ESL is back with their Pro League Season 14 Malta scheduled from 16th August – 12th September with a prize pool of $750,000. A total of 24 teams are invited to take part in the tournament. Out of 24 teams, 13 are partnered teams, 6 are ESL world Ranking teams and 5 are ESEA Premier teams.
List of 24 Invited Teams
- Astralis: Partner Team
- Fnatic: Partner Team
- ENCE: Partner Team
- Team Vitality: Partner Team
- Team Liquid: Partner Team
- Evil Geniuses: Partner Team
- Ninjas in Pyjamas: Partner Team
- Complexity: Partner Team
- Mousesports: Partner Team
- FaZe Clan: Partner Team
- Natus Vincere: Partner Team
- G2 Esports: Partner Team
- Heroic: ESL World Ranking
- Gambit Esports: ESL World Ranking
- Furia Esports: ESL World Ranking
- OG: ESL World Ranking
- Team Spirit: ESL World Ranking
- BIG: ESL World Ranking
- Virtus.pro: ESL World Ranking
- Entropiq: ESEA Premier S36 EU
- Bad News Bears: ESEA Premier S36 NA
- Sinners esports: ESEA Premier S37 EU
- Team One Esports: ESEA Premier S37 NA
- Renegades: ESEA Premier OCE Play-Off Winner
The Groups
Group A (August 16 – 20)
- Astrails
- Bad News Bears
- ENCE
- Heroic
- Team Spirit
- Team Vitality
Group B (August 21 – 26)
- Complexity
- OG
- Sinners Esports
- G2 Esports
- Renegades
- Virtus.Pro
Group C (August 27 – 31)
- BIG
- FaZe Clan
- Mousesports
- Evil Genius
- Fanatic
- Natus Vincere
Group D (September 1– 5)
- Entropiq
- Gambit Esports
- Team Liquid
- Furia Esports
- Ninjas In Pyjamas
- Team One Esports
Shifting from LAN to Online
Earlier the Tournament was going to take place in Malta but ESL announced that it will be online. They take to Twitter and said that due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-related travel restrictions the 14th season of the ESL Pro League will take place online.
This decision was also taken in light of the rapid spreading Delta variant of Covid-19 in Europe. As Pro League is twice as long as IEM Cologne 2021, so going online is the only safest way to conduct the tournament. Now all the teams will compete from their boot camps within Europe.
Change of Formats
There has been a change in the formats for the ESL Pro Leagues Season 14. This change has been considered after getting feedback from the community and in agreement with the teams and players prior to Season 14 of ESL Pro League. Now, the Play-in-Stage will be moved prior to the Play-Offs.
A similar thing between the previous and upcoming ESL Pro League Season 14 is that three teams from each group will make the playoffs. The winning teams in each of the four groups will advance directly into the quarterfinals. Whereas the second and third-placed teams of each group will proceed to the Round of 12.
