ESL is organizing the 19th season of the ESL Pro League, and it’s just starting. It’s the first ESL Pro League in Counter-Strike 2. Let’s see which teams will play, what format, for which prize pool and who are the favorites of this 19th season. MOUZ is defending their title from season 18th.
ESL Pro League – Event Summary:
Dates: April 23rd – May 12th
Event tier: 1
Prize pool: $750,000
Location: InterContinental @ Malta
Teams: 32
Stages: Group stage + Playoffs
$1,000,000 Intel Grand Slam runners: FaZe (2 wins)
Last ESL Pro League winner: MOUZ
Top ranked teams in the event (HLTV rankings): FaZe / NAVI / MOUZ
Teams at ESL Pro League Season 19 are fighting for the $170,000 worth of 1st place which qualifies for the IEM Cologne 2024 spot. Teams can earn 6000 Blast Premier points in total, which can help them qualify for the BLAST Premier World Final event.
Group Stage – Analysis:
32 teams are divided into 4 groups of 8 teams. From each group, 4 teams can qualify for the playoffs.
Group A:
With FaZe, Astralis, VirtusPro and Eternal Fire in the same group, we cannot give much chance to Fnatic, SAW, 3DMAX, or Imperial Esports in these groups. Obviously, FaZe are tournament favorites, and they will have an easy job in their group A. The only teams that can treat them are Astralis or VirtusPro maybe.
Group B:
Two top 4 favorites of this tournament are in this group. Both Vitality and G2 will have an open way of advancing, as I don’t see any teams that could threaten them directly. Maybe Falcons and BetBoom, but that’s all. Maybe the easiest group of them all, if you are in Vitality’s or G2’s shoes. Definitely, they have guaranteed spots in the playoffs, and then we will dance differently.
Group C:
Last season’s winners, MOUZ will face Bad News Kangaroos in round 1, while in round 2 awaits a winner of GamerLegion and ENCE. GamerLegion finished 2nd at last year’s BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, but they are far away from this form now. MOUZ, ENCE, Liquid and Furia could advance on from this group onwards. Kangaroos are definitely the biggest outsiders not just of this group, but of this tournament. If they win a map, I would be shocked.
Group D:
NAVI, BIG, HEROIC and Complexity should fight for the playoffs spots here. Maybe NiP could shake things up and make some surprises, but I’m confident that at least 3 of those 4 teams will advance on. Everything else would be a big surprise, if any from other teams jumped in the mix: FlyQuest, BOSS, Pera Esports.
Outright – Favorites:
FaZe @ 2.70 (Leetbit)
FaZe are definitely the top favorites of this tournament. With 5 wins in a row this April, they don’t know about a loss since 0-2 vs Astralis in IEM Chengdu 2024. They have just won Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2024 and finished 2nd at the first CS 2 Major in March, and they just look dominant. If you wanna make a safe bet, this is a team to go, to finish at least in the top 4.
Team Vitality @ 3.10 (Leetbit)
With the best player in the world, ZywOo, Vitality is always one of the most dangerous teams out there. Yes, they are the 6th team in the world, according to the HLTV rankings, but in each tournament, they are among the top 4 favorites. They are so good. They had decent results last year, but 2024 is a disaster for them so far. 3rd-4th place at PGL Major Copenhagen and not being qualified for IEM Chengdu 2024, were a big hit for them. However, they had more time to prepare for this ESL Pro League, where they always performed decently.
NAVI @ 3.10 (Leetbit)
Famous NAVI. Even without s1mple, they are performing. They were ghosted in 2023, but they have started this year in the most perfect way. They will be written in history as 1st CS2 Major winners, as they won PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 over FaZe, 2-1. Their youngsters led by Aleksib are a perfect win and it seems like they found a perfect stack of players that they will build a team for the long run. They are surely one of the candidates, I see them repeating their PGL Major run, why not.
Honorary mentions (teams that can go far – underdogs):
MOUZ @ 4.20 (Leetbit)
G2 Esports @ 3.40 (Leetbit)
Leetbit offers a wide range of Counter-Strike ESL Pro League Season 19 markets and bets. Check our offer HERE.
You can follow ESL Pro League Season 19 on Twitch.tv.
Not sure what kind of bets you want to place on ESL Pro League Season 19? Check the basic esports bet list HERE.
