ESL Major Series IX CoD4 - Groups Announced

Following the complete CoD4 participant list for the 9th Season of ESL Major Series, ESL have now announced the groups for the main tournament.

Just days after ESL announced the 24 teams qualified to play in the main tournament, they have now announced the 4 groups for the group stage. Some of the very best teams in Europe will be competing for the 2500€ prize pot.

ESL had the following to say about the groups:

We already announced the teams some days ago, and got finally the pleasure to release the groups for the upcoming EMS weeks. Before we go on with the teams a little note from our side, it was the hardest seeding we had to make since the EMS started.
This tournament will certainly be no walk over for any of the final 24 teams who have managed to grab one of the very few, highly sought after slots in this seasons Major Series tournament.

With some of the biggest names in the eSports scene contending in the tournament, there won't be room to breathe in what we can only imagine to be 3 months of mayhem for that all important grand prize and of course the winners title.

The select few who have managed to fight themselves into the group stages and secured a seeding are:

Group A
eSuba.INTEL
Antwerp Aces
Team BANHAMMER
CKRAS Gaming
Rage Gaming Enuzi
AirborneGaming

Group B
Team WinFakt
Team Empire
Authority-GaminG
Infused.TteSPORTS
ANEXIS
probobs

Group C
OX.Enermax
team-property
EFRAGZ.eSport
fnaticMSi
Onesecond
Phantasmagoria

Group D
FRAGMASTERS
Team Redlink
Virus
LowLandLions
team-imex
soo delicious

Furthermore, ESL have emphasized the following rules for the tournament:

When the time does actually come to play the matches, there will of course be 2-3 guidelines and rules which teams will need to follow. One map will be chosen for each match every week, there will be an mr12 rule-set enabled on all game servers and all 24 rounds must be played. Any matches ending in a draw will not be played into overtime and will remain as a draw.

The use of the ESL Wire Anti-Cheat program will also be compulsory for all participants within the main round, failing to do so will result in necessary action being taken.

Finally, for all teams participating in the group stages, we would like to make it clear that ALL teams must have their premium accounts in use by Saturday 15th October 23:59. If any one has any issues, please open a support ticket and we will get to you as soon as possible.

Best of luck to all teams!

Related:
EMS IX CoD4 Group Announcement