ESL Pro League S19 schedule & groups bracket set

16-4-2024 20:06

The first set of matches will kick off at 13:30 on April 23.

This iteration of ESL Pro League features a new, more condensed format

ESL has announced the schedule for ESL Pro League Season 19, slated to kick off in Malta on April 23.

Matchups and the bracket order could be inferred based on teams' seeding before the announcement, but they have now been made official alongside the complete schedule for the three-week-long tournament.

The condensed ESL Pro League format introduced for this season will see Groups A and B play out concurrently from April 23-28, with two streams following all the action.

All four of the opening matches from Group A and the first two from Group B will take place on the first day of the tournament, followed by the remaining opening matches for Group B on day two. The complete schedule for matches can be found on our tournament page.

Cloud9 withdraw from ESL Pro League, SAW invited as replacement

SAW, invited as a last-minute replacement for Cloud9, slot directly into the Russian team's spot in Group A as the second-highest seed and will face 3DMAX in their opening match.

There are a fair few intriguing opening round matchups to look forward to for this iteration of ESL Pro League. Group A will see Astralis take on Eternal Fire in what will be a good litmus test for both sides, as both are seeking to take up positions towards the top of the CS hierarchy.

Group A will also see FaZe continue their quest to win the fifth edition of the Intel Grand Slam. Winning IEM Chengdu meant FaZe picked up their second tournament victory of the four required, and whilst they only need two trophies from the next seven eligible tournaments, a victory at ESL Pro League would ensure they have an excellent chance to seal the Grand Slam.

Over in Group B Falcons will begin life with Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen amongst their number with a stiff test against The MongolZ, who have taken the scalps of European teams in the past at international LAN events and who recently ran both Vitality and Natus Vincere close at PGL Major Copenhagen.

Official: FURIA bench arT, guerri to move away from coaching role

Group C presents a fascinating battle between Liquid, freshly reinvigorated after a playoff run at IEM Chengdu, and an arT-less FURIA. Whilst Liquid will enter the match as heavy favorites considering FURIA's recent changes, all eyes will be on the Brazilian team to see how they fare without the influence of long-time IGL Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan.

Finally, Group D will not only see Natus Vincere commence their first tournament as the reigning Major champions, but it will also give fans a first look at the revamped Ninjas in Pyjamas. HEROIC will be a stiff test for the Ninjas and they have yet to find their permanent fifth, but new signing Artem "⁠r1nkle⁠" Moroz and academy product Max "⁠maxster⁠" Jansson have the chance to prove the team is heading in the right direction.

The full schedule for the opening two rounds is as follows:

Group A opening matches and second round:

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
23/04/2024	Virtus.pro 13:30 fnatic	Match
23/04/2024	3DMAX 13:30 SAW	Match
23/04/2024	Astralis 17:05 Eternal Fire	Match
23/04/2024	FaZe 19:30 Imperial	Match
24/04/2024	SAW 16:30 Virtus.pro	Match
24/04/2024	3DMAX 16:50 fnatic	Match
24/04/2024	Eternal Fire 19:30 Imperial	Match
24/04/2024	Astralis 19:30 FaZe	Match

Group B opening matches and second round:

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
23/04/2024	Vitality 16:40 Sharks	Match
23/04/2024	M80 19:30 BetBoom	Match
24/04/2024	Falcons 13:30 The MongolZ	Match
24/04/2024	TYLOO 13:30 G2	Match
25/04/2024	G2 13:30 The MongolZ	Match
25/04/2024	TYLOO 13:30 Falcons	Match
25/04/2024	Vitality 16:30 BetBoom	Match
25/04/2024	Sharks 16:55 M80	Match

Group C opening matches and second round:

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
30/04/2024	MOUZ 13:30 Bad News Kangaroos	Match
30/04/2024	ENCE 13:45 GamerLegion	Match
30/04/2024	FURIA 19:30 Liquid	Match
30/04/2024	FORZE 19:30 Monte	Match
01/05/2024	MOUZ 16:30 GamerLegion	Match
01/05/2024	Bad News Kangaroos 16:30 ENCE	Match
01/05/2024	Monte 19:35 Liquid	Match
01/05/2024	FORZE 19:35 FURIA	Match

Group D opening matches and second round:

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
30/04/2024	Complexity 16:30 PERA	Match
30/04/2024	Ninjas in Pyjamas 16:30 HEROIC	Match
01/05/2024	BIG 13:30 BOSS	Match
01/05/2024	FlyQuest 13:30 Natus Vincere	Match
02/05/2024	Natus Vincere 13:30 BIG	Match
02/05/2024	FlyQuest 13:30 BOSS	Match
02/05/2024	PERA 16:30 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match
02/05/2024	Complexity 16:35 HEROIC	Match

nice

2024-04-16 20:07

Good luck EF

EZ FOR FAZE CLAN

Nice bracket for navi xd

2024-04-16 20:08

What is this seeding again.

2024-04-16 20:09

Look like Asia have chance to reach play off in group B.

2024-04-16 20:10

2 replies

not really

2024-04-16 20:27

Yeah, I have them as the 4th best in the group, right ahead of BB. Might not make it but they’ll have a good shot

2024-04-16 23:30

Again Imperial easiest run EZ

2024-04-16 20:11

I thought ESL had gone back to the old EPL format :'( brackets format again

2024-04-16 20:13

10 replies

Old format results in completely useless games sometimes and it also takes too long, the new bracket one is way better

2024-04-16 20:24

9 replies

The duration is not a problem for me, but yes sometimes there were some useless games, but I found it more interesting, but I understand that it is not the most financially viable for ESL.

8 replies

3 buts in 1 sentence

6 replies

get a life

2024-04-16 20:28

4 replies

get an english grammar textbook

2024-04-16 20:33

3 replies

your life must be so interesting to be checking people's english at this time of day on a tuesday

2024-04-16 20:34

it is actually, thanks

2024-04-16 20:35

1 reply

I imagine

2024-04-16 20:36

2024-04-17 06:19

+1 I completely agree with you, I liked the old format as well, felt more like a real "league"

2024-04-17 00:44

wooden trophy

2024-04-16 20:26

snoozefest

Fluketus Luckcere with the easiest bracket in history of EPL. Can’t wait to see “deserved” major winners flop despite having free 1st place group.

2024-04-16 20:30

2024-04-16 20:59

Stay mad #rent free

2024-04-16 21:35

Who made groups lmao, group D is free playoffs

2024-04-16 20:31

me when i dont know how ranking and seeding works:

7 replies

Me when I don't know what I'm talking about. Even with seeding the groups should be balanced. Seeding means that the top teams should play the shit teams but those top and shit teams should be evenly spread across the groups.

2024-04-16 23:15

5 replies

congrats, now look at the team list and see how many shit ones there are vs non shit ones

2024-04-16 23:25

Compare group A to group D. Clear difference.

2024-04-16 23:28

im actually eager to know how you would balance these groups instead without making one outlier group

Not gonna put any effort into it coz I cba but it would be something like swapping EF for BIG, or Astralis for NIP. Those kinds of things, the top and bottom teams are fine but the middle ground teams are poorly distributed.

2024-04-16 23:31

+100

2024-04-17 06:23

2024-04-17 06:21

Every season the groups are unbalanced as hell. I notice it because every season Astralis gets thrown in the group of death so I know before every Pro League even starts that they aren't making it out of groups. Ok maybe not every season but it sure feels like it.

Ez4Navi

2024-04-16 20:37

The difference between group A and D...

2024-04-16 20:57

saw vs 3d max? LOOOOOL

2024-04-16 21:30

vp gets free play off ticket while the three strongest teams in the group, faze, astralis and ef play each other

2024-04-16 21:33

>EF >strongest teams pick one

2024-04-16 23:37

Who is stronger than EF at the moment in the lower bracket? VP has a new player introduced this week :)

2024-04-17 00:30

they finally figured how to finish Pro League in 20 days, instead of 30 days.. about damn time

2024-04-16 21:45

who cares about this no-crowd joke of a lan that sends the season grinding to a halt for 3 weeks

2024-04-16 21:49

Hope faze can get some rest before the tournament

2024-04-16 22:24

iirc they are getting a few days rest

2024-04-17 00:11

Americas teams always get screwed by brackets, Furia and Liquid playing each other, Imperial plays FaZe, Sharks face Vitality, it can't only be a coincidence

2024-04-16 22:53