Elisa Invitational groups and schedule announced

The organizers of Elisa Invitational have announced additional details for the BLAST Showdown qualifier, revealing the tournament's format, group distribution, and a detailed schedule.

The Nordic tournament, which will have two spots at the BLAST Spring Europe Showdown on offer, will begin with a best-of-one round-robin group stage, with its eight participants split into two groups.

The winning team of each group will move on directly to the spot-deciding semi-finals, while the second and third-placed teams will face off in the quarter-finals.

North and the new Heroic will face off in Group B

Group A features GODSENT as the highest-ranked side, joined by two more directly invited teams, ENCE and Dignitas, as well as Apeks, who locked their spot in the tournament from the Norwegian qualifier. Erik "⁠truth⁠" Hansen Dyrnes's squad will participate in the event with their coach, Pål "⁠Polly⁠" Kammen, standing in after they decided to bench Haakon "⁠Radifaction⁠" Tholo earlier on Monday.

HEROIC, who have just undergone two changes with René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen and Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen being added to the lineup as replacements for Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen, and their domestic rivals North headline Group B, in which they will take on underdogs Nordavind and the Finnish qualifier team, KOVA.

Group A
GODSENT
ENCE
Dignitas
Apeks Group B
North
HEROIC
Nordavind
KOVA

Group A will be played on day one of the tournament, on Thursday, followed by Group B on Friday and the playoffs on the weekend. A detailed schedule can be found below:

Thursday, April 30

12:00 - Dignitas vs. Apeks
13:30 - GODSENT vs. ENCE
15:00 - ENCE vs. Dignitas
16:30 - GODSENT vs. Apeks
18:00 - GODSENT vs. Dignitas
19:30 - ENCE vs. Apeks

Friday, May 1

12:00 - Nordavind vs. KOVA
13:30 - North vs. HEROIC
15:00 - HEROIC vs. Nordavind
16:30 - North vs. KOVA
18:00 - North vs. Nordavind
19:30 - HEROIC vs. KOVA

Saturday, May 2

16:00 - Quarter-final #1
20:00 - Semi-final #1

Sunday, May 3

16:00 - Quarter-final #2
20:00 - Semi-final #2

ENCE #24 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaMiikka 'suNny' KemppiSami 'xseveN' LaasanenJere 'sergej' Salo Dignitas #44 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergHåkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen Age: 24 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1043 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 KOVA #118 Samu 'uli' LeirilaaksoLauri 'pietola' HietalaSamuli 'Twixie' HerralaPetteri 'peku' JaakkolaNikita 'Derkeps' Sirmitev HEROIC #27 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerJohannes 'b0RUP' BorupNikolaj 'niko' KristensenMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' Madsen Nordavind #47 Ruben 'RUBINO' VillarroelJesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannKevin 'HS' TarnNiels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' SillassenJorgen 'cromen' Robertsen Pål 'Polly' Kammen Age: 29 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 400 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.68 Apeks #67 Pål 'Polly' KammenKristian 'akez' KornbakkErik 'truth' Hansen DyrnesOle 'Marcelious' Kristian LanganSander 'Grus' Iversen René 'TeSeS' Madsen Age: 19 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 395 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.68 Erik 'truth' Hansen Dyrnes Age: 23 Team: Apeks Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 281 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.68 North #26 René 'cajunb' BorgMathias 'MSL' LauridsenPhilip 'aizy' AistrupMarkus 'Kjaerbye' KjærbyeNicklas 'gade' Gade GODSENT #18 Mikail 'Maikelele' BillJesse 'zehN' LinjalaMartin 'STYKO' StykKevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendPavle 'Maden' Bošković Nikolaj 'niko' Kristensen Age: 21 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 862 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer Age: 29 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 1187 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.67 Haakon 'Radifaction' Tholo Age: 21 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 352 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69