The 31st season of ESEA MDL has come to a close in Europe and North America, determining all participants of the Global Challenge and ESL Pro League relegation.

After the regular season came to an end last week in Europe, it was time for the playoffs. In a surprising turn of events, CR4ZY, who had gone undefeated in the regular season, went down in the quarter-finals to Spirit, with Vitality, Movistar Riders, and Sprout also reaching the semi-final stage.

Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt's team confirmed their status of favorites by defeating Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev & co., earning a chance to fight for direct advancement to ESL Pro League Season 10 against Sprout, who took down Movistar Riders en route to the European Finals.

After a hard-fought battle between the two on Sunday, Spirit defeated Oscar "⁠mixwell⁠" Cañellas's side 2-1, copping the third and last spot at the seasonal Global Challenge and a place in the ESL Pro League Season 9 relegation tournament.

The final standings of ESEA MDL S31 Europe look as follows:

1-2. Sprout - Global Challenge + EU MDL Finals
1-2. Vitality - Global Challenge + EU MDL Finals
3. Spirit - Global Challenge + EPL Relegation
4. Movistar Riders - $2,500
5-8. GamerLegion
5-8. Epsilon
5-8. CR4ZY
5-8. Chaos
9. FORZE
10. Virtus.pro
11. x-kom
12. AGO
13. pro100
14. ALTERNATE aTTaX - MDL S31 Relegation
15. HAVU - MDL S31 Relegation
16. Izako Boars - MDL S31 Relegation
17. expert - MDL S31 Relegation
18. ENCE - Advanced S32 (withdrawn)

In North America, Singularity, FURIA, and ATK finished atop the league with 12 wins each and they continued to succeed in the playoffs, winning their quarter-final affairs alongside Party Astronauts to determine the four teams advancing to the Global Challenge.

Having returned from a successful run in Europe, Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan's squad lived up to the expectations, beating Party Astronauts to make it to the North American Finals, in which they will take on Singularity for a spot in ESL Pro League Season 10 on July 13.

Meanwhile, South African side ATK won a close third-place decider against Ian "⁠motm⁠" Hardy & co., booking the last spot in the North American relegation for ESL Pro League, making the final standings of the league the following:

1-2. Singularity - Global Challenge + NA MDL Finals
1-2. FURIA - Global Challenge + NA MDL Finals
3. ATK - Global Challenge + EPL Relegation
4. Party Astronauts - Global Challenge
5-8. The Quest
5-8. Riot Squad
5-8. TeamOne
5-8. New Identity
9. Ascent
10. Rugratz
11. Peeker's Advantage
12. Variance
13. BLITZKRIEG
14. Thunder Logic - MDL S31 Relegation
15. Bushido Boyz - MDL S31 Relegation
16. Mythic - MDL S31 Relegation
17. Prospects - MDL S31 Relegation
18. Chris and the boys - Advanced S32

The following eight teams will take part in the ESEA MDL Season 31 Global Challenge, which will run on July 13-14 in Dallas, Texas: