ESL reduce IEM Chicago qualifier to one slot after "internal error"

ESL have revised the slot distribution for IEM Chicago's North American qualifier, reducing the number of teams from two down to one, according to a release on the IEM website. The 16 team event is slated to run from November 6th-November 11th, replacing IEM Oakland after a two year run.

Also read: ESL announce three years of IEM in Chicago plus invites, qualifiers, talent for 2018

The tournament organizers cited an "internal error" as the second qualifier spot for the $250,000 tournament is already set to be determined by an upcoming soon to be announced qualifier. Dust2.us has learned that this will be another "non-qualifier" run by CIS company UCC, as has been the case for the majority of ESL events in 2018.

The format for the North American closed qualifier has been modified to include a grand final, with eight teams set to duke it out in a double-elimination best-of-three bracket from August 23-25.

The current team list for IEM Chicago is:

Astralis	BIG
FaZe	Liquid
MIBR	mousesports
NRG	Renegades
Invite	Invite
Qualifier	Qualifier
Qualifier	SA Qualifier
Asia Qualifier	TBA

Also read: ESL standardizing event formats in 2018

The open qualifier for IEM Chicago is set to kick off on August 20th, with signups still open on ESEA's website.