ESL Pro League S18 | Preview

With Gamers8 2023 in the history books, teams, players, and the entire Counter-Strike community now set their sights on the season’s next big Tier 1 tournament, the ESL Pro League S18.

We all know how important it is for many teams to perform well in the EPL, as we have the world’s best CS:GO teams participating in this event. In addition, this event is part of the Intel Grand Slam, the most coveted trophy in the competitive scene of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Look at everything you need to know about ESL Pro League S18.

ESL Pro League S18 | Details

As we mentioned, the EPL is the next big 2023 CS:GO season event, which will be played from August 30 to October 1, 2023. As a result, we will have an action-packed month in the CS:GO Tier 1 scene, with teams battling it out for this coveted trophy.

As in each EPL season, S18 will have a lot of importance in the Counter-Strike scene. Teams will have the joy of competing for a sum of money and, of course, for the champion’s trophy. However, the most important thing will be the 2 tickets awarded for the BLAST Premier World Final 2023 and IEM Katowice 2024. In addition, it is also worth noting that this will most likely be the last tournament that CS:GO or, if something changes in the next few hours, it may be the first to be played in CS2.

Format

In the EPL S18, we will have 32 teams fighting from day one for glory, which, in addition to the $850,000 prize pool, we will have many more incentives that undoubtedly make the tournament much more attractive. In addition, as in previous seasons, this tournament will be played in LAN format in Malta, in the ESL studios.

The ESL Pro League S18 format is divided into a Group Stage and the Playoffs. In the first Phase, we will have the 32 teams divided into 4 Groups in a Triple-Elimination format with all matches best of 3 (BO3), where the top 4 advance to the playoffs.

As in previous tournaments, the winning team of each group advances directly to the Quarterfinals in the playoffs. Then, the second-place team advances to the Round of 12, while the other two teams advance to the Round of 16.

Finally, the playoff format is Single Elimination, with best-of-3 (BO3) matches, including the Grand Final match.

Participating teams

As mentioned, 32 teams will fight for the ESL Pro League S18 champion trophy, the $200,000 in prizes, and their tickets to the BLAST Premier World Final 2023 and IEM Katowice 2024.

Remember that, out of the 32 teams, 15 are part of the ESL “Permanent Partners” program, so these teams are directly invited to the tournament. On the other hand, the rest of the teams have had to fight for qualification through different qualifying tournaments throughout the season.

Below, we will show you the list of the 32 teams participating in the tournament, considering that the first 15 we will name are the “Permanent Partners” of the ESL.

1. Astralis
2. BIG
3. ENCE
4. Complexity
5. Evil Geniuses
6. Fnatic
7. FURIA Esports
8. G2 Esports
9. FaZe Clan
10. Heroic
11. NaVi
12. NiP
13. Team Vitality
14. MOUZ
15. Team Liquid
16. 9INE
17. GamerLegion
18. Could9
19. Pro
20. Movistar Riders
21. Monte
22. MiBR
23. Lynn Vision Gaming
24. M80
25. Apeks
26. Grayhound Gaming
27. ORKS
28. Eternal Fire
29. Imperial Esports
30. 5yclone
31. Rooster
32. 9z Team

As we can see, we will have the best of the best fighting in this ESL Pro League S18. However, there is no doubt that the teams that have the label of favorites to win the tournament are:

• Team Vitality
• ENCE
• Heroic

These three teams have shown incredible play so far this season, and we expect them to continue to do so in this EPL S18.

Header: ESL