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Electronic Sports League

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The Electronic Sports League (ESL, formerly called ESPL) is a league for computer gaming. Since it derived from the Deutsche Clanliga (DeCL), it is the oldest league of its kind. Furthermore, its more than 700.000 registered members, 315.000 teams and 4.2 million matches carried out so far make it one of the biggest European leagues for professional computer gaming. It comprises a professionally arranged and organized gaming and league system with more than 1.800 leagues for both, amateurs and professionals as well as approximately 80 games of every popular genre.

Contents

Structure

The ESL is represented on both, a national and an international level:

National Competitions

The following ESL brands are being operated on a national level:

  • ESL Pro Series (EPS) as the main discipline equivalent to the German Soccer League for the best players fighting for the national mastery.

International Competitions

The following ESL brands are being operated on an international level in 15 European countries:

  • ESL Major Series (EMS) (once called IPS (International Premiership Series)) for the best players of those games which are not supported in the EPS.
  • Extreme Masters by ESL, modeled on the European UEFA Champions League as the top e-sport league for the best teams (clans) in Counter-Strike and the best single players in WarCraft 3.
  • ESL WC3L Series (WC3L), the Warcraft 3 clan league as the international main discipline and team world championship for worldwide Warcraft 3 gaming.

Competitions

ESL Ladder

It is a significant feature of the ESL Ladder that new participants (teams or single players) can enter whenever they want. Moreover, single encounters between the opponents can be generated at any time by approaching and challenging the opponent directly. Encounters can also be generated via ESL Instant Challenger (EIC), ESL Smart Challenger (ESC) or ESL Auto Challenger (EAC).

ESL Amateur Series

An ESL Amateur Series is opened when a certain game and the respective kind of competition is required on the part of the players or when financially strong sponsors are found. The Series is played according to the Round ESL-System, meaning that you can fight in several divisions in which you can scale up and down. Each participant with a Premium status can register for the EAS at any time. Besides, each week a team or a player of the ESL Ladder are given the opportunity to scale up to the EAS without being a Premium member. Successful games in the ESL Amateur Series enable teams and players to qualify for the professional part of the ESL: the ESL Pro Series (EPS).

ESL Pro Series

On August 1, 2002 the ESL Pro Series (EPS) was announced as the main discipline of the Electronic Sports League and started on September 1, 2002. The EPS is the highest endowed kind of competition within the ESL and can be compared with the German „Bundesliga“ in soccer. Only the best players and teams are given the opportunity to duel. A season is carried out in the Round Robin-System and comprises six months of which the encounters take place on 15 days. Six games are offered particularly in Germany. In general, several games are offered. The maximum number of players or teams is restricted to 16 respectively. The encounters are mostly carried out on the internet.

On almost every Friday during the season encounters take place which can be watched live. These events are called Intel Friday Night Games and take place in different cities of the respective country. In Germany, there is also the Studio Intel Friday Night Game, which takes place in the GIGA-studios in Cologne and to which no audience is accepted. The season finale is carried out between the respective four best players/teams in a LAN-event. In the second season of 2006 (EPS IX) in Germany a total prize money of € 165,000 was given out, which was divided up among the six games.

After this event, the participants for the next season are determined. Place 15 and 16 directly scale down into the EAS but then again the two best teams of the EAS directlyscale up into the EPS. In addition, a separate LAN-relegation takes place between place 11-14 of the EPS and place 3-6 of the EAS. The best four teams are also in the EPS during the following season. Meanwhile, the ESL Pro Series is also offered for Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, and Austria/Switzerland (Alpen).

Previous Winners of the ESL Pro Series

The first final encounters of an ESL Pro Series took place in December 2002. In the following, all winners of an ESL Pro Series are listed, whereas the clan is put in brackets behind the single players. Five players were set up for the team game Counter-Strike and eight players for Battlefield 2.

Germany
  • Season II (Finals: June 13 - 15, 2003)
    • Counter-Strike: a-Losers
    • Warcraft 3: JanThePig (mTw)
    • Nascar 2003: Virtual-Racing e.V.
  • Season IV (Finals: June, 11 - 13, 2004)
    • Counter-Strike: Ocrana
    • Warcraft 3: Miou (SK Gaming)
    • FIFA 2003: pro Gaming
    • Live for Speed: n1lyn (n!faculty)
  • Season V (Finals: December 10 - 12, 2004)
  • Season VII (Finals: December 9 - 11, 2005)
    • Counter-Strike: Mousesports
    • Warcraft 3: Miou (SK Gaming)
    • FIFA 2005: mTw
    • Live for Speed: n1lyn (n!faculty)
    • Supported Pro Series
  • Season VIII (Finals: June 9 - 11, 2006)

Alpen (Austria and Switzerland)
  • Season I (Finals: December 18, 2005)
    • Counter-Strike: plan-B
    • Warcraft 3: Firestrike (AoD.FH)
  • Season II (Finals: May 26 - 27, 2006)
  • Season III (Finals: December 16 - 17, 2006)
    • Counter-Strike: monsters
    • Warcraft 3: Firestrike (360e)
    • FIFA 2006: vamp (mTw)
  • Season IV (Finals: June 15 - 16, 2007)
    • Counter-Strike: n!Faculty.MiA
    • Warcraft 3: Firestrike (360e)
    • FIFA 2006: Mario (SK Gaming)

France
  • Season I (Finals: October 30 - 31, 2004)
    • Counter-Strike: goodgame
    • Warcraft 3: FatC (SK Gaming)
  • Season II (Finals: October 17 - 18, 2005)
    • Counter-Strike: Against All Authority
    • Warcraft 3: Wolf (goodgame)
    • Pro Evolution Soccer 4: TheZikyfou (inXtremis)

Italy
  • Season I (Finals: December 17 - 18, 2005)
    • Counter-Strike: A.S. Sons of Law
    • Counter-Strike: Source: A.S. Sons of Law
    • Warcraft 3: icest0rm (A.S. Play.it)
  • Season II (Finals: 2. - 4. Juni 2006)
    • Counter-Strike: A.S. Elite Predators
    • Counter-Strike: Source: A.S. Sons of Law
    • Pro Evolution Soccer 5: Mantis (A.S. Elite Predators)
    • Age of Empires 3: crackin_ty
    • Supported Pro Series

Greece
  • Season I (Finals: December 16 - 17, 2005)
    • Counter-Strike: ultimate
    • Warcraft 3: uc- (Team Guardians)
  • Season II (Finals: May 20 - 21, 2006)
    • Counter-Strike: Team 24Seven
  • Season III (Finals: January 20 - 21, 2007)
    • Counter-Strike: ultimate

Denmark
  • Season I (Finals: August 7, 2005)
    • Counter-Strike: Incredible Teamaction

ESL Major Series

The ESL Major Series (EMS) is an association of international pro-leagues in which the participants duel each other playing games which are not supported in the EPS. The predecessor of the EMS were the IPS (International Premiership Series). The EMS is located directly below the Extreme Masters by ESL. Whereas some games have offline finals or encounters in the tv-studio, the ESL Major Series is mostly carried out online. Thus, everyone can participate or watch sitting at home.

  • Season I
    • Call of Duty 2 (5on5)
    • Counter-Strike: Source (5on5)
    • Counter-Strike: 1.6 Female (5on5)
    • Dawn of War (Clanwar)
    • Defense of the Ancient (5on5)
    • Enemy Territoriy: Quake Wars (6on6)
    • Fifa 2007 (Clanwar)
    • Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (1on1)
    • Unreal Tournament 2004 (1on1 and 4on4)


ESL WC3L Series

The ESL WC3L Series (WC3L) started on December 12, 2002. It is the Warcraft 3 clanleague of the ESL in which the 12 best teams of the season compete in relegations and qualifications for a prize money of € 30.000.


Counter-Strike Champions League

The Counter-Strike Champions League (CSCL) constituted the European Counter-Strike league. In the CSCL the best European teams were given the opportunity to duel each other.

The CSCL was replaced by the Extreme Masters by ESL for the best Counter-Strike teams (clans) from all over Europe and the best single players in WarCraft 3. The Extreme Masters by ESL primarily differ from the Counter-Strike Champions League given the higher prize money and a Europe-wide e-sports tour, the so-called Intel Friday Night Games (IFNG). The Extreme Masters by ESL can be described as the UEFA Champions League in the gaming sector.

  • Season I (Finals: February 22 - 24, 2005)
    • 1. Team64 (Germany)
    • 2. SK Gaming (Germany)
    • 3. Team9 (Norway)
    • 4. MeetYourMakers (Denmark)
  • Season II (Finals: July 14 - 16, 2005)
    • 1. Virtus.pro (Russia)
    • 2. a-Losers (Germany)
    • 3. Begrip.ru (Russia)
    • 4. Hostile Records (France)
  • Season III (Finals: March 17 - 19, 2006)
    • 1. fnatic
    • 2. mousesports
    • 3. mTw
    • 4. man1a

Extreme Masters by ESL

The Extreme Masters by ESL are the European main discipline within the Electronic Sports League. The 48 best European Counter-Strike clans and the 48 best Warcraft 3 teams fight for a total prize money of 160.000 Euro.

The participating clans are chosen according to a national ranking. In a national qualification, the assigned slots are given out in the respective countries. In the countries in which an ESL Pro Series (EPS) takes places, the EPS serves as a qualification.

The main part of the tournament is carried out online. Only the top games are presented and carried out offline during the so-called Intel Friday Night Games (IFNG) in different cities all over Europe. During the first season the Extreme Masters by ESL visited Hamburg, Stockholm, Paris, and Moscow. The grand final takes place offline.

European Nations Championship

The European Nations Championship (ENC) is a competition for national teams which aims at determining the European nation with the best e-sportsmen. It has been taking place since 2004. In 2006, the ENC comprised the disciplines Counter-Strike, Warcraft 3 and FIFA 2006. The finals take place at the Games Convention in Leipzig every year in August .

ESL European Nation Championship
Disziplin Sieger Zweiter Dritter
2004
Counter-Strike Template:SWE Template:AUT Template:GER
WarCraft 3 Template:SWE Template:FRA Template:DEN
2005
Counter-Strike Template:GER Template:BUL Template:AUT
WarCraft 3 Template:SWE Template:FRA Template:GER
FIFA Template:GER Template:RUS Template:AUT
UT 2004 Template:GER Template:NLD Template:SWE
2006
Counter-Strike Template:SWE Template:NOR Template:POL
WarCraft 3 Template:SWE Template:BUL Template:GER
FIFA Template:GER Template:HUN Template:RUS
2007
Counter-Strike Template:POL Template:GER Template:DEN
WarCraft 3 Template:FIN Template:SWE Template:GER
FIFA Template:GER Template:UKR Template:HUN
Ewiger Medaillenspiegel
Platz Land Gold Silber Bronze Total
1. Template:GER 5 1 4 10
2. Template:SWE 5 1 1 7
3. Template:POL 1 0 1 2
4. Template:FIN 1 0 0 1
5. Template:BUL 0 2 0 2
Template:FRA 0 2 0 2
6. Template:AUT 0 1 2 3
7. Template:RUS 0 1 1 2
Template:HUN 0 1 1 2
8. Template:NLD 0 1 0 1
Template:NOR 0 1 0 1
9. Template:DEN 0 0 2 2
10. Template:UKR 0 0 1 1

Trusted Player

The Electronic Sports League offers the user the opportunity to get rated as Trusted Player. This should primarily prevent barred players from opening another account and being able to play without being caught. The Trusted Player status is increasingly becoming mandatory in the ESL.

Trustlevel 1

In order to get this trust level, the player has to receive a letter from the ESL in which he/she can find a 20-digit code. Then he/she has to enter this code on the ESL homepage. Additionally, this letter contains a playercard which he/she can use in order to prove his/her identity at ESL events such as the Intel Friday Night Games. Getting the trust level costs him/her € 5 and has to be renewed every two years.

Trustlevel 2

This trust level is for free and requires entering the number of the player's ID card which will not be saved. The user already needs to have gained trust level 2.

Trustlevel 3

In order to become Trusted Player 3, the user has to send a copy of his/her ID card and a signed letter of agreement to the ESL stating that he/she will abide by the rules of the ESL and that he/she will only keep one user account. For this process, the ESL demands a service fee (approx. € 2) which is payed in premiumdays (20PD). The copy of his/her ID card gets immerdiately destroyed after it has been checked.

Trustlevel 4

The user reaches this trust level by ordering the ESL credit card. This credit card corresponds to a regular Visa-card of the state bank Berlin and has the ESL emblem on it. It is available in three different colors and three different versions. For each version the user has to pay a different amount and the card is rarely for free. However, the user has to pay only for the Visa-card and not for trust level 4. Because of the costs and the unattainability of the credit card which results in the unattainability of the trust level, according to the ESL, level 4 is never going to be a mandatory status in order to join an ESL league.

ESL Visa "prepaid"

This version of the card is already available for users who are 12 years old. In this case, the user cannot pay „on credit“ but payments are subtracted from a rechargeable „prepaid account“. Although the card can already be used by 12-year-old users, trust level 4 can only be reached by members of full age.

ESL Visa "young"

This version of the card offers reduced standards for 18 to 25-year-old users and is a universal means of payment.

ESL Visa "classic"

The classic Visa-card. Like the „young“ version, it is a universal means of payment, but the user has a minimum of € 2,500 at his/her disposal.

Operating Authorities

The Electronic Sports League is run by the German company Turtle Entertainment GmbH. ESL Premium-users and sponsors constitute the principal source of income. Turtle Entertainment assigns licenses to partner companies from all over Europe for conducting their own respective national sections of the ESL. At present, the ESL is being represented by 13 licensees. Yet, most of the users are still German. At the beginning of 2006, Turtle Entertainment hit the headlines when it bought the biggest German competitor, GIGA-Liga, and parts of GIGA itself. In the course of this, the GIGA-Liga was completely taken out of the offer.

At the beginning of 2007, Turtle Entertainment announced the cooperation with the Chinese online-league ProGamerLeague (PGL) in order to establish the ESL on the Chinese market.


Pendants

At the beginning of 2006, the Consoles Sport League (CSL) was founded as a pendant to the ESL aiming at supporting the constantly growing consoles-community and creating a basis for competitions in the consoles-sector.

Related Topics

Sources


Weblinks

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