Which ESL UK League of Legends regulars are playing in the Challenger Series open qualifiers?

We take a look at which players from the ESL UK Premiership will potentially be taking part in the League of Legends Challenger Series open qualifiers, which start this weekend.
Most of the players from the UK scene are listed as subs on several teams for the EU West open qualifiers, so there’s every chance they may not play.
Two players – Wizz from Exertus Esports and former TCA player Sean17 – are in a starting line-up together.
There isn’t a single UK-based team in the open qualifiers. Instead, the players have joined other EU teams, as can be seen on the Battlegrounds/CS open qualifier page.
Here are the list of ESL UK players and the teams they’re playing in:

• Alphari – top-laner sub for Team Huma (along with Werlyb, Santorin, Godbro, Kaas, GotoOne and HolyPhoenix), but bear in mind it’s unlikely Alphari will play in this team
• Sean17 – mid-laner for Anodized Wrath (along with ScarfaceLoL, Tracer, Monkkk and Wizz)
• The Hadow – support sub for Enigma Esports (along with Zhergoth, Memento, Caps, Slyv3r, Klajbajk, Casadar, Speedshift and Kanani)
• Tundra – support sub for 3sUP (along with Kektz, Taikki, Abaria, Nardeus, Zytan, HeaQ and Dumbledoge)
• Wizz – support for Anodized Wrath (along with ScarfaceLoL, Tracer, Monkkk and Sean17)
• ZiViZ – mid-laner for LoLUP.net (along with Zvene, Chuffy, LeX, Roo and Farbror Lukas)

Are the Challenger Series changes bad for UK eSports?

The EU West best of three matches get underway in round one on Saturday December 12th at 7.30pm CET (6.30pm GMT).
Round 2 is on December 14th, Round 3 on December 16th, Round 4 on December 18th and the Semi-Final takes place on January 5th 2016.
The tournament final will take place on January 6th.
The NA open qualifiers have a different schedule – check the page here for details.
It’s rumoured that Riot will add a Challenger Series qualifier spot to the UK in 2016.
 
Thanks to James Fowler of Esportspedia for the help

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.