Photo courtesy of ESL
A second visa delay for ESL One Hamburg 2018 has forced YawaR to be replaced by Xcalibur for the event.
Forward Gaming was one of the directly invited teams to participate at ESL One Hamburg 2018. This will be the organization's debut at a LAN event. Unfortunately for the team, it will not be with their complete lineup. Yawar "YawaR" Hassan, although living in the United States, is still a citizen of Pakistan with his national's passport which requires a lengthy visa process to many countries. Although they were invited almost one month in advance, it was not enough time for YawaR to secure his visa. Just yesterday, it was reported that his brother, Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan's visa was also delayed and would miss his first LAN with Evil Geniuses in four years.
Steve "xcalibur" Ye has answered the call to replace the second Hassan brother that will be missing the event. During the new season, Excalibur registered for the Japanese organization playing in the Philippines, DeToNator, playing alongside Chan "WinteR" Litt Binn.
ESL One Opening Day schedule– October 23rd (times in CEST)
- 12:00 – 14:20 (Group A)
Match #1 – Team Secret vs Evil Geniuses
Match #2 – paiN Gaming vs Vici Gaming
Match #3 – Alliance vs Mineski - 14:20 – 17:00 (Group A)
Match #1 – Alliance vs Vici Gaming
Match #2 – paiN Gaming vs Evil Geniuses
Match #3 -Team Secret vs Mineski - 17:00 – 19:20 (Group B)
Match #1 – Forward Gaming vs Virtus.pro
Match #2 – Team Aster vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
Match #3 – EVOS Esports vs compLexity Gaming - 19:20 – 21:25 (Group B)
Match #1 – EVOS Esports vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
Match #2 – Team Aster vs Virtus.pro
Match #3 – Forward Gaming vs compLexity Gaming
ESL One Hamburg 2018 will have an expanded format featuring round robin groups and double elimination playoff brackets.
- Date: Oct 23th - Oct 28th
- Participating teams: 12 teams
- 8 invited
- ??????Virtus.pro, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Mineski, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Forward Gaming, paiN Gaming and Vici Gaming
- 4 qualified
- EVOS Esports, Team Aster, Alliance, compLexity Gaming
Group-stage Format:
- Teams will be divided into two groups
- Round robin two-game series
- Top two teams each group will advance to playoffs Upper-Bracket
- Bottom two teams each group will advance to playoffs Lower-Bracket
Main event format:
- Double elimination bracket
- All matches are 'Bo3'
- Grand-final match will be 'Bo5'
