ESL's 'Counter-Strike' Pro League Season 4 kicks off Wednesday
ESL Pro League Season 4 starts Wednesday when 28 of the top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world being an 11-week competition toward a $750,000 prize pool. Regional matches taking place in Europe air at 1 p.m. ET as FaZe Clan takes on Team X. Then the Americas get into the action at 8 p.m. ET with Cloud9 and Team Liquid.
The 28 teams are split into two regions, Europe and North America, although the North American group includes South American and Australian teams. Thirteen teams were invited to Pro League, then fans voted on two more teams from each region to compete in a wildcard match. Every match is being broadcast live on ESL's website and Twitch.
Virtus.pro defeated Godsent for the 14th spot in Europe, and Luminosity Gaming will take on Echo Fox for the North American spot at a date to be determined.
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The rest of the European teams are Astralis, FaZe Clan, FlipSid3 Tactics, Fnatic, G2 Esports, Hellraisers, Mousesports, Na'Vi, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Penta Sports, Team Dignitas, Team EnVyUs and Team X.
Fnatic may have a tough time this season as the team finds its footing. The squad recently lost three of its players -- JW, Flusha and Krimzto -- to wildcard contender Godsent. Meanwhile, Na'Vi signed one of the top players in the world, S1mple, which may give it the regional edge.
The rest of the North American teams are Cloud9, CompLexity Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, eUnited, Immortals, NRG Esports, OpTic Gaming, Renegades, Selfless Gaming, SK Gaming, Splyce, Team Liquid and Winterfox.
Counter Logic Gaming has not yet announced player replacements for the two teammates that left at the end of ELeague Season One in July, which is something the team has to nail down soon before its first match on Aug. 25. Team Liquid also lost its top player S1mple to Na'Vi, and will have to navigate the season with a brand new team leader.
Over the next nine weeks, the teams will compete within their regions in round robins. Specific details around the following weeks have not been released. But in the third season of Pro League, the top four teams in each region advanced to a mixed group stage, then the top four teams overall moved to the Pro League semifinals. Season Four may be the same, but more teams are involved this cycle, so the advancement process may evolve.
The finals take place in São Paulo Oct. 28-30. Brazil is represented by two teams in Pro League Season 4: Immortals, who are making a major tournament debut, and SK Gaming, arguably the best Counter-Strike team in the world right now.
