Africa’s largest-ever esports tournament, the Intel Africa Masters is now underway.
The event is being managed and run by Mettlestate, Africa’s leading and largest esports and gaming platform. In July, Intel announced they would be teaming up with Mettlestate to host a massive cross-continent event.
The event allows gamers across four regions: Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) to represent themselves and their home country in a fan-favourite shooter title, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. These teams are competing for the title of best CS: GO team on the African continent.
They also play for their share of the grand prize pool of R450 000. The top four teams overall will compete for an R450 000 prize pool. First place earns R150 000, second place earns R120 000, third place earns R100 000, and fourth place makes R80 000.
So far, the tournament has been a nail-biter, with teams going head to head in the two opening qualifiers. The closed qualifiers and grand finals are not far off, with teams battling it out to maintain their leads.
To help accommodate as many players as possible from these regions, Mettlestate and Intel have partnered with Gamr and GamersMagh. These two well-established esports agencies have assisted by bringing their respective local esports communities together.
Barry Louzada, Mettlestate Managing Director says:
“Mettlestate is honoured to be a part of this incomparable esports tournament. Africa has been consistently left out of global events. We need something that exclusively showcases African talent. We have a rich pool of esports competitors; they are hungry for competitive opportunities that rival international tournaments. It’s time we feed that desire.”
Events such as Intel Africa Masters have the potential to provide a spotlight for African esports talent that may otherwise go unnoticed. There is also significant value to having cross-border events, allowing teams from smaller esports regions to compete with top talent on a global stage.
The Intel Africa Masters schedule is as follows:
- 17 June 2022 | Registrations open
- 4 July 2022 | Qualifier 1
- 29 August 2022 | Qualifier 2
- 24 October – 6 November 2022 | Closed qualifiers
- 10 – 11 December 2022 | Grand finals live event at rAge
Below are the dates for the Regional Semi-Finals & Finals for Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and North Africa:
Nigeria:
- 8 October: Semi-finals & Regional Finals
Egypt:
- 14 October: Semi-Finals
- 15 October: Regional Finals
North Africa:
- 22 October: Semi-Finals
- 23 October: Regional Finals
South Africa:
- 12 November: Semi-Finals
- 13 November: Regional Finals
The participating teams in the event have reaffirmed the talent found on the African continent, with multiple match-upsets and unexpected victories.
For a list of the top-performing teams in each region, see below:
For Egypt:
- Sa3ka
- Cairo city gzzz
- Reminder
- OVERDRAW
- ALASKA
- 7oda gang
- WAFFLEMAKERS
- elgamden gdn
They will decide the top four teams for Egypt on 13 October, as Egypt’s Semi-Final & Regional Final games will take place from 14 to 15 October.
For Nigeria:
- Outlaws
- LOC Predators
- Blue Phoenix
- Epic Bots
For South Africa:
- Omnius Exile
- Elicit Esports
- ExdeeGamingZA_
- Vicimus
- Vdrxp Gaming
- Rage Quit CSGO
- Sssst
- Bravado Gaming
- Goliath Gaming
- DNMKGG
- Blacklaminate
- Nixuh
- Royalty
- Step Dads
- VYBN
- Ekasi Esports
For North Africa:
- 15averageGang
- GHAX DZ
- eXtremeTN
- Project B12
- TEAM F1VE
- mindfucxk
- NGGDZ E-SPORTS
- MLC Esports
- Keylost
- R-4
- Keboull Flow
- TA Brothers
- Kosovo Millita
- Team Winfact
- Rise of Shades
- Weljiyeli
Don’t forget to support your favourite team or miss the Intel Africa Masters semi-final & regional finals live streams in October and November and the Live Grand Final event from 10 to 11 December.
Find out more about Intel Africa Masters via the official website and Twitch. Don’t forget to follow Mettlestate on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.