ESL Pro League Finals groups, format

29-4-2016 17:17

ESL have revealed the groups, format and schedule for the $512,000 Pro League Season 3 Finals, taking place in Leicester and London, United Kingdom from May 11-15.

ESL Studio in Leicester, United Kingdom, will play host to the Pro League Season 3 Finals group stage, which will be played in the classic GSL-style format with best-of-one's in the opening round and winners' matches, while elimination and decider matches will feature best-of-three's.

Top four teams from each region, Europe and North America, have been split into the two following groups, seemingly according to their placing in the regular season:

Group A	Group B
Luminosity	Ninjas in Pyjamas
Astralis	Cloud9
OpTic	fnatic
G2	Liquid

For playoffs the competition will move to London's The O2 state-of-the-art arena after a travel day on Friday, May 13. Semi-finals will feature best-of-three's, while the grand final will come down to a best-of-five series.

ESL have also released a full schedule for the $512,000 event. As usual with ESL events, matches will start shortly after previous ones end, the schedule is only approximate:

Wednesday, May 11th
14:00	OpTic	vs. Astralis	BO1
15:10	Luminosity	vs. G2	BO1
16:20	fnatic	vs. Cloud9	BO1
17:30	Ninjas in Pyjamas	vs. Liquid	BO1
18:40	Group A winners' match		BO1
19:50	Group B winners' match		BO1
21:00	Group A elimination match		BO3

Thursday, May 12th
14:00	Group B elimination match		BO3
17:15	Group A decider		BO3
20:30	Group B decider		BO3

Saturday, May 14th
16:00	Semi-final #1 (B1 vs. A2)		BO3
19:40	Semi-final #2 (A1 vs. B2)		BO3

Sunday, May 15th
16:00	Showmatch
18:00	Grand final		BO5

ESL have yet to reveal the nature of the showmatch, which has in the past been a showdown of casters' and analysts' skills, for example at IEM San José.

nice

2016-04-29 17:17

1 reply

ez for ENCE

2016-04-29 17:18

NiP top1

2 replies

Stfu tokmakhead

2016-04-29 17:26

das

lel

EZ 4 S1MPLE oh WAIT KappaRoss

EZ 4 GODREN PogChamp

2016-04-29 21:13

øpl

ghj

asas

cool

ez for LG!!!

nip ez

EZ NIP

G2 RIP hahahahha

first

Astralis Luminosity NiP Fnatic

Rip G2

easy 3rd EPL title for fnatic

NiP fnatic = same group ??? Both will be in the grand final

3 replies

let's hope so

it seems thats the plan

2016-04-29 19:48

guarantee of 300K+ views

2016-04-29 19:51

gogo lg BR loyal

LG vs G2? They have played before?

Yeah, but when LG still had boltz and steel 1. hltv.org/match/2299077-titan-luminosity-.. 2.hltv.org/match/2299112-luminosity-titan-..

2016-04-29 17:31

Only with different lineups and when G2 was titan.

2016-04-29 17:33

Easiest playoffs of NiP's life against Fnatic :X

ez for vp

4-18

2016-04-29 17:21

RIP C9 and Liquid

Rigged af, g2 hardest group fnatic easiest. Again

4 replies

Top four teams from each region, Europe and North America, have been split into the two following groups, seemingly according to their placing in the regular season read the article next time

2016-04-29 17:20

its just a prank bro. but its just that it happens every single time

2016-04-29 17:28

braindead

2016-04-29 17:25

shhhh favelboy

RIP c9

2016-04-29 17:19

EZ LG

Omg group b is insane

They gave a chance to c9 if fnatic plays shitty

GROUP 1: LG&Astralis GROUP 2: NiP&FNC(FNC if all players show up)

Must be great to be in Leicester when they are champions of PL by that time

Rip OpTic lmao

Why got Na 4 Slots? Why? Na Cs is a fucking joke!! Rip Navi :((((

2016-04-29 17:23

8 replies

5 slots? wtf are you talking about

G2 sucks like a NA team so it confused the poor fellow for a second.

4, sorry

2016-04-29 17:24

Actually its 3 teams from NA.

2016-04-29 17:22

if we're being fussy it's actually 4 teams from NA but 3 NA teams

How do you mean? Like NA owned?

Luminosity players reside in NA therefore they're coming from NA but not North-Americans

2016-04-29 17:27

NA based.

Holy shit! what a group..... Good luck my country <3 #LGLOYAL! LETS GO BOYSSSS!! We smart, we loyal, we friendly, we are from BRAZIL! Kreygasm

Nip vs LG in the final.

Ez optic

rip c9 and liquid lets go optic

rip olof

ez NiP <3

lg vs astralis on final mark my words

Rest in peace na

nip against easy group to at least get as 2nd

Semis: Astralis - Fnatic, NiP - Luminosity Final: Astralis - Luminosity Won by: Astralis

chokers gonna choke ;)

2016-04-29 17:39

imao

2016-04-29 18:15

cevo has the same amount of teams and yet they've managed to make all group matches bo3 esl pls it's 2016

yeah i really don't get why with only 8 teams its not all bo3. i can understand with 16 teams there just isnt enough time, but with 8 cevo even had bo5 semis along with the final.

2016-05-05 20:12

Maybe C9 can upset Fnatic like Liquid did at Columbus?

nobody on that team other than ska or shroud is going to drop 30+ to keep up with fnatic, even without olof. 4 Liquid players had to drop 30+ frags just to win in overtime. Their best shot I think is getting NiP in a bo1 in the loser's match (meaning Liquid beats NiP), then playing Liquid in a bo3 (meaning Fnatic beats Liquid in the winner's match) since they're both NA and anything can happen in NA vs NA lol

NiP have been in great form recently, they'd be the most favoured to take the top seed C9 will more than likely face liquid in the losers' match

2016-04-29 20:11

ez for LG and NiP

8 teams, still bo1

Rip Optic/G2/Liquuid & Cloud9

Can Slemmy play in this?

Are wenton and Slemmy able to play?

Kinda fucked that they put the two american teams and two swedish teams in the same group. But you gotta expect NiP and Fnatic to get out of them. But I'm still hoping for NA. I want to see the new, s1mple-less lineup of Liquid prove that they can keep up with the promise they showed us at Columbus, and as much as I dislike c9 fans, I want to see c9 be very tactically sound because I'm rooting for Slemmy. Just sad seeing how far c9 has fallen off in the last 8 months.

5 replies

C9 and Liquid both have a chance if they are really on form. Fnatic are obviously not at their best at the mo and NiP are always beatable imo although they are playing great recently. Would love to see some upsets but I agree that Nip/fnatic progressing is the most likely.

They both have opportunities to win the first match since it's a bo1. C9's best chance for me is #83 above, and for Liquid, it's to beat NiP and then fnatic in the two bo1s that would happen. I think Liquid would be a lot more confident vs Fnatic after Columbus in a bo1 then they would be in a bo3 vs C9 since they're NA and anything can happen in NA vs. NA.

Based off online results. Group A has rank 1 and 3 from NA, 2 and 4 from EU. Group B has rank 2 and 4 from NA, 1 and 3 from EU.

2016-04-29 17:32

Groups are seeded so that 1st and 3rd from a continent plays vs 2nd and 4th of the other continent

ah thank you. unfortunate seeding for american teams then :P

2016-04-29 17:34

So ez for nip

Group A. 1. Astralis 2. Luminosity 3. G2 4. Optic Group B. 1. NiP 2. Fnatic 3./4. NA Trash Semifinal Nip Wins over LG . Fnatic looses to astralis Grandfinal Nip wins over Astralis Mark my words

+++++++++++

2016-04-29 17:37

3 NA Teams? Its gonna be boring

I really hate this format! It's not group play, it's double elimination. Why not stick to it then. This format is an abomination imo.

2016-04-29 17:40

Biggest problem with round robin is time constraints and random results. There is a degree of randomness in GSL format, due to bo1s, but overall it gives a better end result, because of the bo3 decider imo.

2016-04-29 18:43

Nice, almost a hundred comments and no one cares about the bo5 final that you guys keep crying about everytime a tournament format is released.

2016-04-29 17:42

people on hltv is only about crying and whining you know

2016-04-29 18:08

Astralis Luminosity OpTic G2 NiP Cloud9 Fnatic Liquid Cloud9 > Astralis 3-2 NiP > Luminosity 3-1 NiP > Cloud9 3-1 C9 HYYYYPPPEEEEEEE

2016-04-29 17:44

cloud 9, yeah ok mate

This in best realistic scenario

2016-04-29 17:45

even if by some kind of miracle they manage to get out of groups, they would get raped by either astralis or luminosity right afterwards anyways

2016-04-29 17:46

Group Stage Cloud9 can't beat LANgods NiP, but Liquid with 5k decoy should be easy for Cloud9. Also, Fnatic is shit without wristmeister. Playoffs Cloud9 has been successful vs LG in the past, and ASStralis chokes.

2016-04-29 18:30

(y)

2016-04-29 18:44

RIP NA

2016-04-29 18:00

Rip c9

2016-04-29 18:03

ez 4 nip

2016-04-29 18:07

Let see who's gonna cheat the most?!

2016-04-29 18:13

ez nip

2016-04-29 18:26

dat group B omfg

2016-04-29 18:28

if there were 12 teams here, this tournament would be far more exciting. 8 EU and 4 NA teams would be the perfect balance of teams for a tournament like this.

bullshit, 4 NA teams? Which?

2016-04-29 18:46

not sure, just saying it'd be fairer that way and more exciting imo.

2016-04-29 19:04

LG vs NiP final #GLHF

2016-04-29 18:31

LG vs NiP final and NiP will take it imho.

2na teams in one group still none of em will pass

Ez cloud9

2016-04-29 18:47

#fuckesl nobody wants to see this tournament anyway

2016-04-29 18:50

NiP vs LG final. fnatic going to esl without olof = fnatic lose.

2016-04-29 18:56

These groups sweden get are amazing. Maybe thats why they always place so high :/

2016-04-29 18:59

cloud9's last shot to prove they r a good team internationally.

2016-04-29 19:05

Easy, Liquid > fnatic w/ wenton

2016-04-29 19:13

Group A : 1) Luminosity 2) Astralis 3) G2 4)Optic Group B : 1) NiP 2) Liquid 3) Fnatic without olof 4) C9

2016-04-29 19:19

2) fnatic without olof have some faith

2016-04-29 20:14

Olof not playing so; Group A: 1- LG 2- Astralis Group B: 1-NiP 2-Fnatic Final NiP vs LG 2-0 LG

2016-04-29 19:29

2-0 LG? I think 2-0 NiP win this tournament

2016-04-29 19:33

lg tear nip any time

2016-04-29 20:06

Pff no LG lost to motherfuckin tyloo, while NiP won the tournament and beat na'vi and astralis on the way

2016-04-29 20:15

and lg rekt nip when they face?

2016-04-29 20:16

last time NiP faced LG with a full lineup, NiP won and MLG Columbus doesnt count because THREAT was playing for NiP so stfu

2016-04-29 21:06

LG rekt course everyone in your group and guaranteed 1st place

2016-04-29 21:43

I love all the butthurt Germans in here lmao

2016-04-29 19:35

grand final bo3?

2016-04-29 19:43

RIP Cloud9 RIP Liquid

2016-04-29 19:46

I was having high hopes for NiP but now that the groups are out they're 100% in the final and will win the tournament ez

2016-04-29 19:49

No NaVi? No FNC with Olof? No TyLoo? 2ez4LG

ez for premier league champ foxes

2016-04-29 20:17

2many NA teams

2016-04-29 20:21

3-0 NiP will win this tournament maybe 3-1

2016-04-29 20:27

group A is tougher in my opinion LG>NIP Astralis>C9 OpTic<fnatic G2=Liquid

2016-04-29 21:25

this tournament should be won by LG or NiP LG 2-0 NiP 2-0 Ast 2-1 Fnt 2-1 G2 1-2 C9 1-2 Optic 0-2 Liq 0-2 only upset i see that could happen is G2 advancing 2-0 ez nip

2016-04-29 21:32