The ESL Pro League’s newest season has grown to include 34 teams from around the world, as well as a new and thrilling stage of the event. The EPL S15 season will be the first to feature the tournament’s new conference stage. Sixteen (16) teams from throughout the ESL Pro Tour Challenger tournaments will compete for the three remaining coveted seats in the EPL S15 Group Stage, which will join the 21 teams.
ESL Pro League Season 15 is the fifteenth season of ESL Pro Gaming’s well-known leagues. The teams will compete for $850,000 and circuit points in the final phase of the competitions, which will take place in Malta. The group stage will start on March 9 to April 3 and the playoff stage will be on April 5-10, 2023.
$850,000 USD and circuit points are spread among the teams as seen below:
| Prize Pool and Circuit Points Distribution | ||
|---|---|---|
| Place | $ USD Amount | ESL Pro Tour Circuit Points |
| 1st Place | $175,000 | 1300 pts |
| 2nd Place | $70,000 | 1000 pts |
| 3rd – 4th Place | $35,000 | 780 pts |
| 5th – 8th Place | $17,500 | 485 pts |
| 9th – 12th Place | $12,000 | 250 pts |
| 13th – 16th Place | $9,000 | 120 pts |
| 17th – 20th Place | $7,500 | 100 pts |
| 21st – 24th Place | $6,000 | 70 pts |
Also, an additional $5,000 bonus for those teams who will win on group stages. And the team that will be crowned as champions will have a direct slot for BLAST World Final 2023.
In the group stage, there will be 24 teams competing for the title. Because many of the players are regular league partners, they are invited directly. Six additional teams are invited based on ESL World Ranking results; one group will attend after the ESEA S38 Winner EU, ESEA S38 NA Premier, three slots from the EPL Conference, and the winner of the ESEA S38 AU Premier. This explains why the actual title is played through several stages.
The 24-team worldwide competition, which will last more than a month, will feature some of CSGO’s biggest stars. Each match will be of one-of-a-kind quality, bringing together teams from all over the world who are vying for the ESL Pro League Season 15 title and critical EPT points on the ESL Pro Tour Road.
The Tournament Format
- The tournament will incorporate a conference stage, a group stage, and a playoff stage. The group stage will isolate all contenders into four groups with six teams each.
- The conference stage is played in the double-elimination bracket with the best of three (Bo3) matches. Both winners from the upper bracket will qualify for the group stage in ESL Pro League Season 15.
- Moreover, in the group stage, there are four groups from A-D, and there are six teams each that will battle it out through round-robin, and there will only be one winner to move forward to the quarter-finals. Teams coming as second and third places from four groups will also continue to play for round 12 of the double-elimination of the playoff stage.
- So, the playoff stage has twelve (12) teams in total and will play through a single-elimination bracket, and all matches are best of three (Bo3). The grand finals will be played through best of 5 (Bo5).
Participating Teams
ESL Pro League Season 15 is one of the anticipating tournaments that professional teams look forward to, not only they will earn EPT points as their entrance mechanic to the championship tournaments but also showcase their talents and skill to other competitors or rivalries. More so, here are the participating teams for this season:
Astralis
Astralis is a Copenhagen-based Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team made up of players who previously played for Questionmark and Team SoloMid. The name Astralis was previously associated with a Finnish band, but the Danes were able to secure it with the help of their management.
ENCE
The Finnish esports organization ENCE (previously ENCE eSports) was created in 2013. In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, and StarCraft II, they mostly field Finnish active rosters.
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses, or EG for short, is one of the most recognizable and well-known esports organizations in North America, founded in 1999. The organization first got into Counter-Strike in the early 2000s, and it hosted several rosters until 2011. They had a great run in the game after signing compLexity Gaming’s former squad in 2009, winning the IEM IV American Championship Finals over compLexity Gaming and defeating Fnatic at Beat it! 2010.
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan, sometimes known as FaZe, is an esports and entertainment organization based in America founded in 2010 by a gaming tribe on the YouTube platform. Initially, they were a sniping group that made sniping records, similar to an organization called OpTic.
Fnatic
Fnatic is a professional esports organization based in the United Kingdom. The organization has been outstanding in the Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Source, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scenes since its inception on July 23, 2004, primarily hosting Swedish lineups. They became the first organization to win three Majors, having won DreamHack Winter 2013, ESL One: Katowice 2015, and ESL One: Cologne 2015.
MOUZ
MOUZ, sometimes known as “mouse esports,” is an esports organization based in Berlin, Germany. The organization was founded in 2002 and has since achieved many victories in various esports competitions. Their biggest acclaim stems from their ability to perform well in Counter-Strike.
NAVI
NAVI (short for Natus Vincere, which means “born to conquer” in Latin) was founded in Ukraine in 2009. And this esports organization has teams competing in games such as Dota 2, FIFA, and of course, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Ninjas in Pyjamas, or NiP for short, is a Swedish esports organization that debuted in the esports world in 2000. Before they left the stage in 2007, they had a magnificent reputation as arguably the best team on the planet.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid, also known as Liquid, is a multi-regional esports organization founded in the year 2000 in the Netherlands. They started as StarCraft 2 contenders but have since evolved into a multi-esport organization that competes in CS:GO, League of Legends, Dota 2, and other games.
Team Vitality
Team Vitality, sometimes known as Vitality, is a French esports organization notable for having teams in League of Legends, Call of Duty, FIFA, and, most notably, CS:GO.
Moreover, here are the full participating teams for ESL Pro League Season 15:
Permanent Partnered Teams
- Astralis
- Fnatic
- ENCE
- Team Vitality
- Team Liquid
- Evil Geniuses
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Complexity
- MOUZ
- FaZe Clan
- NA’VI
- G2 ESPORTS
- BIG
ESL World Ranking
- Gambit Esports
- Heroic
- Virtus.pro
- Entropiq
Teams Qualified Through ESEA Premier Season 38
- AGO (Europe)
- Party Astronauts (North America)
- LookingForOrg (Australia)
Teams Qualified Through EPL Conference
- Movistar Riders
- GODSENT
- Sprout
