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Update (September 14th 2023): You can see all the i71 esports winners here.
Original article:
Finally. The UK Counter-Strike community is getting another ESL Premiership LAN event after a four-year absence, and it will take place at Insomnia i71 in Birmingham this September.
ESL, an ESL Faceit Group (EFG) brand, and Promod Esports, the operator of the ESL Premiership, are joining forces with Insomnia the Gaming Festival for ESL Premiership Autumn 2023.
Following a unique format to accommodate a return to live finals, the ESL National Championship tournament for the UK and Ireland will see diverse ways for teams to qualify for the first live playoffs since 2019, which are set to take place on the Esports Stage at Insomnia the Gaming Festival in the NEC Birmingham, on September 8th 2023.
Related article: Insomnia i71 announcements include Pyrocynical, Elle Newlands, New LAN Lite Pass and more
Running since 2015, the ESL Premiership is the longest-standing national league in the UK & Ireland and the highest national Counter-Strike division that provides amateurs, semi-professional and professional players alike with an opportunity to develop their skills and a chance to further advance within the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) ecosystem.
The tournament will have a €15,000 (over £12,500) prize pool.
The news comes a few days after EA announced that Birmingham will also host the major $2m Apex Legends ALGS Championship 2023, at the same time as Insomnia is running. This event will take place at Resorts World Arena, which is right next to the Birmingham NEC, where all the i71 esports tournaments take place.
Shaun Clark, Senior Director Game Ecosystems for CSGO at ESL Faceit Group, said:
“The partnership between the ESL Premiership, Promod Esports, and Insomnia the Gaming Festival represents a shared commitment to nurturing the growth of esports in the UK and Ireland.”
Shaun Clark, ESL Faceit Group
“We recognise the great potential of teams and players from the region as they showcased their skills on both national and international stages numerous times. It’s exciting to see the likes of ITB.SHUFFLE compete in Tier 1 Counter-Strike tournaments like the Paris Major 2023 and IEM Cologne 2023, placing the region as a strong player on the esports map.”
Neil Gaisford, CEO at Player1 Events, added: “We are thrilled to be working with ESL at Insomnia71. Hosting the ESL National Championships gives players and fans an incredible opportunity to come together and immerse themselves in the thrill of in-person competition. We are looking forward to providing a platform for these extraordinary teams to captivate and inspire fans at this year’s festival, which is set to be the biggest weekend of esports in the UK.”
ESL Prem Autumn 2023 Schedule
The ESL Premiership Autumn 2023 will see the eight best national teams battle it out for a share of the €15,000 (over £12,500) prize pool, the coveted title, and a spot in the National Championships ESL Pro League (EPL) Season 19 EU Pre-Qualifier in the following format:
Closed Qualifiers #1
- August 4-6, 2023
- Online
- The eight best teams from the ESL Premiership Spring 2023 face off in a Double-elimination bracket. The first place advances to the Insomnia71 Playoffs.
Closed Qualifiers #2
- August 11-13, 2023
- Online
- The seven remaining teams from Closed Qualifiers #1 compete in a Double-elimination bracket. The first place advances to the Insomnia71 Playoffs.
Open Qualifiers
- August 18-20, 2023
- Online
- The six remaining teams from Closed Qualifiers #2 and a maximum of 26 teams from Open Signups face off in a Double-elimination bracket. The top two teams advance to the Insomnia71 Playoffs.
Insomnia71 LAN LCQ
- September 7, 2023.
- In-person at NEC, Birmingham
- Teams attending the LAN party at Insomnia the Gaming Festival battle it out in a Swiss format to secure one of four spots in the Insomnia71 Playoffs.
Insomnia71 Playoffs
- September 8, 2023
- Live at NEC, Birmingham
- The eight qualified teams compete on the Esports Stage in front of a live audience in a Single-elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-three.
The news comes after Into the Breach won the recent Spring 2023 CSGO ESL Prem.
CS ESL Prem LAN joins wave of i71 esports tournaments
As well as the CS ESL Prem LAN finals (there will also be an intermedite CSGO iSeries tournament) and the Apex Legends ALGS Championship, as previously mentioned, Insomnia will host a string of i71 esports tournaments as usual.
We spoke with Player1 Events esports manager Matthew ‘Kharne’ Macdonald to find out more about the tournaments and prize pools in the i71 open tournaments.
The £10,000 Valorant iSeries Challenge returns to Insomnia, showcasing the pinnacle of Valorant gameplay. Attendees will be able to immerse themselves in the intense matches whilst watching live on the Esports Stage on September 9th.
The prize pool breakdown is (from first place down) £5k, 2.5k, 1k, £600, £300, £300, £150 and £150.
There’s also a Valorant Women’s Cup featuring 16 female teams and its own £10,000 prize pool.
The £3,000 League of Legends iSeries Open tournament will also return, with a prize pool breakdown (from first downwards) of £1.5k, £900, £400 and £200.
For Rocket League enthusiasts there’s the £2,000 Rocket League iSeries Open, with a prize pool breakdown of £1k, £600, £300 and £100.
And the £3,000 Team Fortress 2 (TF2) iSeries Open, the biggest TF2 tournament in the world, is also coming back to Insomnia bringing together global teams in the ultimate show down. EssentialsTF are back on board arranging proceedings. Its prize pool breakdown will be (from first place down) £1.5k, £900, £400 and £200.
There’s also a Splatoon 3 European Championship.
Investment has also been made into hosting a 36-station turn-up-and-play tournament zone, providing PCs for participants in the TF2 tournament that have to travel internationally, so they don’t have to try and bring their PCs on a plane. The EssentialsTF website has more info on i71 too.
Elsewhere, Bandai Namco UK and PlayStation UK are heading to Insomnia 71 to bring visitors a first play of Tekken 8, before anywhere else in the UK. Attendees will be able to play as 16 characters in VS mode, enter just for fun PlayStation tournaments, and win merch.
Also, Into the Breach will have a presence at Insomnia i71, as will Endpoint, in partnership with CeX and Socios. They will be running meet and greets with their female Rocket League team, CSGO team and creator Pickapixel.
There’s even more info and tickets over at www.insomniagamingfestival.com.
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.
