Flashpoint Phase 1 viewer's guide

The first phase of Flashpoint 1 is around the corner, kicking off on Friday with the first couple of matches, so we have prepared a viewer's guide with everything you need to know to follow the event.

The first edition of Flashpoint consists of three phases, the first of which is looming as the twelve participants were placed into three double-elimination groups, with the teams themselves having had a say in determining the distribution during a special show, which took place on Thursday.

MAD Lions will make their debut with AcilioN to kick off Flashpoint

The first and second phases will play out the same way and will award playoff points, with the teams earning 150, 115, 50, or 30 points in each phase depending on their placing in their group. The top-eight sides based on these points will then advance to the double-elimination playoffs bracket.

In phase one, the groups — code-named by a group of analysts during the aforementioned show — looks as follows:

Group A (In-Game Feeders)
MAD Lions
Copenhagen Flames
c0ntact
HAVU

Group B (Snakes & Ratters)
Gen.G
Chaos
MIBR
Envy

Group C (Assisted Living)
Dignitas
Cloud9
FunPlus Phoenix
Orgless

A number of teams have made last-minute changes or had to bring in stand-ins due to visa issues: MAD Lions swapped Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen for Asger "AcilioN" Larsen, Chaos brought in Hunter "SicK" Mims instead of the benched Ben "ben1337" Smith, while coach Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninić is stepping in for Kaleb "moose" Jayne in Envy and Dignitas have Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács filling Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli's shoes for the time being.

c0ntact are attending the event with Karol "rallen" Rodowicz standing in for Nestor "LETN1" Tanić for unspecified reasons which are preventing the Serbian from obtaining a visa.

The first group stage will run from March 13-22. A detailed schedule can be seen below::

Friday, March 13
18:00 MAD Lions vs. HAVU
21:00 Copenhagen Flames vs. c0ntact

Saturday, March 14
18:00 Gen.G vs. Envy
21:00 Chaos vs. MIBR

Sunday, March 15
18:00 Orgless vs. Dignitas
21:00 FunPlus Phoenix vs. Cloud9

Tuesday, March 17
18:00 Group A Lower Round 1
21:00 Group A Upper final

Wednesday, March 18
18:00 Group B Lower Round 1
21:00 Group B Upper final

Thursday, March 19
18:00 Group C Lower Round 1
21:00 Group C Upper final

Saturday, March 21
17:00 Group A Consolidation final
20:00 Group B Consolidation final
23:00 Group C Consolidation final

Sunday, March 22
17:00 Group A final
20:00 Group B final
23:00 Group C final

The tournament as a whole features a $1,000,000 prizepool, whose distribution is currently unknown. In the first phase, the teams will once again earn the following number of playoffs points based on their placing in the group:

1. 75 points
2. 50 points
3. 30 points
4. 15 points

Finally, the talent lineup currently features the likes of Duncan "Thorin" Shields and Sean "seang@res" Gares on the desk, as well as popular commentator duos Anders "Anders" Blume-Jason "moses" O'Toole and James "JZFB" Bardolph-Daniel "ddk" Kapadia, among others:

Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat
Sean "seang@res" Gares
Duncan "Thorin" Shields
Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles
Christine "potter" Chi
Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez
Freya Spiers
Anders "Anders" Blume
Jason "moses" O'Toole
Daniel "ddk" Kapadia
James "JZFB" Bardolph