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Most recent season or competition: ESL Pro League Season 19 | |
Formerly | ESL ESEA Pro League |
---|---|
Game | Counter-Strike 2 |
Founded | 2015 |
First season | May 4, 2015 |
Owner(s) | ESL |
No. of teams | 32 |
Region | International |
Most recent champion(s) | Mouz (Season 19) |
Most titles | Fnatic and Astralis (3 titles each) |
TV partner(s) | Twitch |
Sponsor(s) | Intel |
Official website | pro |
The ESL Pro League (formerly ESL ESEA Pro League; shortened as EPL) is a Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) professional esports league, produced by ESL. It was previously based on four regions: Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania but following a format revamp in season 13, regional leagues were discontinued and unified into one league. ESL Pro League currently comprises 32 teams each season, including 15 Permanent Partner Teams. The ESL Pro League is considered to be the premier professional CS2 league in the world and is one of the major professional leagues in esports. The ESL Pro League began as a venture between the Electronic Sports League (ESL) and E-Sports Entertainment Association League (ESEA). Its inaugural season started on May 4, 2015. [1]
In early November 2014, the German-based Electronic Sports League announced the creation of the ESL Pro League as the European ESL league. On April 28, 2015, ESL announced a joint venture with the North American-based E-Sports Entertainment Association League to provide a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league with US$500,000 in total prize money in the first season between two continents. It later expanded to fourteen teams per region and raised its prize pool to US$1,000,000, with two seasons running each year. [2] ESL the prize pool once more in 2018 by making the teams fight for $1,000,000 in the Finals, raising the season prize pool by $250,000. In addition, the number of teams in the finals rose to sixteen, with more teams from regions other than North American and Europe participating in the Finals. [3] [4] [5] In 2020, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, seasons 11 and 12 did not have a global final, instead regional finals were held in Europe and North America. In 2021, starting from ESL Pro League Season 13, the organization announced a changed format, with one league replacing the four regional leagues that existed prior to the pandemic. All 24 teams would travel to Europe to participate in the league, with the top 12 teams of the 24-team regular season proceeding to the playoffs. With the consolidation of the tournament into one event, the prize pool was reduced to $750,000. [6] Starting from ESL Pro League season 17, the prize pool was increased to $850,000 as a result of increasing the number of teams from 24 to 32. [7]
Prior to ESL Pro League Season 11, the league was split into 3 different regional leagues, Europe, Americas, and Asia-Pacific, with the top teams in each league qualifying for the season finals. However, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, season 11 only included two leagues: Europe and North America [8] whereas season 12 was changed to have 5 regional leagues(Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, and Asia). Starting from ESL Pro League season 13, regional leagues were discontinued with teams from each region playing together in a unified league. Teams qualified to ESL Pro League based on their permanent partner team status, [9] ESL World Ranking, or through qualifying from regional Pro League Conference tournaments, ESL Challenger League tournaments, and ESL Challenger Tournaments. [10]
Starting from ESL Pro League Season 14, ESL announced a change to the playoffs format, removing the play-ins stage of the playoffs. [11]
Before ESL Pro League season 17, the format was as follows:
Following a format revamp by ESL, [12] which saw the removal of the round-robin format and an increase to 32 teams rather than 24 teams of the previous iterations. The current ESL Pro League format is as follows:
The list of seasons and the top two teams in each season are in shown below. The number next to the teams showed what positions they placed during the regular season in their respective leagues. Regional leagues were discontinued in Season 13. According to report Strife will represents Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) in ESL Pro League Season 16. [13]
No. | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Prize Money | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cologne | Fnatic (EU 1) | 3–1 | Cloud9 (NA 1) | US$250,000 | [14] |
2 | Burbank | Fnatic (EU 2) | 3–2 | Natus Vincere (EU 3) | US$250,000 | [15] |
3 | London | Luminosity Gaming (NA 1) | 3–2 | G2 Esports (EU 4) | US$512,000 | [16] |
4 | São Paulo | Cloud9 (NA 1) | 2–1 | SK Gaming (NA 3) | US$600,000 | [17] |
5 | Dallas | G2 Esports (EU 2) | 3–1 | North (EU 1) | US$750,000 | [18] |
6 | Odense | SK Gaming (NA 2) | 3–1 | FaZe Clan (EU 3) | US$750,000 | [19] |
7 | Dallas | Astralis (EU 6) | 3–1 | Team Liquid (NA 1) | US$750,000 | [20] |
8 | Odense | Astralis (EU 1) | 3–1 | Team Liquid (NA 3) | US$750,000 | [21] |
9 | Montpellier | Team Liquid (NA 2) | 3–1 | G2 Esports (EU 3) | US$600,000 | [22] |
10 | Odense | mousesports (EU 1) | 3–0 | Fnatic (EU 8) | US$600,000 | [23] |
11 EU | Online | Fnatic (EU 1) | 3–2 | mousesports (EU 3) | US$531,000 | [Note 1] [24] [25] |
11 NA | Online | Team Liquid (NA 1) | 3–0 | Evil Geniuses (NA 2) | US$219,000 | [Note 1] [26] [25] |
12 EU | Online | Astralis (EU 1) | 3–2 | Natus Vincere (EU 2) | US$450,000 | [Note 1] [27] |
12 NA | Online | Furia Esports (NA 1) | 3–0 | 100 Thieves (NA 2) | US$225,000 | [Note 1] [28] |
13 | Online | Heroic | 3–2 | Gambit Esports | US$750,000 | [29] |
14 | Online | Natus Vincere | 3–2 | Team Vitality | US$750,000 | [30] |
15 | Düsseldorf | FaZe Clan | 3–1 | ENCE | US$850,000 | [31] |
16 | Naxxar | Team Vitality | 3–2 | Team Liquid | US$835,000 | [32] |
17 | Saint Julian's | FaZe Clan | 3–1 | Cloud9 | US$850,000 | [33] |
18 | Saint Julian's | MOUZ | 3–0 | Natus Vincere | US$850,000 | [34] |
19 | Saint Julian's | MOUZ | 3–0 | Team Vitality | US$750,000 | [35] |
Notes
ESL also has two other leagues outside of Counter-Strike. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is currently in its eleventh season. The PENTA Sports/G2 Esports core has the most titles with four, as the team won the Year 1 Season 1, Year 2 Season 1, Year 2 Season 2, and Season 8 titles. In addition to the Rainbow Six Siege league, ESL also has a Halo league. However, the two leagues are much less prominent than the Counter-Strike league as Rainbow Six only has a $248,000 prize pool compared to CS:GO's $750,000 prize pool.
Mouz, formerly mousesports, is a professional esports organisation based in Germany. It fields teams in several games but is particularly known for its CS:GO team. MOUZ was one of the founding members of the G7 Teams. MOUZ's League of Legends team currently competes in the ESL Pro Series, having formerly competed in the European Challenger Series.
The ESL Gaming GmbH, doing business as ESL, is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, and the oldest that is still operational. Based in Cologne, Germany, ESL has eleven offices and multiple international TV studios globally. ESL is the largest esports company to broadcast on Twitch.
Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) was an American esports organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in April 2010 by George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis and Alexander "Vodoo" Beutel as a League of Legends team, and branched out into other games.
DreamHack Winter 2014 was the fourth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship, held from November 27–29, 2014 at Elmia in Jönköping. It was organized by DreamHack and sponsored by Valve. The tournament had a total prize pool of US$250,000. The eight quarter-finalists from the previous Major, ESL One Cologne 2014 received direct invitations, while qualifiers were held for the remaining spots.
DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 was the seventh Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship that was held from October 28 – November 1, 2015 at the Sala Polivalentă in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was organized by DreamHack with help from Valve and the Professional Gamers League. The tournament had a total prize pool of US$250,000.
ESL One Cologne 2016, also known as ESL Cologne Major 2016 or Cologne 2016, was an Electronic Sports League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the ninth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and was held at the Lanxess Arena In Cologne, Germany from July 8–10. It featured 16 teams from throughout the world competing. Cologne 2016 had the second consecutive major with a prize pool of $1,000,000.
ELeague, shortened as EL, and stylized as ΞLEAGUE is an esports league and American television show that airs on TBS. It was announced in September 2015 as a partnership between Turner Broadcasting and talent agency WME/IMG. The name "ELeague" was officially unveiled later that year.
ESL Pro League Season 4 was a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by ESL. It was the fourth season of the ESL Pro League, and had an overall prize pool of $750,000. For the first time, the Finals took place in South America – São Paulo, Brazil, from October 28 to October 30. Teams from two continents, North America and Europe competed in fourteen team leagues to attempt to qualify for the Finals. Europe's season began with FaZe Clan defeating Team X and ended with Team Dignitas defeating Virtus.pro in a best of three 6th place decider. North America's season started with Cloud9 defeating Team Liquid and ended with Immortals defeating Echo Fox. In the finals, Cloud9 defeated SK Gaming 2–1 to become the ESL Pro League Season 4 Champions and take home $200,000 prize money; this upset would also mark the first time a North American won an international premier event since iBUYPOWER won ESEA Season 16 - Global Invite Division in 2014.
FACEIT is an esports platform founded in London in 2012. The company has administered leagues for games such as Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Rocket League, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.
The ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, also known as ELEAGUE Major 2018 or Boston 2018, was the twelfth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and the second organized by ELEAGUE. The group stage was held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States from January 12 to January 22, 2018, and the playoff stage took place at the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States from January 26 to January 28, 2018. It featured 24 professional teams from around the world, as ELEAGUE and Valve agreed to expand the Major from the usual 16. All 16 teams from the previous major, PGL Major: Kraków 2017, directly qualified for the Major, while another eight teams qualified through their respective regional qualifiers. Boston 2018 was the fifth consecutive Major with a prize pool of $1,000,000. This was also the first CS:GO Major to take place in two cities.
ESL Pro League Season 2 was an Electronic Sports League (ESL) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the second season of the ESL Pro League. The Finals took place in Burbank, California, United States from December 10 to December 13, 2015. The regular season for Europe began on September 9, 2015, with Ninjas in Pyjamas beating Team EnVyUs and ended with Team EnVyUs defeating mousesports. North America's season began on the same date and kicked off with compLexity Gaming defeating Enemy and concluded with Team Liquid defeating Enemy. The season ended with Fnatic defeating Natus Vincere in a close best of five finals, 3–2. Teams from two continents, North America and Europe, competed in twelve team leagues and play against each other twice to determine the top four teams from each continent would play in the Finals.
ESL Pro League Season 1, officially known as ESL ESEA Pro League Season 1 and shortened as EPL Season 1, was an Electronic Sports League (ESL) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the first season of the ESL Pro League. The Finals took place in Cologne, Germany from July 2, 2015, to July 5, 2015. Teams from two continents, North America and Europe, competed in twelve team leagues and play against each other twice to determine the top four teams from each continent would play in the Finals.
ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017, also known as ELEAGUE Major 2017 or Atlanta 2017, was the tenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship. It was organized by ELEAGUE and held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States from January 22 to 29, 2017. It featured sixteen professional teams from around the world. Eight teams directly qualified based on their top eight placement in the last major, ESL One Cologne 2016, while another eight teams qualified through the ELEAGUE Offline Major Qualifier. ELEAGUE Major was the third consecutive Major with a prize pool of $1,000,000.
The Intel Extreme Masters Season 12 – World Championship or IEM Katowice 2018 was the world championship for the twelfth season of the Intel Extreme Masters. It was held at the Spodek in Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland from February 27–March 4, 2018. The event featured tournaments for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and StarCraft II.
Counter-Strike Major Championships, commonly known as the Majors, are Counter-Strike (CS) esports tournaments sponsored by Valve, the game's developer. The first Valve-recognized Major took place in 2013 in Jönköping, Sweden and was hosted by DreamHack with a total prize pool of US$250,000 split among 16 teams. This, along with the following 18 Majors, was played in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. As of the 2023 release of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), Counter-Strike esports, including the Majors, are played in CS2.
The Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – Katowice Major 2019, also known as IEM Katowice Major 2019 or Katowice 2019, was the fourteenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and the world championship for the thirteenth season of the Intel Extreme Masters. It was held in Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland from February 13 – March 3, 2019. Fourteen teams would qualify for the IEM Katowice Major 2019 based on their top fourteen placements from the last Major, the FACEIT Major: London 2018, while another ten teams would qualify from their respective regional qualifiers. The top eight teams from the London Major ("Legends") received a bye to the second phase of the group stage while the other sixteen teams ("Challengers") had to go through the first and second group stages in order to reach the playoffs. It featured a US$1,000,000 prize pool, the seventh consecutive Major with that prize pool. It was hosted by ESL, their first Major since 2016. This event was the start of the second season of the Intel Grand Slam.
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ESL One Cologne 2019 is a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by ESL. In July 2019, sixteen teams from around the globe competed in an offline (LAN) tournament that featured a group stage and playoffs with a US$300,000 prize pool. This event and Intel Extreme Masters Season XIV - Chicago were the last events before teams playing at StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019 took a month break before heading to the Major.
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