ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America Spectator Guide

ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America is about to start. Sixteen teams from North America will compete for a prize pool of $50,000, as well as a ticket to the ESL Pro League Conference Season 16, which will go to the winner. In this regard, we offer you to get acquainted with the format of the event, the distribution of the prize fund, as well as the main favorites of ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America.

Format of ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America

Sixteen teams will start their journey at the tournament from the group stage, where each group will be represented by eight teams divided into the Western and Eastern Conferences.

Group A (Conference Western):

• ATC.
  
• Bad News Bears.
  
• ONET4P.
  
• Orgless.
  
• paiN Gaming.
  
• RBG Esports.
  
• triumph.
  
• Valors.
  

Group B (Conference East):

• ChocoCheck.
  
• Eros.
  
• MIBR.
  
• Party Astronauts.
  
• Strife Esports.
  
• team one.
  
• X13.
  
• disconnected.
  

The group stage of ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America will be held in a round robin format, that is, each team will play seven meetings, playing with each opponent in their group.

The top four teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. Here, the teams will form a Double-Elimination bracket, while the starting pairs will be determined by the places of the teams in the group stage. All matches of the championship, with the exception of the grand final, will be held in the BO3 format. In turn, the decisive meeting will be held in the BO5 format (with a handicap for the team that passed through the upper bracket).

Prize pool distribution

• 1st place: $20,000 + seat at EPL Conference S16.
  
• 2nd place: $12,000 + seat in the S41 Challenger League.
• 3rd place: $6,500 + S41 Challenger League spot.
• 4th place: $4,000 + place in the S41 Challenger League.
• 5th-6th place: $2,500 + place in the S41 Challenger League.
• 7th-8th place: $1,250 + seat in the S41 Challenger League.
• 9th-10th place: place in the S41 Challenger League.
• 11th-12th place: departure to S41 Relegation.
• 13th-14th place: departure to S41 Relegation.
• 15th-16th place: relegation to S41 Advanced.

The main favorites of ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America

Bad News Bears, paiN Gaming and RBG Esports should be singled out among the main favorites of the Western Conference. In addition, Orgless and Triumph may join the fight for places in the playoffs of the tournament. At the same time, the new team, led by daps, is fraught with the most interest, since the roster is teeming with experienced players who have managed to establish themselves on the North American scene.

In the Eastern Conference you should watch ChocoCheck, MIBR, Party Astronauts and Team One. These teams traditionally perform strongly in local championships, consistently getting into the playoffs. At the same time, let's not forget about the new stanislaw team, which will surely try to join the fight for places in the playoffs of ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America.

However, many teams have not yet presented the final lineups, so it will be possible to find out the real possibilities of the participants after the next days.

ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America will be held online from January 19 to April 3. Sixteen teams from North America will compete for a prize pool of $50,000, as well as a ticket to the ESL Pro League Conference Season 16, which will go to the winner.