LAN finals of ESL One: Cologne 2017.
Image courtesy of DreamHack Flickr/ Adela Sznajder
