This year, tournament organizer ESL moved the traditional season-opening Intel Extreme Masters from Katowice to Kraków. However, European CS2 fans will still have a chance to visit the legendary Spodek Arena and see their favorite teams in action. This 1xBet review covers everything you need to know about ESL Pro League 24.
Key facts and tournament significance
ESL Pro League 24 will be held in Katowice, Poland, from October 3 to 11. For the first time in tournament history, it will feature a $1,000,000 prize pool. Of the 16 participants, 12 received direct invites based on August VRS rankings, while four qualified through regional ESL Challenger events.
The full ESL Pro League 24 team list is as follows (VRS ranking at the time of the invite is shown in parentheses):
- Team Spirit (#1)
- Team Falcons (#2)
- MOUZ (#3)
- 9z Team (#4)
- Team Vitality (#5)
- Natus Vincere (#6)
- Legacy (#7)
- FURIA (#8)
- BetBoom Team (#9)
- Aurora Gaming (#10)
- G2 Esports (#11)
- PARIVISION (#12)
- 1w Team (-)
- M80 (#36)
- ShindeN (#71)
- TYLOO (#18)
Like any Tier 1 tournament with a $1 million prize pool, ESL Pro League 24 matters to every team involved, but for NAVI the stakes are particularly high. The reigning Season 23 champions have dropped so far down the Valve rankings recently that they risk missing out on the PGL Major Singapore 2026. Natus Vincere currently sit 13th in the European rankings and continue to lose ground, so a slip-up in Katowice could easily drop NAVI out of the 18 European invite spots.
For Spirit, Vitality, and Falcons, this event is a great opportunity to see which of the three is currently the strongest. The favorites will also have a chance to earn points toward ESL Grand Slam VII, where Falcons and NAVI already have a point each, while Spirit and Vitality are still on zero.
Favorites, contenders, and underdogs
1xBet esports experts picked the teams most likely to win the tournament.
- Team Spirit – arguably the best team in the world right now, Spirit will be looking to cement its status with another trophy and claim its first-ever ESL Pro League. Star player donk is in great form, and the side won its last two tournaments, so it is deservedly considered the main favorite.
- Vitality – the team has won just one event in the second half of the 2026 season, StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026. Players’ fatigue and jL’s rand-in role can explain the recent setbacks, but if the French side wants to challenge for the title in Singapore, now is the time to build momentum.
- Falcons – they got undeniably lucky winning the IEM Cologne Major 2026, but the individual power on this roster – especially with m0NESY, kyousuke and NiKo – makes Falcons a default top-3 favorite at every event they enter.
Among the dark horses capable of pulling off an upset and winning ESL Pro League 24 ahead of the main favorites, a few stand out:
- NAVI – this roster has nothing to lose; the only thing left is a disbandment;
- MOUZ – they usually fall just short of victory;
- FURIA – the Brazilians want to give their captain FalleN a proper send-off into retirement;
- Legacy – beating FURIA and MIBR in China, it became the top team from the Americas;
- Aurora – at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026, the revamped international roster went toe-to-toe with Vitality.
ESL Pro League 24 is about to start, so don’t miss your chance to support your favorite CS2 teams!
