Team Nigma confirmed for ESL One Birmingham

Team Nigma announced Monday that they received the final invitation to the ESL One Birmingham 2020 Online tournament's Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States division. The Dota 2 tournament will be held from Sunday through June 7.

Team Nigma are attempting to retain their momentum after winning the WeSave! Charity Play's Europe-CIS division in March. They will be one of 16 teams competing for a total of $200,000 in the Birmingham tourney's Europe-CIS region. The other invitees were Team Secret, OG, Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Alliance, Natus Vincere, VP.Prodigy, Gambit Esports, Team Spirit, HellRaisers, Vikin.gg, Cyber Legacy and FlyToMoon. Two qualifiers, Aggressive Mode and Team Unique, will round out the field.

The teams will be divided into two groups of eight for round-robin play consisting of best-of-three matches. The top two teams in each group will move into the upper bracket of the double-elimination playoffs, and the third- and fourth-place teams will advance to the playoffs' lower bracket.

The China region will have eight teams vying for a $55,000 prize pool from May 26-June 7. Two four-team groups will play a round robin of best-of-three matches, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the double-elimination playoffs. The China invitees are Invictus Gaming, Team Aster, Sparking Arrow Gaming, Royal Never Give Up, EHOME and PSG.LGD. Two qualifiers, CDEC Gaming and Longinus, earned spots the main bracket.

The brackets for North America/South America (May 25-27) and Southeast Asian (May 21-31) will each feature six teams competing for a total of $40,000 in each region. Both regions will hold a single round robin with all six teams playing best-of-three matches. The top two teams will make the upper bracket of the double-elimination playoffs, and the third- and fourth-place teams will be slotted into the playoffs' lower bracket. The invited teams for North America/South America are Evil Geniuses, business associates, CR4ZY, Quincy Crew and beastcoast. Thunder Predator received the lone qualifying place.

The Southeast Asia invitees are Fnatic, TNC Predator, Geek Fam and Team Adroit. BOOM Esports was awarded a place for winning the ESL SEA Championship last month, and Reality Rift qualified for the last spot. In all regions, playoff matches will be best-of-three before a best-of-five final.

ESL One Birmingham had been scheduled for May 26-31 in Birmingham, England, before plans were changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. --Field Level Media