Heroic and Space Soldiers have both secured spots at ESL One Cologne via the European closed qualifier.

Twelve European teams, eight invited and four qualified, took part in the closed qualifier this weekend for the chance to earn spots in ESL's upcoming $250,000 competition.

The qualifier kicked off with an upset as Kinguin, fresh off securing a spot at the European Minor, were knocked out by Tundra Esports, formerly known as Polaris, thanks to a sensational performance from Aleksandar "⁠jayzaR⁠" Zarkovic, who topped the scoreboard with a +30 KDD.

Even with a stand-in, Heroic were able to qualify

Heroic, who fielded Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller as a stand-in after benching Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså, reached the semi-finals after defeating BIG, and they went on to defeat dignitas on two maps, the first of which by a comprehensive 16-4 scoreline.

ESL One Cologne 2017 - Europe Closed QualifierBest of 3 DignitasMatchpage 0 2 21st May 2017 HEROIC 4Inferno 16 14Nuke 16

HEROIC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	45 - 30	+15	93.2	1.40
Andreas 'MODDII' FridhMODDII	37 - 32	+5	92.0	1.26
Jakob 'JUGi' HansenJUGi	38 - 30	+8	80.7	1.22
Nikolaj 'niko' Kristensenniko	38 - 28	+10	74.7	1.21
Marco 'Snappi' PfeifferSnappi	34 - 30	+4	77.7	1.10

Dignitas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem	37 - 38	-1	73.9	0.98
Jorgen 'cromen' Robertsencromen	30 - 42	-12	66.3	0.86
Jesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannTENZKI	28 - 37	-9	66.1	0.85
Ruben 'RUBINO' VillarroelRUBINO	32 - 40	-8	68.7	0.80
Ricardo 'fox' Pachecofox	23 - 36	-13	52.1	0.74

The other semi-final pitted Space Soldiers against GODSENT. With Engin "⁠ngiN⁠" Kor filling in for Çağatay "⁠DESPE⁠" Sedef, the Turkish team were far too strong for the Swedes and ran out victorious in convincing fashion, especially on Cobblestone, their signature map.

ESL One Cologne 2017 - Europe Closed QualifierBest of 3 Space SoldiersMatchpage 2 0 21st May 2017 GODSENT 16Cobblestone 5 16Mirage 10

Space Soldiers	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	43 - 24	+19	106.8	1.45
Buğra 'Calyx' ArkınCalyx	39 - 25	+14	79.9	1.33
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	41 - 31	+10	90.4	1.30
Engin 'ngiN' KorngiN	33 - 26	+7	76.1	1.20
Ahmet 'paz' Karahocapaz	36 - 34	+2	75.4	1.16

GODSENT	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Andreas 'znajder' Lindbergznajder	36 - 40	-4	87.7	1.06
Joakim 'disco doplan' Gidetundisco doplan	30 - 36	-6	73.0	0.93
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	34 - 39	-5	79.4	0.89
Jonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonLekr0	24 - 39	-15	66.2	0.77
Markus 'pronax' Wallstenpronax	15 - 38	-23	39.4	0.55

ESL One Cologne will take place in early July, with the playoffs running from 7-9 at LANXESS Arena. Here is the current team list for the event:

North	Ninjas in Pyjamas	OpTic	SK
Virtus.pro	Natus Vincere	MOUZ	fnatic
FaZe	G2	Immortals	Cloud9
Liquid	HEROIC	Space Soldiers	China qual. slot

The final spot at ESL One Cologne will be determined by the Chinese qualifiers, which will culminate with a closed stage from June 7-9 featuring 16 teams.

Virtus.pro #4 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasFilip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiJanusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiPaweł 'byali' Bieliński Engin 'ngiN' Kor Age: 23 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 252 KPR: 0.63 DPR: 0.65 fnatic #11 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerDennis 'dennis' EdmanRobin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså Age: 21 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 348 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.68 Immortals #16 Lucas 'steel' LopesHenrique 'HEN1' TelesLucas 'LUCAS1' TelesRicardo 'boltz' Prass Natus Vincere #7 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsDenis 'seized' KostinEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Ninjas in Pyjamas #13 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergWilliam 'draken' Sundin Aleksandar 'jayzaR' Zarkovic Age: 19 Team: Polaris Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 191 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.70 Cloud9 #12 Jordan 'n0thing' GilbertTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamMike 'shroud' GrzesiekTimothy 'autimatic' TaJake 'Stewie2K' Yip Çağatay 'DESPE' Sedef Age: 24 Team: Space Soldiers Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 424 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.64 Space Soldiers #32 Çağatay 'DESPE' SedefEngin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' Karahoca G2 #5 Richard 'shox' PapillonKenny 'kennyS' SchrubNathan 'NBK-' SchmittDan 'apEX' MadesclaireAlexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro MOUZ #15 Tomáš 'oskar' ŠťastnýChris 'chrisJ' de JongChristian 'loWel' Garcia AntoranDenis 'denis' HowellRobin 'ropz' Kool HEROIC #14 Andreas 'MODDII' FridhMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferJakob 'JUGi' HansenNikolaj 'niko' Kristensen Liquid #19 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaJosh 'jdm64' MarzanoPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken North #6 René 'cajunb' BorgMathias 'MSL' LauridsenPhilip 'aizy' AistrupEmil 'Magisk' ReifKristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke SK #3 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloJoão 'felps' Vasconcellos Casper 'cadiaN' Møller Age: 21 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 520 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.67 FaZe #2 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenAleksi 'allu' JalliNikola 'NiKo' KovačFabien 'kioShiMa' FieyHåvard 'rain' Nygaard OpTic #10 William 'RUSH' WierzbaOscar 'mixwell' CañellasKeith 'NAF' MarkovicTarik 'tarik' CelikJason 'jasonR' Ruchelski