ESL Pro League is back with Season 20, with 32 teams heading to Malta for one of the most exciting CS2 events of the year. We’re taking a look at all the teams involved, giving you our power rankings for each Group, as well as specific team predictions for favorites and underdogs!
Credit: ESL
Group A
Credit: Helena Kristiansson | © ESL
Despite having two of the strongest teams in ESL Pro League Season 20, Group A might be the weakest of all. NAVI and FaZe Clan are the obvious standouts, and we’ll be staggered if these two teams are not in the Upper Bracket Final of this Group. While FaZe’s form has been ropey of late, to say the least, they should still have enough to be comfortable in Group A, while NAVI will want to swiftly bounce back after disappointment in the IEM Cologne 2024 Final.
Natus Vincere
FaZe Clan
Eternal Fire
Heroic
Ninjas in Pyjamas
FlyQuest
Sangal Esports
Lynn Vision
Our highlighted underdogs are Eternal Fire and Ninjas in Pyjamas. For EF, things haven’t quite been clicking lately as they were earlier in the year, but with players of XANTARES and woxic’s quality, you’re always in with a chance of victory. For NIP, disappointment in online events has been their story recently. There’s a good core here, and we think they’ve got a shot of rewriting the narrative in Malta.
Group B
Credit: Viola Schuldner | © ESL
Despite Team Spirit bombing out of IEM Cologne 2024 in last place, we’re sticking with them for top of our ESL Pro League Season 20 power rankings in Group B. G2 have shown some signs of inconsistency recently, and Spirit are certainly better than the other names in Group B. Despite G2’s cracks in the armor, they’ve still got far too much firepower to let too much go awry here.
Team Spirit
G2 Esports
The MongolZ
9z Team
MIBR
3DMAX
KOI
Wildcard
The underdogs here are an interesting case – watch out for 9z Team and Wildcard. 9z Team have beaten some solid teams on LAN of late, showing there’s perhaps a higher level to this roster than we previously realized. Meanwhile, Wildcard have won all but two series since adding European talents phzy and susp, winning an incredible 29 in that time. This will be a great test of their true level.
Group C
Credit: IEM on X.
While MOUZ and Astralis are Group C’s big favorites, this is a group filled with real upset teams that can dismantle the status quo. While we’re confident MOUZ will progress with ease, keep an eye on Astralis. On paper, yes, they should finish second here, but we’re fascinated to see if it pans out that way in practice. Astralis need to bounce back after their recent disappointments, and anything less could spell doom for this iteration of the roster as it is.
MOUZ
Astralis
Complexity
Imperial Esports
BIG
Fnatic
M80
Rooster
Teams like Imperial Esports and Fnatic could prove to be real problems here. This will be Fnatic’s first LAN of this tier since adding blameF, so they’ll have a point to prove. For Imperial, we really like the young core of try, decenty, and noway. All three are incredibly talented players looking to show what they’re capable of in a more prestigious CS2 tournament than they’re used to.
Group D
Credit: Michał Konkol | © ESL
After winning IEM Cologne 2024, Vitality are back on track. There have been whispers of roster changes over the last few months, but how can you after such a big win? They have to fancy their chances of a win at ESL Pro League Season 20, and are certainly among our favorites. They’re joined by Team Liquid, who have looked very strong since Twistzz took over as IGL. Can ultimate continue his great form to carry Liquid? Time will tell.
Team Vitality
Team Liquid
Virtus.pro
Falcons
FURIA
ENCE
RED Canids
ATOX Esports
Our underdogs here are Falcons and FURIA. Falcons have been on the grind in several events recently, with an individual uptick in form ever since rumors of NiKo’s arrival surfaced. These Falcons players are playing for their spot on the team come 2025, and this could result in some solid results in Malta. Meanwhile, FURIA gave a decent account of themselves at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2, with FalleN rolling back the years to 2016 to impress. It’s a small upward trajectory, but for FURIA, anything is better than its performances earlier in the year.
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