ESL Pro League Season 16 preview and predictions

ESL Pro League Season 16 is all set to take place from August 31 to October 2, featuring a total prize pool of $835,000. Twenty-four of the greatest CS:GO teams in the globe will participate in the top-tier competition over the course of the next two months.

Here is all the information you need to know about the event, including groups, format, seeding, prize pool, and predictions.

ESL Pro League Season 16 Format

The ESL Pro League Season 16 will kick off with the Group Stage, which will pit 24 teams against each other in four groups of six teams. Each group will compete in a single round-robin matchup, with each team playing the other once in a best-of-three series. The first-place team will advance to the quarterfinals, while the second and third-place teams will move on to the 12-team playoff round. The playoffs will place teams into a single-elimination bracket, with all games being best-of-three affairs save from the thrilling best-of-five grand final.

ESL Pro League Season 16 Prize Pool

• 1st: $175,000 {Guranteed spot at BLAST Word Final 2022 and IEM Katowice 2023}
• 2nd: $70,000
• 3rd and 4th: $35,000
• 5th-8th: $17,500
• 9th-12th: $12,000
• 13th-16th: $9000
• 17th-20th: $7500
• 21st-24th: $6000

Participants and prediction

Group A

• Natus Vincere (Partner team)
• Ninjas in Pyjamas (Partner team)
• Vitality (Partner team)
• Fnatic (EPL S16 Conference)
• Spirit (ESL Ranking)
• Endpoint (EPL S16 Conference)

NAVI is without a doubt the front-runner for a berth in the quarterfinals from Group A thanks to the practically invincible track record of their AWPer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev at ESL Pro League. From the top, it appears Endpoint might lack the international expertise necessary to prevail in the competition, sparking a fierce struggle amongst NIP, Vitality, Fnatic, and Spirit for the final two playoff slots.

Group B

• Faze (Partner team)
• G2 (Partner team)
• BIG (Partner team)
• Outsiders (EPL S16 Conference)
• MIBR (EPL S16 Conference)
• FTW (EPL S16 Conference)

FaZe may encounter stiff resistance from teams like G2, BIG, and Outsiders despite having all the skills and momentum to comfortably dominate the Group. While 2022 has seen the best of FaZe, their most recent results at Blast Premier have also raised some red flags.

Group C

• ENCE (Partner team)
• Heroic (Partner team)
• Astralis (Partner team)
• MOUZ (Partner team)
• Complexity Gaming (Partner team)
• HEET (EPL S16 Conference)

Considering their performance at IEM Dallas, PGL Major Antwerp 2022, and Season 15 of the ESL Pro League, ENCE are the front-runners alongside Astralis for the first place finish in Group C. If the Danish team had been perceived as being more prepared against the underdogs at IEM Road to Rio open qualifications, they would have had the edge over ENCE on paper. There will be no shortage of surprises in this group, and there is also a good chance that MOUZ and Heroic will fight it out for the third playoff slot.

 Group D

• Cloud9 (Partner team)
• Movistar Riders (ESL Ranking)
• Liquid (EPL S16 Conference )
• FURIA (Partner team)
• EG (Partner team)
• Eternal Fire (EPL S16 Conference)

If Movistar hadn’t lost SunPayus to ENCE, they would have been the value selection in this situation. However, considering that action, Cloud9 and Furia are the favorites to top the group. Although EG and Eternal Fire have made huge breakthroughs in recent competitions, their prospects of winning this one appear really slim.

Header: ESL Gaming