Team Kinguin have secured a spot in ESL Pro League Season 5 after moving past LDLC in the ESEA Season 23 Premier Finals.
The top two teams of ESEA's European Premier division faced off in Burbank on Thursday to determine which of them would get direct entry into the next iteration of the ESL Pro League in addition to a higher seed in the ESEA Global Premier Challenge.
Heading into the match, many believed that this would be a close affair as both teams boasted a 13-3 record during the regular season, but Kinguin set the series off with a bang as they cruised to a 16-2 win on Cobblestone, with Mikołaj "mouz" Karolewski and Michał "MICHU" Müller both getting 1.99 ratings.
Kinguin secure ESL Pro League spot
LDLC gave a much better account of themselves on Overpass and closed out the first half with a narrow 8-7 lead, but Kinguin were simply dominant on the Terrorist side and conceded just one round before taking the map, 16-9.
ESEA MDL Season 23 Europe FinalsBest of 3 
Kinguin
Matchpage 2 0 5th January 2017 
LDLC 16Cobblestone 2 16Overpass 9
| Kinguin | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU | 48 - 21 | +27 | 113.8 | 1.77 |
| Mikołaj 'mouz' Karolewskimouz | 46 - 20 | +26 | 102.5 | 1.76 |
| Grzegorz 'SZPERO' DziamałekSZPERO | 48 - 25 | +23 | 105.1 | 1.64 |
| Damian 'Furlan' KislowskiFurlan | 26 - 27 | -1 | 74.3 | 1.02 |
| Karol 'rallen' Rodowiczrallen | 22 - 27 | -5 | 66.6 | 0.94 |
| LDLC | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alexandre 'xms' Fortéxms | 28 - 36 | -8 | 72.6 | 1.01 |
 Antoine 'to1nou' Pirardto1nou | 23 - 36 | -13 | 48.1 | 0.74 |
 Alex 'ALEX' McMeekinALEX | 25 - 40 | -15 | 77.2 | 0.74 |
| Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' DroolansEx6TenZ | 23 - 40 | -17 | 68.4 | 0.72 |
| Valentin 'mistou' Balbastromistou | 21 - 38 | -17 | 54.8 | 0.61 |
This means that LDLC will join Rogue, Heroic and PENTA Sports in the relegation stage of ESL Pro League Season 5, with the match-ups looking as follows:
 HEROIC | vs. | Rogue |
 PENTA | vs. | LDLC |
LDLC #29 Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' DroolansAntoine 'to1nou' PirardAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinValentin 'mistou' BalbastroAlexandre 'xms' Forté Mikołaj 'mouz' Karolewski 
Age: 21 Team: Kinguin Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 515 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 
PENTA Kevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendStefan 'stfN' Seier 
Rogue #39 Nicolai 'glace' Jensen
Kamen 'bubble' KostadinovJesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannViktor 'v1c7oR' DyankovCasper 'cadiaN' Møller 
HEROIC #19 Michael 'Friis' Jørgensen
Andreas 'MODDII' FridhMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåNikolaj 'niko' Kristensen Michał 'MICHU' Müller 
Age: 20 Team: Kinguin Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 666 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68