Team list finalised for first CCT LAN event

Four top-20 teams are set to clash at the studio LAN in Malta.

The final teams have been announced for the CCT Central Europe Malta Finals 1, which takes place February 16-19, with Spirit, Sprout, Bad News Eagles, Movistar Riders and Eternal Fire scheduled to compete.

The squads already set to feature in Malta were spearheaded by ENCE, who received the first invite slot for the inaugural studio finals. HONORIS and FORZE qualified via their performances in CCT Central Europe Series online events. Originally Copenhagen Flames had also qualified through this route, but they have been replaced by Movistar Riders due to a clash with the upcoming RMR qualifiers.

The four-day event will kick off with two GSL-style groups, where the opening matches will be best-of-one and the rest best-of-three. The top two teams from each group progress to a double-elimination, best-of-three playoff bracket. Teams are competing not only for the lion's share of a $100,000 prize pool, but also for a spot at the $500,000 CCT Global Finals, slated to take place in 2024.

Spirit will likely arrive in Malta as the favourites to take the trophy, as they are currently the highest ranked team in the competition. They also won the Flow FiReLEAGUE Global Finals at the end of last year, proof of their ability to live up to the tag of favourites when playing in lesser LAN events, although the field is slightly stronger this time around.

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Outside of Spirit there are a raft of teams that could easily make a deep run, with ENCE chief among them. With their latest roster the European mix are yet to live up to the heights they achieved mid-way through 2022, but this is the perfect type of event to try and play their way into form.

Sprout will likely be short of their best having just benched Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss and lifted the IGL mantle from Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali's shoulders, Eternal Fire are still working up to their peak after a raft of roster changes late last year, and Bad News Eagles need to prove they are capable of more than their disappointing Elisa Masters Espoo performance when it comes to this type of LAN event.

The team list for CCT Central Europe Malta Finals 1 is as follows: