With the largely disappointing group stage over and done with the knockout fixtures of the fifth overall ESEA season, the second for European teams, can get underway.

The match format will be an eight team double-elimination, single map competition. Notable absentees are Reason Gaming after a harsh set of rulings regarding their rescheduled matches saw them fail to qualify, while teams that had taken default wins progressed in their place.

After the recent DSRack LAN the top seed The Imperial will be favourites, but they will meet some stiff competition in the form of Alternate Attax and Power Gaming who have both had some impressive results against European opposition of late. However they will both meet each other in their first match, making them familiar acquaintances after seeming to meet in almost every other competition that they've both entered in the last few months.

Burning have come away from DSRack LAN with a lot of credit and as the second should, theoretically, have a good run in the bracket. One thing is for certain though, the knockout stages should generate more excitement than a league that became more about default wins than the exciting conflict between Europe's elite that it could have been. The first set of matches are scheduled for the 21st February, times to be decided upon.