Over the Christmas festivities and into the new year, the competitive scene in CS:GO is always dead – understandably so. As the celebrations have finished and everyone is back to their old routines again, it is, however, time to prepare for another action-filled year packed with exciting tournaments. The first noteworthy one coming up is Funspark Ulti 2021.
About Funspark Ulti 2021
Dates: 18th of January – 24th of January
Teams: 8
Prize pool: $250,000
Additional prizes: Two entries into Funspark Ulti 2022
Tournament rules: Double-Elimination bracket, BO3 (final is BO5)
Organizer: Funspark and Relog Media
Don’t be confused by the name. Despite being called Funspark Ulti 2021, this A-tier tournament is kicking off on the 18th of January this year. So why the name? Because the tournament is the grand finale, culminating after two year long seasons of Funspark running in 2021.
The past year saw a ton of lower ranked teams from Europe as well Asia competing in B-tier and C-tier tournaments hosted by Funspark. While these tournaments held smaller prize pools of $30,000 and $50,000, the competing teams also gathered points in them, allowing them entry into the grand finale which is now coming up. Not all teams have earned their way into the tournament this way, though.
Participating Teams
- Checkmate (world ranking: n/a)
- ECSTATIC (world ranking: 22)
- K23 (world ranking: 24)
- Extra Salt (world ranking: 21)
- BIG (world ranking: 14)
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD
As of now, three teams are yet to be determined which are all teams that will receive a direct invite into Funspark Ulti 2021. These teams will be top ranked ones and could include Natus Vincere, Gambit, Vitaly, G2, NiP or Heroic. But as mentioned, right now, we do not know.
The Mongolian team, Checkmate, qualified for their spot in the tournament by collecting the most points in the Asian Funspark season. The Danish ECSTATIC and Kazakhstani/Russian K23 qualified from collecting the most points in the European.
Big and Extra Salt both qualified by finishing first and second in the last year’s grand finale.
Prize Pool Breakdown
- 1st position: $150,000 + direct entry into next year’s Funspark Ulti Finale
- 2nd position: $50,000 + direct entry into next year’s Funspark Ulti Finale
- 3rd – 4th position: $15,000
- 5th – 8th position: $5,000
Betting on the Event
With the grand finals of Funspark Ulti 2021 being an A-tier tournament with several professional teams competing, many bookmakers will offer the opportunity to bet on the matches. If you’re unfamiliar to this, getting started is easily down following the below steps:
- Sign up to a gambling site that offers betting (you can find one at GamblingBaba or a similar site that lists and reviews operators).
- Make a deposit using one of many payment methods offered (often including debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, Paysafe, among others).
- Navigate to the sports betting section, followed by choosing CS:GO and then Funspark.
- Select a match to bet on and a market (markets often include match winner, over/under total score, winner of 1st map, among others).
- Enter preferred stake and confirm the bet.
Watching the Tournament Live
All of the matches in Funspark Ulti 2021 will be live-streamed on Funsparks official Twitch channel. The exact time when the matches will be played is yet to be determined, but the first ones kick off on the 18th, while the finale is held on the 24th.