The Funspark ULTI league is finally coming to an end. After four Seasons, and two playoffs, Europe and Asia have long battled to send their best stars to the international arena of the Finals. Unfortunately many, despite their best efforts and their very decent results, did not manage to reach this last stage. Only three teams, two Europeans and one Asian, could have the privilege of joining Funspark ULTI 2020’s winners, and three special invited teams more, for the final round. If you have missed the action, or would like a recap, here we are to cover for you what happened in the past weeks and what will happen in the Funspark ULTI 2023 Finals. It is never too late to join, as the battle is far from being over yet.
General Overview
The Funspark ULTI 2023 is part of a CSGO tournament series organized by Funspark and 5EPlay. It will be held completely online, and features a prize pool of $250,000 USD distributed as follows:
- $150,000 for 1st place
- $50,000 for 2nd place
- $15,000 for 3rd and 4th place
- $5,000 for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place
It takes place throughout all 2023 with four Seasons and two Playoffs, each after two Seasons of games. The final stage will take place from January 18th to January 24th, and features a total of eight teams who will fight to be crowned champions. Three teams come from the European and Asian qualifiers, three teams are directly invited, and the remaining two are the 1st and 2nd place winners from the previous year’s edition, Funspark ULTI 2020.
Europe and Asia Results
The four Seasons and Playoffs were played, from March until December 2023, by a variety of teams from Europe and Asia. During each Season, and throughout Open and Closed Qualifiers, the 16 teams did their best to win as many games as possible and conquer their spot for the following season, as well as points to get higher rankings.
In fact, it is through points that the three winners eligible for the Finals were chosen. The top 2 teams from Europe, and top 1 team from Asia, based on their total points earned throughout the whole four Seasons and despite their results in the Playoffs, are the ones going to the Finals. These are:
- K23 (neaLaN, mou, n0rb3r7, AdreN, fame + substitute kade0), 1st Europe classified
- ECSTATIC (birdfromsky, maNkz, Daffu, FASHR, WolfY; captain: trace), 2nd Europe classified
- Checkmate (bLitz, Techno4K, Bart4k, cool4st, hasteka; captain: maaRaa), 1st Asia classified
Points Ranking
Here you will find a recap table showing you all teams who took part in at least one Season, and the total points they got from the totality of their games. As you can see, K23 and ECSTATIC, with their 94 and 70 points, are without a doubt the winners for Europe, way far ahead from 3rd place winners, Entropiq. Checkmate, instead, manages to reach Finals thanks to that one point above its enemies.
Europe
| Ranking | Team | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | K23 | 94 |
| 2 | ECSTATIC | 70 |
| 3 | Entropiq | 58 |
| 4 | Dignitas | 56 |
| 5 | BLUEJAYS | 46 |
| 6 | ENCE | 45 |
| 7 | HAVY Gaming | 41 |
| 8 | HYENAS | 35 |
| 9 | Copenhagen Flames | 29 |
| 10 | Nemiga Gaming | 20 |
| 11 | touch the crown | 18 |
| 12 | Sinners Esports | 16 |
| 13 | AGO | 15 |
| 14 | Sprout | 5 |
| 14 | EXTREMUM | 5 |
| 14 | Movistar Riders | 5 |
| 14 | 00 Nation | 5 |
| 14 | Team Unique | 5 |
Asia
| Ranking | Team | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Checkmate | 86 |
| 2 | Team NKT | 85 |
| 3 | Team Renewal | 52 |
| 4 | Invictus Gaming | 43 |
| 5 | Wings Up Gaming | 36 |
| 6 | TYLOO | 32 |
| 6 | Lynn Vision Gaming | 32 |
| 8 | Steel Helmet | 30 |
| 9 | After Gaming | 25 |
| 10 | The Black Company | 21 |
| 11 | Camel Riders | 16 |
| 12 | NSN Gaming | 13 |
| 12 | New Happy | 13 |
| 14 | D13 | 8 |
| 15 | Team LZ | 5 |
Finals
Let’s talk then about the Finals.K23, ECSTATIC and Checkmate will join three yet to be announced invited teams, as well as the 1st and 2nd place winners from the 2020 edition. These are:
- BIG (tabseN, tiziaN, syrsoN, k1to, faveN; captain: enkay J)
- Extra Salt (JT, FaNg, marKE, floppy, fifth player to be determined; captain: T.c)
The Finals will take place from January 18 to January 24, and are organized in a Double-Elimination mode, with Upper and Lower brackets from the very Quarterfinals on. All matches are Bo3, except the Grand Final which is Bo5, with a 1 map advantage to the Upper Bracket Final winner.
We have already talked about prize pool distribution, but we have to mention as well that, as it happened with the previous edition, 1st and 2nd place winners of these Funspark ULTI 2023 Finals will be granted a special place in the Finals of the 2023 event. A lot of information about the Finals is yet to be disclosed, such as who will be the three invited teams, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Broadcast, Talent, Where to Watch
There are two confirmed, official streams for the broadcasting of the CSGO Funspark ULTI 2023 Finals. For English coverage, the Twitch channel funspark_esports will be the one to follow. You can find it at the link: https://www.twitch.tv/funspark_esports. There is also Chinese coverage, this time on the Huya platform, available at the following link: https://www.huya.com/funspark.
As for the broadcast, still no information is yet available to the public. We await news from Funspark, but we are sure we will enjoy the games with the company of highly prepared and entertaining hosts, commentators, and analysts, as was the case with the 2023 Seasons and Playoffs.
Conclusion
The 2023 edition of the Funspark ULTI has been long and full of surprises. But perhaps the best is yet to come, as the best teams emerging victorious from one year of games are ready to give it all and finally claim the championship. Do not hesitate and join the stream on January 18 to see the action unfold. Many questions still need an answer: who are the three teams invited? Will last year’s winners exert their dominance again? Or will a new star rise? Join us and thousands of fans all around the world to find out!
