ESL have announced a major overhaul of the ESL Challenger League Season 51 format, thereby uniting Asia and Oceania in a shared final stage in the fight for a slot at ESL Pro League Season 24. Following strong criticism from teams and the wider community, ESL reconsidered their earlier decision and restored a full pathway for Oceania to reach the Pro League through the newly introduced Asia–Oceania Regional Finals.
Context: community backlash forces ESL to change course
We are bringing an update to the #ESLChallengerLeague Asia Regional Finals for Season 51
Read all the changes, in our blog below 👇 pic.twitter.com/gMxlGlhMCh
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) December 19, 2025
On November 27, 2025, ESL revealed changes to the Challenger League structure that effectively removed Oceania’s direct path to the Pro League. As a result, players, organizations, and analysts across the region strongly criticized the decision, warning that without a clear Tier-1 pathway, the Oceania scene could lose both competitiveness and long-term motivation.
After further discussions with teams, ESL acknowledged these concerns. Consequently, the tournament organizer stated that it had identified a compromise solution, one that preserves Oceania’s opportunity to compete for Pro League qualification while still maintaining the overall ESL Pro Tour structure.
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One final instead of separated regions
The key change in Season 51 is the unification of the Asian and Oceanian final stages. Previously, the Asia Finals operated as a standalone wildcard tournament exclusively for winners of the ECL Asia Cups. Now, however, ESL have transformed the event into the Asia–Oceania Regional Finals.
Starting with Season 51,
- winners of ECL Asia Cup 1–4, and
- winners of ECL Oceania Cup 1–4
will receive direct invitations to the combined regional final. As a result, the tournament expands from four teams to eight, with four representatives from each region.
Expanded format and an additional day of play
At the same time, ESL significantly updated the tournament format. The Asia–Oceania Regional Finals will continue to use a single-elimination structure, but the overall bracket now offers greater depth:
- Quarterfinals — Best of 3
- Semifinals — Best of 3
- Grand Final — Best of 5
With the addition of quarterfinals, the event gains an extra day of competition and expands to four days in total. Moreover, this change aims to improve competitive integrity and reduce the impact of randomness, an issue that teams and analysts have frequently highlighted in shorter formats. Ultimately, the winner of the regional final secures a direct invite to ESL Pro League Season 24.
Rule updates: temporary easing of restrictions
Due to the expanded slot allocation, ESL also adjusted the rulebook. Specifically, for Season 51, ESL temporarily removed restrictions outlined in rule 2.29 of the ESL Challenger League Regional Final rules, which regulate participation in cases of multiple cup victories.
Importantly, ESL stressed that this measure is temporary. The relaxed rules apply only to the Asia–Oceania Regional Finals in Season 51, while organizers evaluate long-term solutions for Season 52 within the ESL Pro Tour framework.
Full details: Asia–Oceania Regional Finals
- Status: Tier 2 Wildcard tournament
- Teams: 8
- Dates: May 25–28, 2026
- Format: Single elimination
- Location: Online
- Seeding: Based on the first available monthly VRS publication in May 2026
- Prize: One slot at ESL Pro League Season 24
Slot distribution
- Asia Cup 1 — Winner
- Oceania Cup 1 — Winner
- Asia Cup 2 — Winner
- Oceania Cup 2 — Winner
- Asia Cup 3 — Winner
- Oceania Cup 3 — Winner
- Asia Cup 4 — Winner
- Oceania Cup 4 — Winner
Invite exceptions
Invitations do not apply to rosters ranked inside the global top 12 of the VRS, nor to players or teams with active bans from ESL, FACEIT, or ESIC.
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What this decision means for the CS2 scene
Overall, the unification of Asia and Oceania effectively resets the regional race for Pro League qualification. For Asian teams, this change introduces tougher competition at the final hurdle. For Oceania, however, it preserves a crucial pathway to the Tier-1 scene.
In the long term, ESL gain a stronger regional final with clearer competitive logic and higher sporting value. Therefore, Season 51 now serves as a testing ground, with its outcome likely to shape the Asia–Oceania pathway structure for Season 52 and beyond.
