ESEA S23 GC set to start tomorrow

ESEA Season 23 Global Challenge is set to begin tomorrow with the ESEA Premier Finals for both Europe and North America before the $50,000 event itself kicks off on Friday.

The event in Burbank, California, will begin with Europe's and North America's ESEA Premier Season 23 finalists locking horns for a spot in each of ESL Pro League Season 5's divisions.

The losers of the respective matches will have to fight through ESL Pro League Season 4 relegation, where PENTA and Splyce are waiting for their opponents.

Those matches will also determine the groups for ESEA Season 23 Global Challenge, which will take place from January 6-8:

Group A	Group B
TSM / Rush winner	Kinguin / LDLC winner
Kinguin / LDLC loser	TSM / Rush loser
Bravado	Tainted Minds
Rogue	Muffin Lightning

Initially, BigGods and VG.CyberZen were supposed to participate in the $50,000 event after qualifying from their regions. However, visa issues prevented both teams from traveling to the United States and they were replaced by Rogue and Muffin Lightning.

Keep in mind that TSM will take part with their previous roster, including Kory "⁠SEMPHIS⁠" Friesen and Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta, due to roster locks.

The event's full schedule is following:

Thursday, January 5th
21:00	Kinguin	vs. LDLC	BO3	*
00:30	TSM	vs. Rush	BO3	**
Friday, January 6th
18:00	Bravado	vs. TSM / Rush winner	BO1
19:30	Rogue	vs. Kinguin / LDLC loser	BO1
21:00	Tainted Minds	vs. TSM / Rush loser	BO1
22:30	Muffin Lightning	vs. Kinguin / LDLC winner	BO1
00:00	Group A winners' match		BO1
01:30	Group B winners' match		BO1
03:00	Group A elimination match		BO3
Saturday, January 7th
18:00	Group B elimination match		BO3
22:00	Group A decider		BO3
02:00	Group B decider		BO3
Sunday, January 8th
18:00	Semi-final #1		BO3
21:30	Semi-final #2		BO3
01:30	Grand final		BO3

* winner qualifies for ESL Pro League Season 5 Europe
** winner qualifies for ESL Pro League Season 5 North America

The $50,000 prizepool will be distributed followingly:

1. $18,000
2. $10,000
3-4. $5,000
5-6. $3,000
7-8. $3,000 

LDLC #29 Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' DroolansAntoine 'to1nou' PirardAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinValentin 'mistou' BalbastroAlexandre 'xms' Forté Muffin Lightning #52 Samuel 'SileNt' PortilloJoshua 'sancz' BallengerAdam 'aKis' KisseberthRyan 'ichibaNNN' ColucciJack 'arKimonday' Kastner Kinguin #21 Grzegorz 'SZPERO' DziamałekKarol 'rallen' RodowiczMichał 'MICHU' MüllerMikołaj 'mouz' KarolewskiDamian 'Furlan' Kislowski PENTA Kevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendStefan 'stfN' SeierMike 'mikeS' TunsMiikka 'suNny' KemppiTomáš 'oskar' Šťastný Tainted Minds Travis 'wizard' RichardsonConnor 'chuch' MorganStuart 'sonic' RaynerJesse 'InfrequeNt' BarkerJay 'Liazz' Tregillgas TSM #42 Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenPujan 'FNS' MehtaRussel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenHunter 'SicK' MimsSkyler 'Relyks' Weaver Pujan 'FNS' Mehta Age: 24 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 412 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.69 TSM #42 Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenPujan 'FNS' MehtaRussel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenHunter 'SicK' MimsSkyler 'Relyks' Weaver Rogue #39 Nicolai 'glace' JensenKamen 'bubble' KostadinovJesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannViktor 'v1c7oR' DyankovCasper 'cadiaN' Møller Splyce #123 Arya 'arya' HekmatJoey 'CRUC1AL' SteuselAsger 'AcilioN' LarsenRonnie 'ryx' BylickiTaylor 'Drone' Johnson BigGods #130 Thiago 'tifa' FrançaPaulo 'land1n' FelipeDenis 'dzt' FischerAlef 'tatazin' PereiraFelipe 'delboNi' Delboni Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Kory 'SEMPHIS' Friesen Age: 27 Team: TSM Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 496 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.70 Bravado #74 Roberto 'blackpoisoN' Dall'OccoDimitri 'Detrony' HadjipaschaliRuan 'ELUSIVE' van WykAshton 'Golz' MullerAran 'Sonic' Groesbeek Rush #68 Kyuhyun 'blade' William UhmDaniel 'virtus' CarrilloDavid 'Toy' HanMatt 'Pollo' WilsonDerrick 'LILMAN' Boyne VG.CyberZen #26 Bin 'Savage' LiuBingYuan 'tb' LiZhuo 'advent' LiangWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongKunHua 'LOVEYY' Bai