Invited teams for the ACE Masters announced

The organizers of the ACE Masters have revealed the six teams which have received direct invites to the qualification event. Joining the two teams yet to qualify will be Orgless, Fragadelphia 16 champions Strife, ATK, Gaimin Gladiators, paiN, and oNe. Organized by Liga ACE, the eight-team tournament is a direct qualifier to the upcoming BLAST Premier Spring Showdown which aims to give the best prospective teams in each region an opportunity to qualify for the upcoming BLAST Premier Spring Finals.

The eight teams will be split into two groups of four, with the teams competing in BO1 double-elimination brackets to determine the two top teams from each group. Those four teams will then battle in a BO3 single-elimination playoffs bracket, with the winner clinching a spot in the Spring Showdown commencing on April 27th.

Orgless enters the event as a notable lineup because of the familiar talent, but also because of their recent results. The team failed to qualify for the Americas RMR through both open qualifiers, not even making it past round three in either qualifier. Orgless' woes were compounded after coach Hunter "Lucid" Tucker left the team shortly after the last qualifier. With the team falling short of expectations thus far, earning an available spot at the Spring Showdown would be a sound way to turn around the flailing momentum.

Strife comes into the event after a three-week rollercoaster that began with a win at Fragadelphia and ended with an abrupt roster change due to an out-of-server controversy. With Matthew "D4rtyMontana" Paplawskas taking the place of Danny “cxzi” Strzelczyk, Strife will be expected to turn it around quickly with the 17-year-old talent re-entering the lineup. All is not lost for Strife, as the Fragadelphia 16 winning core still remains and the lineup could move past the controversies of the past week by qualifying for BLAST Spring Showdown.

The event organizers have reserved the two remaining slots for teams to earn through an open qualifier. With only 16 teams taking part, the open qualifier is currently down to the top four; the bracket can be found here. The matches, which will both be happening tonight at 07:00PM, are:

The event is expected to be tightly contested. Not only because the teams are competing for only one seat at BLAST, but because all of these teams have built a familiarity with one another during the current ECL season. ATK stands tall in Group A at 5-1, with paiN not far behind, tied for second at 5-2, and Orgless trailing 4-2. Gaimin Gladiators sits ahead of oNe and Strife in Group B with a 5-2 record while the other two teams are operating at 3-3 or worse on the season.

The eight teams will do battle beginning April 4th with the winner being crowned on April 6th. The team list for the event currently looks as such: