Fantasy games for BLAST Showdown and ESL Challenger playoffs now live

Three editions of HLTV's fantasy game are now available to test your Counter-Strike knowledge.

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2022 is set to start on October 19 with two separate online events in Europe and North America. Each tournament sports a ruthless single-elimination bracket from which only the winner will advance to the Fall Finals in November.

Meanwhile, ESL Challenger League Season 42 Europe will enter its playoff stage on Tuesday, hosting eight squads in a double-elimination bracket to see which team can secure $20,000 and a spot at EPL S17 Conference.

All three events will be accompanied by their own edition of the Fantasy game, allowing players to compete for skin prizes in the HLTV x Roobet Leagues. However, only the European Showdown will provide points for the Fall Season 2022 Fantasy Leaderboard, while the North American version and ECL S42 will be non-seasonal games.

Vitality are the highest-ranked team at the European Showdown

Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire ($182,000) is by far the most popular pick in the European Showdown with more than 5600 users choosing the French in-game leader for their lineup. Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif ($209,000), Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi ($218,000), and Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen ($196,000) also make an appearance, making Vitality the most popular team by far in this edition of the Fantasy game.

Heroic are represented in the popular picks by Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund ($220,000), Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller ($209,000), and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard ($194,000) while Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz ($201,000) appears as the only BIG player in the list.

The HLTV x Roobet league for the European Showdown will have the following skin prizes:

1. Navaja Knife | Night Stripe (Field-Tested)
2. AWP | Wildfire (Field-Tested)
3. USP-S | Kill Confirmed (Field-Tested)

Grim tops the chart in the North American Showdown Fantasy game

Complexity's Michael "⁠Grim⁠" Wince ($215,000) is the most picked player in the North American edition of the Fantasy game after a fantastic performance at the Americas RMR earlier in October. Following in second and third place respectively are Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery ($199,000) and Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte ($204,000).

Users should keep an eye on Santino "⁠try⁠" Rigal. The Argentian AWPer has a price tag of $203,000 and 00NATION are among the favorites to make it through to the Showdown, making the 18-year-old a good asset.

The HLTV x Roobet league skin prizes for the North American Showdown are:

1. Navaja Knife | Forest DDPAT (Field-Tested)
2. AK-47 | Neon Rider (Field-Tested)
3. AWP | Hyper Beast (Field-Tested)

Bad News Eagles dominate the list of most popular picks for ECL S42 Europe, with Flatron "⁠juanflatroo⁠" Halimi ($209,000), Genc "⁠gxx-⁠" Kolgeci ($201,000), Rigon "⁠rigoN⁠" Gashi ($206,000), and Dionis "⁠sinnopsyy⁠" Budeci ($191,000) all making the cut.

Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali from Sprout has the highest pick rate of any player at ECL thanks to his value of just $193,000, a bargain for an individual that captained his team to a Legends Stage spot from the European RMR A in Malta.

The HLTV x Roobet league skin prizes for ESL Challenger League Season 42 playoffs are:

1. Navaja Knife | Damascus Steel (Field-Tested)
2. AK-47 | Neon Rider (Field-Tested)
3. AWP | Redline (Field-Tested)

Please take note of the Fantasy rules before competing as they provide important information regarding the prizes, eligibility, and selection of winners. Fantasy is free of charge and can be played in official HLTV leagues, as well as independently organized private and public ones.

Start playing Fantasy by going to the Fantasy page here.