ESL restores pathway to ESL Pro League for Oceania

ESL has revised its earlier decision and restored Oceania’s pathway to the ESL Pro League starting from ECL Season 51 after receiving feedback from the community and the ESL team.

From this season onward, winners of ECL Oceania Cups 1 to 4 will join winners of ECL Asia Cups 1to 4 in a combined Asia-Oceania Regional Finals. The tournament expands from a four-team wildcard to an eight-team single-elimination event, adding quarterfinals played in a best-of-three format, alongside best-of-three semifinals and a best-of-five grand final, with an extra day of competition for a total of four days.

The Asia-Oceania Regional Finals will be held online on Asian servers from May 25 to May 28, 2026, and will be seeded using the first available May 2026 VRS rankings, with the winners earning an invitation to ESL Pro League Season 24.

ESL has also temporarily removed restrictions related to multiple cup victories for Season 51 while evaluating options for Season 52, with standard eligibility rules and ban-related exceptions still applying.