ESL Pro League Season 18 Preview – Tournament Format & Guide

By Tit Krajnik

29 Aug 2023

Tit Krajnik 29 Aug 2023

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ESL Pro League Trophy (credit: via Twitter (@ESLCS))

ESL Pro League Season 18 is an upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports tournament slated to kick off on Wednesday, August 30, in Saint Julian's, Malta. The event will welcome 32 CS:GO teams who will fight for the largest slice of the $850,000 prize pool and two direct invites to the IEM Katowice 2024 and BLAST World Final.

ESL Pro League Season 18
When Is ESL Pro League Season 18
ESL Pro League Season 18 Format
Group Stage
Playoffs
ESL Pro League Season 18 Teams
ESL Pro League Season 18 Prize Pool
Betting On ESL Pro League Season 18

Here, you can find all the information about the final ESL Pro League Season 18 played on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, including the dates, format, teams, and the best betting sites where you can bet on it.

ESL Pro League Season 18

ESL Pro League Season 18 is one of the most prestigious CS:GO events of the year and one of the final CS:GO tournaments before we transition to Counter-Strike 2 this summer. The tournament is a part of the Intel Grand Slam and one of the most lucrative CS:GO events of 2023, offering a $850,000 prize pool and a $200,000 winner's share.

The event will run for over one month, giving esports fans plenty to look forward to as they support their favourite teams and place bets with the best CS:GO betting sites, like Stake.com.

The first round of ESL Pro League Season 18 is just around the corner, so it's important to have your Stake betting account ready so you don't miss out on the action. When registering on Stake, remember to use our promo code NEWBONUS to grab a welcome bonus and get ahead on your esports betting endeavour.

When Is ESL Pro League Season 18

ESL Pro League Season 18 will kick off on Wednesday, August 30, in Saint Julian's, Malta, with the group stage. The tournament will last over a month and culminate with the grand finals on October 1, 2023.

ESL Pro League Season 18 Format

ESL Pro League Season 18 will kick off with the group stage on Wednesday, August 30, with the top four teams from each group advancing to the playoffs, which is set to kick off on September 26, 2023.

Group Stage

32 teams split into four triple-elimination groups of eight
All matches are best-of-three (Bo3)
The top four teams from each group advance to the playoffs

Group stage winners advance to the quarterfinals
Runners-up proceed to the Round of 12 as High Seed
Third-placed teams advance to Round of 16 as High Seed
Fourth-placed teams advance to Round of 16 as Low Seeds

Playoffs

Top 16 teams from the group stage
The teams are seeded into the playoffs based on their placement in the group stage
Single-elimination bracket
All matches, except for the finals, are best-of-three (Bo3)
The Grand Final is best-of-five (Bo5)

ESL Pro League Season 18 Teams

ESL Pro League Season 18 will welcome 32 CS:GO teams from all regions (Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Oceania, and North America), including some of the top-rated squads in the world. The list of participants includes 15 partnered teams, while the rest earned their spot at ESL Pro League Season 18 by winning various CS:GO tournaments throughout the year.

Group A:

Team Vitality
ORKS
Astralis
Ninjas in Pyjamas
FURIA Esports
Movistar Riders
Grayhound
GamerLegion

Group B:

Heroic
Rooster
BIG
Monte
MOUZ
MiBR
Evil Geniuses
ENCE

Group C:

FaZe Clan
9z Team
Imperial Esports
Fnatic
Apeks
M80
5yclone
Natus Vincere

Group D:

Cloud9
Eternal Fire
Complexity
9INE
Team Liquid
Virtus.pro
Lynn Vision
G2 Esports

ESL Pro League Season 18 Prize Pool

Like the previous iteration of the tournament, ESL Pro League Season 18 will have a $850,000 prize pool divided among all participating teams. The champions will take home $200,000, while the first four teams to get eliminated will be awarded a $4,000 consolation prize.

Champions - $200,000 + IEM Katowice 2024 and BLAST World Final 2023 invites
Runners-up - $90,000
3rd-4th - $50,000
5th-8th - $35,000
9th-12th - $25,000
13th-16th – $20,000
17th-20th - $15,000
21st-28th - $8,000
29th-32nd - $4,000

Betting On ESL Pro League Season 18

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the biggest esports in the world and one of the most popular titles among esports bettors. This explains why nearly all sportsbooks offer CS:GO betting markets, including traditional sportsbooks, esports bookmakers, and crypto bookies.

However, even though it's easy to find CS:GO betting markets, especially for the biggest events such as ESL Pro League Season 18, it’s important to use the best bookmakers for the job, and there aren’t many that can compare with Stake.com

Stake.com is one of the world’s best esports bookmakers, with excellent coverage of all esports and very competitive odds for pre-match and in-play betting. Moreover, Stake.com regularly offers promotions and bonuses that esports punters can take advantage of, including the welcome offer, which you can claim by using our bonus code “NEWBONUS”.