The DreamHack event returns to Georgia for the sixth time since 2017.

SAW is the only top 10 team participating

ESL Challenger Atlanta kicks off from October 4-6, with SAW aiming for its first LAN title outside of the Iberian Peninsula tournaments. 

Portugal's five selected players fly to the US after finishing top 4 at IEM Cologne, but the world's ninth-ranked team will face another pressure as they become favorites to win the title. enemy.

They will have to compete with local teams like M80 (ranked 19th), who reached the quarterfinals of the ESL Pro League, and other top 30 teams like BIG, FlyQuest, and BetBoom. 

The other North American representative, Wildcard, will be at a disadvantage due to being forced to replace Sebastian "⁠fr3nd⁠" Kuśmierz in the position of Love "⁠phzy⁠" Smidebrant.

Swedish AWPer phzy joined Wildcard in July but has not yet obtained a visa, he has to play official matches from Europe with high ping, and the event in Atlanta comes too early for this situation to change.

This is the 6th ESL tournament held in Atlanta, following 4 DreamHack Open events from 2017 to 2021 and ESL Challenger returning to the city in 2023. The city of Atlanta has also hosted many ELEAGUE events, including the 2017 Major tournament.

In 2023, Virtus.pro won against Apeks with Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev named MVP, but this year's edition will not have an MVP due to lack of competition from teams in the top 10.