Good Lord, I love ESL Pro League Finals. In my books, they can go head to head with Majors. ESL Pro League seasons bring forth the best teams from all regions, putting them up against each other in a battle of wits, skills, and teamwork. The first ESL Pro League Season final in 2019 (yep, this is a biannual tournament) kicks off today and is set to be a proper thriller. With sixteen top-notch teams ready to make a name for themselves in Montepellier, there’s no doubt CS:GO fans from all over the world will tune in to the spectacle. That’s why I’m proud to present you with my comprehensive ESL Pro League S9 Finals Preview.

Allow me to be your guide and present you with the freshest details on this tournament. Interesting facts, important dates, format specifics, match schedule, and team overviews. Now that I think of it, there’s a whole bunch of stuff to cover so I should cut right to the chase.

ESL Pro League S9 Finals Preview | Interesting Facts

• ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals event kicks off on Tuesday, June 18. It will feature six days of thrilling CS:GO matches and the winner will go home with $250,000. The official prize pool distribution table can be found below.
• Talking about money, the total prize pool for this event stands tall at $600,000. It is a bit of a step down from $750,000 which was the standard for the last four events. Still, $600,000 is a hefty amount so we can rest assured teams won’t lack motivation money-wise.
• This event is a part of the second season of Intel Grand Slam. The 8th season of ESL PL was the crowning event of the first IGS season. That’s when Astralis won the League and went home with the biggest total prize pool in the history of CS:GO.
• Down below, ESL Pro League S9 Finals Preview will give you in-depth look at the most notable teams that will be competing in Montpellier. The event will be held in two venues. The group stage will be played at The Exhibition Centre. All five playoffs matches are reserved for the glorious Sud de France Arena.

Prize Pool Distribution

This ESL Pro League S9 Finals Preview can’t go without the official prize pool distribution table. Here it is:

Place	Prize Money
1st	$250,000
2nd	$80,000
3rd – 4th	$40,000
5th – 6th	$20,000
7th – 8th	$17,000
9th – 12th	$15,000
14th – 16th	$14,000

Tournament Format

The 9th iteration of ESL Pro League Finals will sport the same format that was established last year. True, the qualification stages are prone to changes but the main event, the Finals, ought to stay the same for the next few tournaments. That means we’ll get to enjoy a 16-team, 2-phase event focusing on double-elimination group stage and dynamic playoffs.

Let’s start with the group stage. It will feature two groups with eight teams in each. Eight initial matches (four in each group) will be Bo1, all remaining ones will be Bo3. Group winners, runners-up, and third place teams advance to the playoffs.

Hopefully we don’t run into another cheating situation

Group winners go straight to the semifinals while the remaining four teams will go up against each other in the quarterfinals. The playoffs are played as a single-bracket knockout phase with a total of six teams. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played as Bo3. And finally, according to tradition, the ESL Pro League Season 9 Grand Finals match will be played as Bo5. Oh, what a spectacle that will be… especially if we see Astralis go up against Team Liquid. I can barely wait!

ESL Pro League S9 Finals Team Overviews

Now we’ve reached (arguably) the most important part of this ESL Pro League S9 Finals preview. Here, I will tell you everything you need to know about the most notable teams. Their backstories, their recent form, and their title aspirations.

Of course, I’ve picked my personal favorites here. A broader selection, of course. Three teams from group A and three teams from group B. It’s basically a list of teams that have what it takes to reach the playoffs. Be it from the quarters or semis.

So, without further ado, let’s kick things off with the greatest CS:GO team of all time, Astralis!

Astralis

Despite their recent struggles, Astralis is still the biggest name on the team sheet. Perhaps they’re not such a heavy favorite here (Team Liquid made sure of that), they’re still the team to beat in Montpellier.

However, Astralis’ players are not at the top of their form. They are nowhere near their brilliance and that’s been an active struggle throughout these last few months. In fact, their performance started its downfall since their IEM Katowice Major triumph. Sure, they won BPS Sao Paulo as well, but that’s it as far as their trophies in 2019 are concerned.

Many people expect Astralis to come back swinging and take a third consecutive ESL Pro League season title. I, on the other hand, don’t share such an opinion. While I do believe Astralis will present themselves in a slightly better light than they have at recent tournaments, I can’t see them winning their third consecutive ESL PL trophy.

In fact, the only reason why I think they’ll go through to the playoffs is that they are in group A. if dupreeh and the boys were in group B, I’d wholeheartedly bet my money on them to get eliminated right off the bat.

Fnatic

Fnatic went from being the world’s greatest team into being a middle-of-the-pack EU team. Their last notable trophy dates back to March 2018, and it was crowning two weeks of good play after two years of drought. Yep, these are not good days to be a Fnatic fan.

Coming into this tournament, Fnatic will be relying on a mixture of experience and young blood. Brollan and KRIMZ are the two main names on the team sheet. The 16-year old Swedish wunderkind has been impressive over the last few months. However, good old KRIMZ isn’t too far off either. I guess this 25-year old CS:GO veteran still has some fire left inside.

Their road to Starladder Major is off on the right foot. They qualified for the EU Minor and will be looking to snatch their New Challenger Status by the end of July. Apart from that, I have to say their recent performances weren’t half bad. Two silver medals, at IEM XIV Sydney and StarSeries S7, and two semifinals finish on WESG and iBUYPOWER Masters.

Overall, Fnatic seems like a decent team at the moment. They aren’t that good against the top teams but their consistency in matches where they’re deemed as the favorites is praiseworthy. That said, I expect to see the Swedish crew in the playoffs. Starting from the quarterfinals, of course.

NRG Esports

Next up, we have NRG Esports. This North American team enjoyed a solid spell of events during the last two months. First, they had a wonderful campaign in Shanghai where they ended up with a StarSeries S7 semifinals finish. Fast-forward to earlier this month, their ECS S7 Finals performance was amazing. Another semifinals finish for the NRG boys. And deservingly so, if I may add.

As far as individual qualities are concerned, Brehze, Ethan and CeRq are doing their best. This trio is to thank for the above-mentioned campaigns. If it wasn’t for their clutch moments, excellent teamwork, and crucial frags, I doubt NRG would even qualify for this event.

Overall, while they’re not exactly the trophy-winning material, Brehze and the boys are definitely capable of creating a few upsets. It will be interesting to see their first match against Fnatic. It’s going to be one heck of a Bo1 contest!

Team Liquid

Let’s face it, Team Liquid players are coming into this tournament with two goals set in their minds. First, they want to win the title, their fourth one in 2019. Second, they want to beat Astralis and prove to the world they really are the best CS:GO team at the moment. Neither of these goals will be easy, but I reckon NAF, EliGE and the boys have what it takes to stay at the top.

Team Liquid’s last month or so has been great. They won two trophies in the span of 30 days. IEM XIV Sydney in early May and DH Masters Dallas in early June. Coming into this tournament, not only will they have extra motivation to secure the trophy but they’ll also be fuming with confidence.

In my books, Team Liquid is the favorite to win ESL Pro League S9 Finals. Not Astralis, not FaZe Clan, and certainly not MIBR. Team Liquid has the chance to cement their newly-acquired title of the best CS:GO team in the world… and I for one think they’ll take it!

FaZe Clan

Moving on with this ESL Pro League S9 Finals preview, we’ve finally reached FaZe Clan. To the joy of all their fans, NiKo and the boys finally seem like they’re ready to make a run at the trophy. In fact, they actually won BLAST Pro Series Miami in April. That was their first proper trophy since last October.

Surprisingly, NiKo is not the hottest fragger at the moment. That flattering title belongs to rain. With the arrival of NEO, many people thought NiKo’s fragging will surge to an all-time high. Unfortunately, it was the other way around. NEO took the IGL role from NiKo who ended up looking lost at times. As if he forgot how to concentrate solely on fragging.

On the bright side, rain got his old form back and is coming into this tournament swinging in all directions. This 24-year old Norwegian prodigy ought to be one of the crucial FaZe Clan players in Montpellier. Of course, FaZe will need NiKo and GuardiaN back in business if they want to compete for the silverware. If all three of these players show up for the occasion, I wouldn’t be that surprised to see FaZe Clan going straight through to the semifinals. Of course, they’d have to beat Team Liquid for it to happen.

MIBR

With the arrival of felps in January and TACO + Zews trade in December, MIBR rounded off a relatively strong roster. FalleN and fer are still here, ruling the block with iron fists. Their thrilling performance game in and game out is what keeps pushing MIBR to the top of the food chain.

And they’re deservingly there! Even though they rarely win tournaments (last notable title ZOTAC Cup Masters last August), they’re always up there with the best of them. This year along, they had three semifinals finishes. On the ESL Katowice Major, BPS Miami, and IEM XIV Sydney. I also have to mention their ECS S7 Finals debacle. The way they got eliminated right off the bat in the group stage was a proper thriller.

As far as ESL Pro League S9 Finals preview is concerned, MIBR will definitely be a contestant for the playoffs. Yes, group B is pretty tough but I reckon FalleN and the Brazilian boys will find their way to the single-elimination bracket.

That’s about it as far as the team overviews section of this ESL Pro League S9 Finals preview is concerned. There’s still one more thing we have to go through – the tournament schedule. Since we’re talking about a double-elimination group phase here, we only know the initial round matchups. Eight of them, to be precise.

ESL Pro League S9 Finals Schedule (CEST)

Finally, we’ve ventured to the last part of this ESL Pro League S9 Finals Preview. That said, let’s check out the match schedule for the initial round of both groups.

Tuesday, June 18

• G2 Esports vs Grayhound – noon
• Fnatic vs NRG Esports – noon
• Astralis vs Cloud9 – 1.10 p.m.
• DETONA vs Heroic – 1.10 p.m.
• FaZe Clan vs TYLOO – 2.20 p.m.
• North vs Team Liquid – 2.20 p.m.
• Mousesports vs MIBR – 3.20 p.m.
• HellRaisers vs Luminosity – 3.20 p.m.

That wraps up our ESL Pro League S9 Finals Preview! For more CS:GO esports news and updates be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or our YouTube channel where we talk about all the latest news in the esports community.