The 15th season of ESL Pro League, one of the most prestigious CS:GO tournaments in the world, is set to run from March 9 to April 10 with a total of 24 teams in attendance.
This edition of the Pro League will be the first since season 10 to be played on LAN. The past four editions had to be played online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will feature an $823,000 prize pool and will be played in a studio environment from Düsseldorf, Germany. Unlike IEM Katowice, ESL’s last big tournament, this Pro League won’t have a live crowd during the playoffs.
Teams like Natus Vincere, FaZe, G2, and Vitality are some of the biggest candidates to win the tournament. This will be the second big tournament to be played amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and as a result of the war, ESL has prohibited Virtus Pro and Gambit, two organizations with “apparent ties” to the Russian government, to display their brand. Their players are free to attend the event as long as they use a neutral name, and don’t represent Russia, their organizations, or their sponsors on their clothing.
Here’s everything you need to know about ESL Pro League season 15.
Stream
ESL Pro League season 15 will be mainly broadcast on ESL’s main Twitch channel, but the last day of each group will have simultaneous matches going on, so don’t forget to check the second and third Twitch channel to follow your favorite team. There will also be alternate broadcasts such as Gaules (Portuguese) and 99Damage (Germany) for those who prefer to watch it in their own first language.
Format
The 24 teams in attendance were split into four groups of six. The groups will be played separately, which means the action on Group B only starts after Group A is finished. All teams will play each other during the group stage in best-of-three series. The group winners advance straight to the quarterfinals, while the second and third-placed squads move to the Round of 12.
The playoffs will place the teams in a single-elimination 토토사이트 bracket and all the matches are best-of-three series, except the best-of-five grand final. The winner of ESL Pro League season 15 will take home $175,000 and secure a spot at the BLAST World Final, while the runners-up will win $70,000.
Teams
Group A
G2
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač
Audric “JaCkz” Jug
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
François “AMANEK” Delaunay (temporary stand-in)
Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen (out until he tests negative for COVID-19)
Coach: Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Nicolas “Plopski” Zamora
Hampus Poser
Fredrik “REZ” Sterner
Patrick “es3tag” Hansen
Love “phzy” Smidebrant
Coach: Daniel “djL” Narancic
Entropiq
Aleksey “El1an” Gusev
Viktor “Lack1” Boldyrev
Alexey “NickelBack” Trofimov
Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko
Igor “forester” Bezotecheskiy
Coach: Dmitry “hooch” Bogdanov
MOUZ
David “frozen” Čerňanský
Christopher “dexter” Nong
Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras
Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt
Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás
Coach: Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen
Fnatic
Alex McMeekin
Peppe “Peppzor” Borak
William “mezii” Merriman
Valentin “poizon” Vasilev
Matias “Banjo” Kivistö (stand-in for KRIMZ)
Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson (out until he tests negative for COVID-19)
Coach: Jamie “keita” Hall
Looking For Org
Euan “sterling” Moore
James Savage
Mike “apoc” Aliferis
Benson “Liki” Niuila
Jared “HaZR” O’Bree
Coach: Mike “HudzM” Hudson
Group B
Vitality
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Dan “apEX” Madesclaire
Kévin “misutaaa” Rabier
Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen
Emil “Magisk” Reif
Coach: Danny “zonic” Sørensen
Outsiders (VP’s players)
Dzhami “Jame” Ali
Alexey “qikert” Golubev
Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis
Timur “buster” Tulepov
Evgeny “FL1T” Lebedev
Coach: Dastan Akbayev
FaZe Clan
Håvard “rain” Nygaard
Helvijs “broky” Saukants
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
Finn “karrigan” Andersen
Robin “ropz” Kool
Coach: Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström
FURIA
Yuri “yuurih” Gomes
Andrei “arT” Piovezan
Rafael “saffee” Costa
Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato
André “drop” Abreu
Coach: Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira
ENCE
Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer
Lotan “Spinx” Giladi
Paweł Dycha
Olek “hades” Miskiewicz
Pavle “Maden” Bošković
Coach: Eetu “sAw” Saha
Sprout
Timo “Spiidi” Richter
Fritz “slaxz-” Dietrich
Rasmus “raalz” Steensborg
Victor Staehr
Max “Marix” Kugener
Coach: Danny “BERRY” Krüger
Group C
Gambit‘s players (participation and name to be defined)
Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov
Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov
Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov
Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov
Timofey “interz” Yakushin
Coach: Konstantin “groove” Pikiner
Team Liquid
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
Keith “NAF” Markovic
Richard “shox” Papillon
Joshua “oSee” Ohm
Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella
Coach: Eric “adreN” Hoag
GODSENT
Epitácio “TACO” de Melo
João “felps” Vasconcellos
Bruno “latto” Rebelatto
Bruno “b4rtiN” Câmara
Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer
Coach: Olavo “cky” Napoleão
BIG
Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz
Florian “syrsoN” Rische
Nils “k1to” Gruhne or Karim “Krimbo” Moussa (to be confirmed by the organization)
Tizian Feldbusch
Josef “faveN” Baumann
Coach: Niclas “enkay J” Krumhorn
Movistar Riders
Alejandro “mopoz” Fernández-Quejo Cano
Alejandro “ALEX” Masanet Candela
Raúl “DeathZz” Jordán Nieto
Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia
David “dav1g” Granado Bermudo
Coach: Galder “bladE” Barcena
Party Astronauts
Josh “PwnAlone” Pigue
Ben “ben1337” Smith
Jonathan “Jonji” Carey
Jonathan “djay” Dallal
Peter “ptr” Gurney (stand-in for viz)
Coach: Joseph “Muenster” Lima
Group D
Natus Vincere
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
Denis “electronic” Sharipov
Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
Valerii “B1T” Vakhovskyi
Coach: Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi
Heroic
Casper “cadiaN” Møller
Martin “stavn” Lund
Ismail “refrezh” Ali
René “TeSeS” Madsen
Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
Coach: Richard “Xizt” Landström
Astralis
Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
Asger “farlig” Jensen
Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
Coach: Martin “trace” Heldt (stand-in coach)
Evil Geniuses
Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte
Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov
Jake “Stewie2K” Yip
Timothy “autimatic” Ta
William “RUSH” Wierzba
Coach: Damien “maLeK” Marcel
Complexity
Johnny “JT” Theodosiou
Justin “FaNg” Coakley
Ricky “floppy” Kemery
Michael “Grim” Wince
Paytyn “junior” Johnson
Coach: Tiaan “T.c” Coertzen
AGO
Damian “Furlan” Kisłowski
Maciej “F1KU” Miklas
Eryk “leman” Kocięba
Szymon “kRaSnaL” Mrozek
Denis “Grashog” Hristov
Coach: Mikołaj “miNIr0x” Michałków
Group stage schedule
All times are CT and susceptible to delays.
Wednesday, March 9
5:30am: G2 vs. LFO
9am: Entropiq vs. MOUZ
12:30pm: NiP vs. Fnatic
Thursday, March 10
5:30am: G2 vs. MOUZ
9am: NiP vs. Entropiq
12:30pm: Fnatic vs. LFO
Friday, March 11
5:30am: NiP vs. MOUZ
9am: Entropiq vs. LFO
12:30pm: G2 vs. Fnatic
Saturday, March 12
5:30am: NiP vs. LFO
9am: MOUZ vs. Fnatic
12:30pm: G2 vs. Entropiq
Sunday, March 13
12:30pm: G2 vs. NiP
12:30pm: Entropiq vs. Fnatic
12:30pm: MOUZ vs. LFO
Wednesday, March 16
5:30am: Vitality vs. Sprout
9am: FaZe vs. ENCE
12:30pm: FURIA vs. Outsiders
Thursday, March 17
5:30am: Vitality vs. ENCE
9am: FURIA vs. Sprout
12:30pm: FaZe vs. Outsiders
Friday, March 18
5:30am: Vitality vs. FURIA
9am: Outsiders vs. ENCE
12:30pm: FaZe vs. Sprout
Saturday, March 19
5:30am: ENCE vs. FURIA
9am: Outsiders vs. Sprout
12:30pm: FaZe vs. Vitality
Sunday, March 20
12:30pm: Vitality vs. Outsiders
12:30pm: FaZe vs. FURIA
12:30pm: ENCE vs. Sprout
Wednesday, March 23
5:30am: Gambit’s players vs. Party Astronauts
9am: GODSENT vs. Movistar Riders
12:30pm: Liquid vs. BIG
Thursday, March 24
5:30am: Gambit’s players vs. Movistar Riders
9am: BIG vs. Party Astronauts
12:30pm: Liquid vs. GODSENT
Friday, March 25
5:30am: Gambit’s players vs. BIG
9am: Liquid vs. Movistar Riders
12:30pm: Party Astronauts vs. GODSENT
Saturday, March 26
5:30am: BIG vs. Movistar Riders
9am: Liquid vs. Party Astronauts
12:30pm: Gambit’s players vs. GODSENT
Sunday, March 27
12:30pm: Gambit’s players vs. Liquid
12:30pm: BIG vs. GODSENT
12:30pm: Party Astronauts vs. Movistar Riders
Wednesday, March 30
4:30am: NAVI vs. AGO
8am: Heroic vs. Complexity
11:30am: Astralis vs. EG
Thursday, March 31
4:30am: AGO vs. Complexity
8am: Heroic vs. Astralis
11:30am: NAVI vs. EG
Friday, April 1
4:30am: Astralis vs. AGO
8am: Heroic vs. EG
11:30am: NAVI vs. Complexity
Saturday, April 2
4:30am: Heroic vs. AGO
8am: EG vs. Complexity
11:30am: NAVI vs. Astralis
Sunday, April 3
11:30am: NAVI vs. Heroic
11:30am: Astralis vs. Complexity
11:30am: AGO vs. EG