ESL has announced that the third season of Intel Grand Slam has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The organizer of the tournaments explains this decision by the fact that in a situation where the competitions are divided into several divisions, it is difficult to determine with sufficient certainty which team is dominant – and after all, the identification of the strongest team in the world is the ultimate goal of these competitions. ESL also announced that games that are held with the division into regional divisions will not be counted for participation in the Intel Grand Slam.
ESL expects that in August, by the time ESL One Cologne takes place, it will be possible to return to the usual format of LAN-matches. It is hoped that the tournament will take place, albeit without spectators, but with the teams in person in the studio. However, it remains unclear whether the German authorities will authorize such an event – everything will depend on how the epidemiological situation will be by then.
In order to win the Intel Grand Slam and the $1 million prize, a team must win six out of ten tournaments during the year, or four tournaments, one of which is the Masters Championship. NAVI, Astralis, fnatic and a few other teams have a chance to win this year.
