The Esports Championship Series resumes for its eighth season, where each week eight teams will face off for $25,000 worth of prizes and a spot at the ECS Season 8 Finals.
What is the Esports Championship Series (ECS) Season 8?
The Esports Championship Series, also known as ECS, begins its eighth season this autumn 2019. ECS8 is split into two regions, North America and Europe, and is played in a best-of-three (Bo3) knockout bracket over five weeks of online play.
Each week will feature a $25,000 prize pool, with the highest-earning teams in the first two weeks of online play claiming a qualification spot to the ECS8 Finals. For the last three weeks of the Regular Season, qualification spots to the Finals will be awarded to the winners of each week.
ECS Season 8 North America Odds
The odds below represent the winning odds for the opening matches for week 4 of ECS Season 8 North America. For a complete list of odds for ECS 8, head over to our dedicated section for ECS Season 8 North America odds.
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Follow Pinnacle EsportsWeek Five: FURIA headline final week
Last week, Liquid secured their place at the ECS finals after losing only one map in their bracket run, with wins over ex-Singularity, INTZ and a 2-1 victory over ATK in the final. This means final week is upon us, where eight teams will be fighting for that final Dallas spot.
eUnited return to ECS for the first time since the opening week, where they were eliminated by Liquid in the opening round.
FURIA are the headline team this week. The Brazilians missed out on competing last week, instead attending StarSeries i-League Season 8 in Turkey. There, they finished third after going on a monster lower bracket playoff run, beating Vitality, G2 and Renegades 2-0 before falling to Fnatic 2-1.
FURIA face ex-Singularity in their opening game. The American team have taken part in every week of ECS this season, and have lost every series they’ve taken part in, winning just two maps. Coming up against ECS Season 4 runners-up FURIA, it’s unlikely their luck will change.
The other headline team are MIBR. Like their compatriots, they were also in Turkey for StarSeries last week. Unlike FURIA, MIBR fell in the second lower bracket round to Renegades, 2-1, for a 5th-6th finish. This will be the second time MIBR take part in this ECS season, having previously attended in the second week of the season where they lost to ATK in the Semi Final.
Their opponents will be The Quest. The team, from the Pinnacle Cup, will also be competing in ECS for the first time since the second week. There, they lost to Sharks in the opening round. The Quest have recently qualified for DreamHack Open Atlanta, beating Complexity and Riot Squad in the process.
ATK lead the remainder of the pack
The American/South African mix return for their fourth ECS week in a row, and are looking strong after reaching the Final last week. However, they look less strong having been knocked out in the first round of the lower bracket of the WESG North America open qualifier, first by Divine and then by Singularity. If they’re able to return to form, they should be on to repeat a Finals appearance.
Last week, EG secured a place in Dallas, after comprehensively beating Cloud9 in the Final.
Else, Riot Squad will send them to an early exit. Despite both of their ECS appearances being first round exits, the Americans have been performing strongly in other tournaments. They recently won the WESG North America qualifier, 3-1 over eUnited, and also beat ATK in the DreamHack Atlanta qualifier. This game is going to be closer than it initially looks on paper.
Else, Riot Squad will send them to an early exit. Despite both of their ECS appearances being first round exits, the Americans have been performing strongly in other tournaments. They recently won the WESG North America qualifier, 3-1 over eUnited, and also beat ATK in the DreamHack Atlanta qualifier. This game is going to be closer than it initially looks on paper.
eUnited, on the other hand, also took part in the previously mentioned WESG qualifier, finishing second, alongside the previous week of ECS. The North American team did not finish as strong as their Brazilian opponents, having lost to ATK in the opening week. In fact, in both of eUnited’s ECS appearances this season, they have been eliminated in the opening week.
The final week of ECS Season 8 competition starts on Monday, October 28 running until October 31. This week will have another $25,000 on offer and the winning team will secure a spot at the Dallas Finals. All the action can be caught on the FACEIT Twitch stream.
