Starladder has revealed the final three invites to its upcoming flagship Starseries & I-League Season 7. The event will take place in Shanghai, China. The event will take place from 30th March till the 7th of April, 2019. However, due to its location, it is important that Starladder finalises the teams beforehand.
Starseries & I-League Season 7 will see a total of 16 teams competing for a prize pool of $500,000. The Prize pool has seen a significant boost since the last season. Season 6’s prize pool was $300,000 and Season 7 will a rise of $200,000. Starladder is also focussing on China with multiple events in the region. They are hosting Dota 2’s upcoming Major, the Chongqing Major in collaboration with ImbaTV in China.
The final pack of invites to StarSeries i-League S7 has found it owners! #csgo #cssltv
We are excited to announce that @natusvincere, @BIGCLANgg and @FNATIC confirmed their participation in the #StarSeriesS7!
See you in Shanghai, guys 👊
Details:https://t.co/lbQv1pf1zP pic.twitter.com/7YsQ2IMcVF
— StarLadder CS:GO (@StarLadderCSGO) November 30, 2018
The final three invites for the tournament are Natus Vincere, Fnatic and BIG Gaming. It is great to see the return of Na’Vi and Fnatic to Starladder tournaments. Natus Vincere skipped Season 6 due to a packed schedule. Fnatic, on the other hand, has declined the past two Starladder Invitations.
Astralis will not travel to Starladder
The significant absence from the event is Astralis, the current Number one Counter-Strike team. However, this is not entirely surprising as the team has taken a break in the past from the schedule. Their hectic travel itinerary means that they do not get enough time for themselves. They are not afraid to skip events in order to be able to rejuvenate themselves.
Starseries & I-League Season 7 will take place in April. Thirteen of the sixteen teams are now known to us. The remaining three teams will qualify via various online qualifiers. There is a separate qualifier for the European, North American and Asian regions. Team Wild is the winner of GamesCom Brasilia and is the South American representative at Starseries I-League Season 7.
Team Wild recently lost their spot at the ESEA MDL Global LAN Finals to Vireo.Pro due to visa issues. You can read about it here.