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Esports tournament organizer, ESL, canceled DreamHack Open Atlanta and unveiled several changes to their Pro Tour Circuit. In the announcement, ESL unveiled new tournaments, slated for November 2021, as well as new dates for IEM Fall.
Changes To The Pro Tour Circuit
In a recent update posted on Wednesday, September 1, ESL announced several changes to its Pro Tour Circuit. Most notable was the cancellation of DreamHack Open Atlanta and Winter, slated for November 12-14 and November 26-28.
In their place, ESL decided to host a new CS:GO tournament, which will run from November 23-28. The organizers did not give any definitive reason for the cancellation of two LAN events.
However, ESL has explained that the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports competitive calendar for the final two quarters of the year is overwhelming, which causes challenges to planning tournaments. Therefore, besides canceling the two events, ESL also moved DreamHack Open 47 from October to November.
The rescheduled tournament, as well as the DreamHack Open September events – which will be held for North America, South America, and Oceania – will be used as qualifiers for ESL’s new tournament in November.
Additionally, the two teams who previously qualified for IEM Fall, via winning the DreamHack Open June, will receive invites for the new event. The decision follows the conversion of IEM Fall to Regional Major Ranking event.
Adding to the news, ESL revealed that they’re exploring options to host the upcoming IEM Winter on LAN. Meanwhile, IEM Fall could potentially play out offline in Europe.
New Dates for IEM Fall and DreamHack Open Qualifiers
Shortly after announcing the cancellation of DreamHack Open Atlanta and Winter, ESL and DreamHack came out with new dates for IEM Fall and DreamHack Open September qualifiers.
As revealed, IEM Fall North America open qualifiers have been moved to September 7-8, while the closed qualifiers for DreamHack Open September will play out on September 14-17. The Oceanic open qualifier will not be played over two days but instead transform into a single-day event.
The dates for DreamHack Open September qualifiers for North America have not been altered.
The changes have been made to prevent clashes with Fragadelphia 15. Now, the North American CS:GO esports teams will be able to attend the qualifiers for DreamHack and the IEM RMR event without needing to forfeit their spot at Fragadelphia 15, slated for September 10-12.
However, even with the changes, some of the DreamHack qualifiers would still clash with BLAST Premier Fall Showdown qualifiers (Sep 14-15).
Because of that, the esports tournament organizers stated tier intentions to provide the teams with a place to play out both events.
“We may be able to help some teams have a place to play other events once blast ends or during the event if it doesn’t time-wise overlap” announced Fragdelphia.
To avoid further complications, ESL and Fragdelphia will start planning events together to prevent overlaps in the future.
New Dates, New Tournaments
Despite the cancellation of two esports events, the CS:GO esports scene won’t lack action-packed tournaments in the following weeks.
The action will begin with DreamHack Open qualifiers for NA and Oceania on September 2-3 and September 4-5. The qualifiers will continue with the closed stage on September 14-17 for NA and September 14-16 for Oceania.
The North American IEM Fall Open qualifiers will be split into two stages – on September 7-8 and September 11-12. The closed qualifiers are slated for September 18-19.
DreamHack Open 46 for NA, SA, and ANZ will take place on September 22-26, while DreamHack Open 47, for Europe, will be held on November 10-14.
The third DreamHack tournament is slated for November 23-28; however, the tournament organizers have yet to announce any details about the event. More information should become available in the coming weeks.
New Tournament Dates
- Open Qualifiers 1 (NA, OCE) – September 2-3
- Open Qualifiers 2 (NA, OCE) – September 4-5
- Closed Qualifiers 1 (NA) – September 14-17
- Closed Qualifiers 2 (OCE) – September 14-16
- IEM Fall NA Open Qualifiers 1 – September 7- 8
- IEM Fall NA Open Qualifiers 2 – September 11-12
- IEM Fall NA Closed Qualifiers – September 18-19
- DreamHack Open 46 (NA, SA, ANZ) – September 22-26
- DreamHack Open 47 (EU) – November 10-14
- New Tournament (TBA) – November 23-28