ASUS ROG announces the first three invited teams, qualifier dates, and the caster line-up for the upcoming ASUS ROG CS:GO Winter Tournament 2015 held in Helsinki on January 30-31.

The ASUS ROG CS:GO Winter Tournament 2015 kicks off in Helsinki, Finland in roughly four weeks. The competition will include eight professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams battling it out for the $25 000 USD prize purse, well-known commentators following the action in detail, and top notch production throughout the tournament. We released the first info about the tournament on December 12 and now we’re ready to give you an update on how things are progressing.

While the invitation process is still open, the first spots in the tournament have now been filled.

The three first teams to enter the ASUS ROG CS:GO Winter Tournament 2015 are Ninjas in Pyjamas, HellRaisers and Titan. NiP is without a doubt the most successful CS:GO team in the game’s history, with  a dominant start in 2012-2013 and reaching the grand final in all four major events in the game’s history. HellRaisers in turn is a team with the potential to beat every top team in the world, but is still missing the crowning victory in a big tournament. Titan’s current roster is relatively new, formed in September 2014, but they already have a big international win under their belts, and having to miss out on the latest major event in November has left them hungry for more.

Besides the invitations, ASUS ROG CS:GO Winter Tournament 2015 offers two spots up for grabs in an open online qualifier tournament. The qualifier is played on two separate days on January 10-11, 2015. Details about the participation and more information is to be released soon. However, we recommend all teams interested in playing the qualifier to request an invitation first by filling in the application. The invitations are going to be finalized before the qualifier begins.

The show at the ASUS ROG CS:GO Winter Tournament 2015 is going to be absolutely spectacular as the on-camera team consists of talented and familiar faces for the CS:GO community. On the commentator’s bench we will see the renowned RoomOnFire caster duo Anders Blume & Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat with expert analysis provided by the former NiP player Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson. The analysis desk is hosted by the established e-sports journalist Richard Lewis. However, even the best on-camera crew couldn’t shine without an equally seasoned team behind the camera. Here is where Black Molly Entertainment steps in to deliver a professional e-sports broadcast like they have done previously at ASUS ROG CS:GO, DreamHack and Fragbite tournaments.

Invited Teams

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Richard "Xizt" Landström
Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg
Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
Adam "friberg" Friberg
Mikail "Maikelele" Bill

HellRaisers

Yegor "markeloff" Markelov
Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov
Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow
Emil "kucher" Akhundov
Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev

Titan

Kevin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans
Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
Quiquerez "RpK" Mathieu
Cédric "RpK" Guipouy

Online Qualifier

Time: January 10-11, 2015

Participation details & more info to be released soon

We recommend all teams to request an invite before participating

Show Crew

• Anders Blume - Commentator
• Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat - Commentator
• Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson - Expert
• Richard Lewis - Host