ESL Pro League Season 22 preview: Teams, format, dates and prize money

Kieran Lynch, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 24/09/2025

The ESL Pro League Season 22 gets underway with Stage 1 this weekend in the next tournament on the Counter-Strike 2 calendar.

Season 22 features 24 teams, 16 of which will take part in Stage 1, and the remaining eight will enter the competition in Stage 2 next week.

Teams competing earned their place through the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), the ESL Challenger League and regional open qualifiers

Here is everything you need to know about the event, including the format and the competing teams.

Who is competing at ESL Pro League Season 22?

Among the invited teams include Team Vitality who are the defending champions from ESL Pro League Season 21.

Team Vitality beat MOUZ 3-0 in a best-of-five final, with both organisations entering the competition at Stage 2.

UK talent shone through with player mezii and CS2 team manager Aphi taking another victory.

The other six invited Stage 2 teams includes; Team Spirit, The MongolZ, Team Falcons, Aurora Gaming, FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere.

Team Vitality face an uphill battle after recent instability to regain trophy status following their triumph at BLAST Austin.

G2 Esports took down Team Vitality in a hard-fought Open Fall Grand Final match earlier this month.

The recent performances of G2 Esports has seen the organisation move up five places in the rankings for Stage 1 seeding for ESL Pro League Season 22.

They will be joined by 15 other organisations who will take part in Stage 1.

Stage 1 team seeding

• 1. G2 Esports
• 2. Furia
• 3. 3DMAX
• 4. Astralis
• 5. GamerLegion
• 6. Legacy
• 7. M80
• 8. HEROIC
• 9. Lynn Vision Gaming
• 10.Virtus.pro
• 11. B8
• 12. NRG
• 13. Fluxo
• 14. NEXT LEVEL
• 15. Hotu
• 16. Rooster

ESL Pro League Season 22 format and dates

The current format sees two Swiss stages of 16 teams, followed by an eight-team knockout Playoff stage to determine the champions.

Of those competing in Stage 1, the top eight will join the eight teams that automatically advanced to the Stage 2 phase of the tournament.

The top eight teams in Stage 2 will then reach the play-offs, which includes the quarter-finals, semi-finals and grand final.

All matches throughout ESL Pro League Season 22 will best-of-three, except for the final which is best-of-five.

• Stage 1: Sunday, September 28th to Thursday, October 2nd
• Stage 2: Saturday, October 4th to Wednesday, October 8th
• Playoffs: Friday, October 10th to Sunday, October 12th

Prize Money: How much will the winner receive?

There is a $400,000 (£296,000) prize pool on offer at ESL Pro League Season 22.

The winner will receive a $100,000 (£74,000) share with the runner-up receiving $50,000 (£37,000)

Those placed between third and 24th will receive between $28,000 (£20,000) and $3,000 (£2,200).

Kieran Lynch, Senior Editor

Kieran Lynch is an esports journalist who writes about several games including EA Sports FC 25, Call of Duty, Rainbox Six Siege, and more. He previously worked as a sports journalist for MailOnline.

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