ESL Pro League Season 22 is right around the corner and it comes at a pivotal time for many of the teams involved, with our preview ready to break down once the most-anticipated events on the CS2 tournament calendar.
The post-Austin Major player break and resulting roster shuffle resulted in some major shifts to the CS2 esports landscape. While much of this has been focused on The MongolZ’s rise and the relative slide of Team Vitality, there have been several other notable shakeups. The effects of roster changes by Team Spirit, Team Falcons, NAVI, G2 Esports, Astralis, and many other teams are still being felt out. ESL Pro League Season 22 brings many of these teams together to help sort how the top teams in CS2 really stack up against each other.
| Event | ESL Pro League Season 22 |
|---|---|
| Start date | September 27, 2025 |
| End date | October 12, 2025 |
| Prize pool | $400,000 |
| Teams | 24 |
| Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
ESL Pro League Season 21 marked the league’s transition away from anything resembling its franchise system. Following a directive from Counter-Strike 2 publisher Valve, “permanent partner teams” were done away with in ESL Pro League. With this, the VRS was adopted as the primary method for inviting teams while the event format was overhauled.
The top eight teams in the VRS were given stage-two invites, allowing them to skip the first group stage. The next seven teams in the VRS were given direct invitations to start in the first stage. The remaining nine squads were decided through ESL Challenger League play and regional qualifiers.
(Image Credit: ESL)
Team Vitality, Team Spirit, and The MongolZ are the most likely teams to win ESL Pro League Season 22. All three teams will start the event in stage two.
The MongolZ and Team Spirit have won the biggest tournaments since the Austin Major: the Esports World Cup and IEM Cologne, respectively. Meanwhile, Team Vitality hasn’t won any tournaments since Austin, but continues to place highly in every tournament it competes in.
MOUZ, Team Falcons, and G2 Esports are all pegged as having a solid chance of winning, albeit not as strong a chance as the top three.
MOUZ has continued its trend of making deep runs into tournaments without actually winning them. Team Falcons’ overhauled roster is very threatening on paper, but it remains unclear how good it will be in practice. Finally, G2 Esports pulled off a big coup by winning BLAST Open Fall 2025 with a 3-2 victory over Team Vitality. That instantly established the team as a serious contender here.
ESL Pro League S22 will use the same format seen in Season 21. This format is markedly different from the ones seen in previous ESL Pro League events, but it’s also a fairly standard setup within Counter-Strike esports.
The format is ultimately similar to the ones seen in Counter-Strike majors. The only differences are that it doesn’t have the pesky group stage best-of-ones and the finals are best-of-five. Season 22 will also introduce a third-place deciding match for the purpose of determining VRS points and prize winnings, so the finals day will have a bit more action.
ESL Pro League Season 22 will play out across two weeks, with few lulls in the action. There is just one day’s break between each stage of the tournament.
CS2’s elite teams including Team Vitality, Team Spirit, and FaZe Clan won’t be joining the action until October 3. Still, the lineup of stage one teams includes heavy hitters such as recent tournament champion Furia. It will also include some much-needed reps for retooled rosters, including Astralis with the returning Emil “Magisk” Reif.
$400,000 is on the line in ESL Pro League Season 22 and every team will get a cut, but many teams will be walking away with little money for their efforts. Here’s the full breakdown of the prize pool:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $100,000 |
| 2nd | $50,000 |
| 3rd | $28,000 |
| 4th | $22,000 |
| 5th-8th | $18,000 |
| 9th-11th | $13,500 |
| 12th-14th | $10,500 |
| 15th-16th | $8,500 |
| 17th-19th | $6,500 |
| 20th-22nd | $4,500 |
| 23rd-24th | $3,000 |
As with every other official CS2 esports tournament, VRS points are on the line. The VRS is used to determine which teams are invited to CS2 tournaments, so fringe contenders have a big opportunity to improve their chances of getting into prominent tournaments.
Alongside that, ESL Pro League Season 22 is the third event in the sixth ESL Grand Slam. The first organization to win four IEM, ESL Pro League, or ESL One tournaments of the season receives $1 million. Team Vitality and Team Spirit both have one tournament championship to their name thus far.
GRAND FINAL! Vitality vs G2 – Official Highlights – BLAST Premier Open London 2025
Team Vitality is the favorite to win ESL Pro League Season 22, but those interested in CS2 betting shouldn’t get too heavily invested in this notion. While Vitality’s favorite status is valid, the team hasn’t been unbeatable since the Austin Major, and other teams are looking hot heading into this event.
More than anything, it’s worth noting that Counter-Strike 2 is currently experiencing a parity that hasn’t been seen in some time. While there is still a hierarchy in the scene, there are few slam dunks in a tournament like this. That means dark horses such as Furia or Falcons may be particularly worth considering here, rather than just the established favorites like Vitality and MongolZ.
Featured image credit: G2 Esports
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