Windigo have qualified for ESL Pro League Europe Season 10 after defeating Heretics 3-1 in the best-of-five grand final of the pre-relegation tournament.

Heretics had found their place in the grand final after victories over Windigo and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the upper bracket of the four-team tournament. Meanwhile, Windigo set up a match up with Heretics after making their way through the lower bracket by defeating Turkey5 and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Despite beginning the series with 1-0 advantage due to coming from the upper bracket, Heretics soon found their favoured position squandered after Windigo dismantled the Frenchmen on Inferno with a stellar defensive showing. The Bulgarian squad swiftly closed out the map with a dominant 16-3 scoreline on the map pick of Heretics to move onto their own choice of Train.

poizon dominated the series with a 1.64 rating

The Frenchmen kicked off Train with a 3-0 lead on the defence but soon fell flat as Windigo took control of the half going forward, with an incredible 1v3 clutch from Valentin "⁠poizon⁠" Vasilev securing a 10-5 advantage. Heretics proceeded with a point to prove, closing the gap to just one round. The two sides then traded a succession of rounds before Windigo eventually came out on top at 16-13.

The series concluded on Dust2, a map which exhibited two tremendously dominating Terrorist sides. The map commenced with Heretics running riot on the offence, securing an 11-4 lead with little resistance, but as the squads swapped sides, Windigo turned their performance up a gear. The Bulgarians overwhelmed Heretics going forward, demonstrating their brute firepower as they pulled off the comeback to win the map 16-12, and the series 3-1, to book their spot in EPL Season 10.

ESL Pro League Season 9 Europe Pre-RelegationBest of 5 HereticsMatchpage 1 3 16th August 2019 Windigo 1Default 0 3Inferno 16 13Train 16 12Dust2 16

Heretics	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Logan 'LOGAN' CortiLOGAN	52 - 63	-11	84.2	1.01
David 'Davidp' PrinsDavidp	47 - 57	-10	70.3	0.92
Bryan 'Maka' CandaMaka	43 - 57	-14	71.2	0.91
Gaëtan 'JiNKZ' JaminJiNKZ	47 - 61	-14	61.6	0.82
Jérémy 'jeyN' NguyenjeyN	43 - 55	-12	64.8	0.82

Windigo	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Valentin 'poizon' Vasilevpoizon	79 - 45	+34	101.4	1.64
Georgi 'SHiPZ' GrigorovSHiPZ	63 - 46	+17	83.8	1.38
Yanko 'blocker' Panovblocker	65 - 45	+20	80.9	1.28
Kamen 'bubble' Kostadinovbubble	48 - 46	+2	77.8	1.11
Viktor 'v1c7oR' Dyankovv1c7oR	36 - 50	-14	57.8	0.88

Following the conclusion of ESL Pro League Season 9 Europe Pre-Relegation, the tournament produced the following outcomes:

1. Windigo - EPL Season 10
2. Heretics - EPL Season 9 Relegation
3. Ninjas in Pyjamas - EPL Season 9 Relegation
4. Turkey5 - ESEA MDL Season 32

The list of participants for ESL Pro League Europe Season 10, which will kick off on October 8, currently looks as follows:

Astralis
Natus Vincere
FaZe
G2
MOUZ
North
HEROIC
EPL Relegation #1fnatic
OpTic
BIG
HellRaisers
Aristocracy
Vitality
Windigo
EPL Relegation #2Turkey5 #73 Ahmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' KorÖmer 'imoRR' KarataşBeyazıt 'beyAz' KörpeEneshan 'eneshan' Tez Ninjas in Pyjamas #11 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' SternerNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora OpTic #18 René 'cajunb' BorgMathias 'MSL' LauridsenKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeNikolaj 'niko' KristensenRené 'TeSeS' Madsen HellRaisers #29 Kirill 'ANGE1' KarasiowTomáš 'oskar' ŠťastnýChristian 'loWel' Garcia AntoranIssa 'ISSAA' MuradŽygimantas 'nukkye' Chmieliauskas BIG #25 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzTizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschJohannes 'nex' MagetIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşOwen 'smooya' Butterfield HEROIC #14 Adam 'friberg' FribergPatrick 'es3tag' HansenNiels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' SillassenMartin 'stavn' LundBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer North #12 Philip 'aizy' AistrupMarkus 'Kjaerbye' KjærbyeJakob 'JUGi' HansenNicklas 'gade' GadeValdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså Astralis #3 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif MOUZ #10 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongÖzgür 'woxic' EkerDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' Kool Windigo #24 Kamen 'bubble' KostadinovBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAli 'hAdji' HaïnoussGeorgi 'SHiPZ' GrigorovValentin 'poizon' Vasilev G2 #8 Audric 'JACKZ' JugRichard 'shox' PapillonKenny 'kennyS' SchrubFrançois 'amanek' DelaunayLucas 'Lucky' Chastang Heretics #52 David 'Davidp' PrinsLogan 'LOGAN' CortiBryan 'Maka' CandaGaëtan 'JiNKZ' JaminJérémy 'jeyN' Nguyen Aristocracy #37 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasJacek 'MINISE' JeziakKarol 'rallen' RodowiczMikołaj 'mouz' KarolewskiPaweł 'dycha' Dycha fnatic #15 Richard 'Xizt' LandströmJesper 'JW' WecksellSimon 'twist' EliassonFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Natus Vincere #6 Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov Vitality #2 Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinMathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut FaZe #7 Filip 'NEO' KubskiOlof 'olofmeister' KajbjerLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' Nygaard Valentin 'poizon' Vasilev Age: 20 Team: Windigo Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 629 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.63