The ESL Pro League Season 11 is just around the corner and we'd like to present you with all you need to know regarding this CS:GO showdown. In this piece, you will be able to find the teams that have been invited, schedule, format, favorites and more, so don't miss out!
ESL Pro League Season 11 format
This time around, there are three stages of the ESL Pro League Season 11. Here is more information about what each stage entails:
Group stage
A total of 24 teams are split into 4 groups of 6. All of these groups are based on the single-round-robin format. All of the matches played in the group stage will be contested in the best-of-three (Bo3) format.
The winners from each group will advance to the Play-In stage, where they will be seeded. Furthermore, second- and third-placed teams will book themselves a spot in the Round of 12.
Play-in stage
Truth be told, the play-in format is very simple and easy to understand. Only two single-elimination matches will be played. Once again, all of the matches played in this stage will be Bo3s.
Teams that win both matches will advance to the semifinals while the losing teams will book themselves a spot in the quarterfinals.
Playoffs
The single-elimination bracket awaits those who make it to the playoffs. This basically means that there are no second chances for anyone in this stage of the event. If you lose one match, you can pack your bags.
This time around, all of the matches except the grand finals will be played in the Bo3 format. As for the grand finals, it will be contested as a Bo5, which will be a banger.
ESL Pro League Season 11 teams and favorites
As mentioned above, 24 of the best teams from all over the world will look to bring their A-game in this event. Here is who will be attending:
- Astralis
- Complexity Gaming
- ENCE
- Evil Geniuses
- FaZe
- Fnatic
- G2
- Mousesports
- Natus Vincere
- NiP
- Liquid
- Vitality
- 100 Thieves
- TYLOO
- Sharks
- North
- Heroic
- Renegades
- forZe
- BOOM
- FURIA
- GODSENT
- OG
- Virtus.pro
Let’s talk favorites. We are going to tail bookies on this one. At the time of writing, all of the popular betting sites are favoring Astralis and Natus Vincere. If you decide to test your luck, you will be glad to hear that most of the sites will pay you 3x the amount of money you wagered.
Even though there is no clear favorite in our opinion, we are expecting mousesports and FaZe to up their game and challenge Na`Vi and Astralis.
Recent developments
The ESL Pro League Season 11 starts in a couple of days, March 16th to be more precise. However, there will be no roar of the crowds in the arena. Organizers ESL just couldn't risk gathering so many people in one place with rising fears of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, that already affected IEM Katowice 2020 which had to close it's doors to the public. Still, instead of canceling the event as many others did, they opted to just move it online. Here is ESL's statement:
In light of the current dynamics regarding COVID-19, we have made the decision to play the regular season matches of ESL Pro League Season 11 online, and are moving the finals from 1STBANK CENTER, Denver to a studio location without a live audience in Europe.
Health and safety come first.We hope you will support not just our games but the whole tournament online. Let's show what kind of community we are #ToTheStars https://t.co/XXKUIMaSHt
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) March 11, 2020
All in all, that's not the worst development we could have had, and it's the best compromise between keeping both fans, teams and staff safe, and still having a tournament. The ESL Pro League is not down or out, so prepare yourself for a brawl between the best CS:GO players out there!
