During a FLASHPOINT Q&A #26 on October 1, the organization’s commissioner Christopher “Montecristo” Kjell Mykles confirmed that FLASHPOINT 2 will take place sometime in November in London, England.
Barely a minute into the livestream, FLASHPOINT analyst Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg leaked the location of the tournament’s second season, kicking off a string of new information regarding the organization-backed league. After months of rumors that North American esports organizations were planning a league to compete with ESL Pro League, FLASHPOINT 1 was announced as CSGO league wholly owned by the organizations that founded it. It featured a $2 million buy-in for ten teams, later lowered to eight, with several well-known teams taking the plunge.
FLASHPOINT Founding Members
Cloud9
c0ntact Gaming
Dignitas
Team Envy
MAD Lions
MIBR
FunPlus Phoenix
Visa issues and travel restrictions resulted in a shaky first season for the league, as did competition with ESL Pro League. With both leagues scheduled for the same dates, trouble arose. After ESL’s announcement that it would co-own Pro League with CSGO’s top teams, there was little FLASHPOINT could do to convince more top teams to take part. That said, FLASHPOINT was successful enough to warrant a second season, and one of its biggest draws was its open qualifier system. In order to fill the league’s final four slots, FLASHPOINT held qualifiers for any and all wishing to attend from North American and Europe.
When will FLASHPOINT 2 happen?
Unfortunately, those qualifiers might disappear with FLASHPOINT 2. Early on, Monte admits that the league may offer direct invites to two teams, meaning that only two teams could qualify through the open qualifiers. Monte also pointed out the possibility that since FP2 is set to take place on in LAN in London, the league may not offer qualifiers outside of Europe at all.
In another blow to one of FLASHPOINT’s early successes, talent Duncan “Thorin” Shields hinted that the league may do away with the qualifiers altogether in future seasons.
“If people aren’t aware, by the way, we aren’t obliged to run qualifiers for anyone. we could literally just invite just FLASHPOINT teams or FLASHPOINT [teams] plus whoever else… [future FPs] may have no qualifications at all,” Thorin said.
It’s a hard pill to swallow for young CSGO teams who are already struggling to decide whether to stake their chances on CSGO or try their luck in Valorant. Before moving away from FLASHPOINT 2, things became even more unclear when Monte read a question from Twitch chat that asked whether the league’s next announcement would include a list of invited teams.
“Yes, yes it will,” Monte said.
At the same time, Thorin shrugged, saying, “No… no idea on that.”
Monte stated that fans can expect more information regarding FLASHPOINT 2, its qualifiers, and possibly its invited teams sometime between October 5 and October 11.
M Alzamora
About M Alzamora
There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.
News
Esports Betting
Counter-Strike
News
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike