This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　After three days of intense competition, the final challenger teams have qualified for their spot at the League Championship Series Promotional. COGnitive Gaming, To Be Determined and The Walking Zed will fly out to LA in two weeks to face Curse, Coast and Velocity esports.

　　The winner of the best of five. series will advance to the first split of the 2014 League Championship Series (LCS). These challenger teams have sacrificed it all to get to this point. Let’s take a look at how those three got here, and let's take a look at what happens to Quantic and compLexity now that their hopes are dashed.

　　

COGnitive Gaming

Cognitive qualified through the first WellPlayed qualifier when they secured second place after defeating Team VEX (now vVv). Many wrote them off in this tournament, which wasn't an unfair decision considering their dismal 4-19 North American Challenger League record, but, COGnitive is known for playing well when it counts and have shown a that again with this tournament.

　　COG’s spirits weren’t shaken when they gave Quantic their first win in a one sided match. They quickly reset, and took down down compLexity who had defeated them every time they met in the NACL previously. It seemed that COGnitive may be on to something, and they may have fixed their problems. On day 2 of the tournament, COGnitive shocked everyone by going undefeated in both of their matches versus vVv and The Walking Zed. This put COG at the top of the standings heading into day 3, securing their spot to the next stage.

　　When onGamers asked Will "Zaineking" Bottrell, COGnitive’s support player, about how he felt making it through to the next stage of the tournament he said, “Thanks to COGnitive gaming for supporting us while I support my teammates to the LCS promotional in LA. It's going to be my first time playing in a tournament of this magnitude, but I'm excited to play and I'll make sure to make our fans proud.”

　　Tournament MVP: Patch 3.14 and Cris. Patch 3.14 seems to be what COGnitive really need in order to get back in their groove. Cris has also seemed to a much needed dynamic to the team.

　　

To Be Determined

TBD defeated compLexity at MLG Anaheim in June under the name FXOpen e-sports to qualify for the Spring Promotional Tournament. Since then, Bubbadub and former Dragonborns jungler, Brokenshard, have joined the team. TBD have a consistent NACL record of 13-9 and are currently 2nd place in the Ancient Golem Conference. Many picked TBD to finish in the top three of this tournament.

　　In all of their matches this weekend, TBD played extremely well ending up in a tie for 1st place. When we asked Brokenshard, TBD’s jungler, about the next stage of the tournament, he told us, "This will be the 3rd time I've qualified for a promo/relegation tournament. Failure is not an option for me". He continued on to say: “Shoutout to my current teammates and my teammates in the past, who have all played a big role in preparing me for this tournament”. It seems at least one member of TBD is ready to perform in LA.

　　Tournament MVP: Arthelon. His Gragas play was a huge factor into TBD’s success this weekend. It wouldn’t be surprising if Arthelon is on par if not better than his mid lane counterparts in the LCS.

　　

The Walking Zed

Formerly known as ggLA, this roster separated from their organization a few weeks ago citing differences between players and management. Despite this, they were still able to qualify via the second WellPlayed qualifier.

　　Tied for 1st with To Be Determined, TWZ displayed their raw skill this weekend. They were able to adapt in each match and had a convincing finish in each of their matches. TWZ is a definite contender to clinch a LCS spot.

　　Tournament MVP(s): NydusHerMain and bobbyHankHill. This bot lane is arguably one of the best in the challenger scene, they are almost always guaranteed to go even or smash the lane.

　　

Quantic Gaming

The dream is dead for the sidecar of the Korean Hype Train. After what seemed like an extremely strong start in day 1, Quantic lost their final 3 matches back to back in a heartbreaking turn of events. It’s back to Korea for what could’ve been one of the biggest disruptions to North America yet.

　　

compLexity Gaming

Joining Quantic gaming in getting knocked out are fan-favorites compLexity. Recent roster changes to the team seem to have dealt the killing blow to what once was one of the the best challenger teams in North America. In a recent Reddit thread, former jungler Lautemortis said, “Prolly ruined their chances with his awful attitude."

　　It seems the team fell apart right before the most important tournament. We have yet to hear the fate of compLexity in the coming weeks.

　　It looks like we will find out what teams Curse and Coast choose to play against in Los Angeles on Monday December 16th.

　　Until then, keep an eye out on onGamers.com for all the latest League of Legends action.