All ESL Pro League winners. Championship Series History
ESL Pro League is the longest-running Counter-Strike tournament series that Valve has nothing to do with. The history of the league began back in 2015, and during this time we have seen both dynamic ups and downs of teams and fatal failures. Over the past 18 seasons, no one has managed to maintain dominance in the EPL and win more than two tournaments in the series. Only two teams managed to become champions in a row – Fnatic and Astralis, which is not surprising. Only these two teams had their own real eras, when no one could resist them on the tier-1 stage.
Unlike some other leagues, the ESL Pro League even survived the coronavirus epidemic and total lockdown. At a time when LANs were not possible, only two EPL finals were cancelled: Seasons 11 and 12 were played entirely online in all regions, with no overall winner. The ESL tournament series continues to flourish and remains one of the most important teams on the professional team’s schedule every year. Everything may change in 2025 with Valve’s ban on franchise leagues, but it’s too early to talk about it: it’s never too late to change the format or come up with workarounds. In this article we will discuss all the winners of the ESL Pro League over its long history of 9 years.
Two-time ESL Pro League champions
Seasons 1 and 2. Fnatic's Era of Domination
The start of the ESL Pro League fell at a time of total domination by Fnatic. The first two seasons did not yet have such impressive prize pools and stopped at around $250 thousand, but in 2015 they were comparable to the majors, so winning the EPL was a prestigious achievement. As with all major tournaments at the time, it was almost impossible to beat Fnatic on LAN. The playoffs of the first season of the ESL Pro League turned out to be quite simple for the team, despite the close scores in the grand final. The team lost one map to Virtus.pro in the semi-finals, but defeated the Polish squad by a large margin in the rest. The final match with Cloud9 turned out to be tense, but not in terms of the final score: it ended 3:1 on maps in favor of the Swedes. The Americans took the first map, and on Overpass and Dust 2 it was not clear until the last who would emerge victorious. The third map ended with a score of 16:14, and the last one required overtime. However, the winners are not judged, and Fnatic was expected to become the champion of the first ever ESL Pro League season.
Cloud9 failed to consolidate its success in the second EPL: the team didn’t even qualify for it. Fnatic’s opponents in the playoffs this time were the future Astralis, who played without an organization under a tag with a question mark. At that time, the roster of Nicolai device Reedtz’s was not yet one of the strongest and lost to the formidable Swedes with a score of 0:2. In the grand finals, Fnatic again faced great difficulties, but this time with Natus Vincere. The CIS team, even without its main player in the person of Oleksandr s1mple Kostyliev, managed to take two whole maps, and this was done when Olof olofmeister Kajbjer’s squad had already won victories on the first two. But the phenomenal comeback did not happen and Fnatic easily closed the decisive Cobblestone.
Fnatic became the first winners of the ESL Pro League and even achieved this twice in a row, but after these victories they no longer won the league from ESL. And given their current composition, they will never be able to do this again.
Seasons 3 and 6. The triumph of the Brazilians
The third season of the ESL Pro League fell into the era of primes Gabriel FalleN Toledo and Marcelo coldzera David. The Brazilian squad came out of nowhere and won two majors and several prestigious tournaments. At that time, no one understood the reasons for their success, but the team successfully took advantage of it. In the third season of the EPL, the team performed under the tag Luminosity Gaming. Unlike Fnatic, the playoffs were quite difficult for the Brazilians – 2:1 against NIP and 3:2 against G2 Esports in the grand finals. The star French roster with Adil ScreaM Benrlitom and Richard shox Papillon then performed under the G2 tag. They almost managed to turn the outcome of the meeting around, but Luminosity still closed the grand final on the last map with a score of 19:16.
Two seasons later, the Brazilians returned for another ESL Pro League trophy under the wing of SK Gaming. The team began the playoffs of the sixth season of the EPL with the semifinals, where they easily defeated the Americans from Misfits Gaming. FaZe Clan, which then included young Nikola NiKo Kovacs, was waiting for them in the grand finals. But he was unable to stop the Brazilians; after the first map given, SK took the next three and became a two-time ESL Pro League champion.
Seasons 7 and 8. Era of Astralis
We have arrived at the longest and most title-rich era in CS:GO history. Astralis were the strongest team in the world for a long time for a reason: they became the only four-time major champions and winners of many tournaments, and the ESL Pro League was no exception. Like Fnatic, Astralis won two EPL seasons in a row, but they were competing for a more impressive prize pool of $750 thousand, and the competition on the professional scene was already quite higher. However, the opponent in the grand finals in both cases was Team Liquid. The score in the decisive match turned out to be the same: Astralis had no difficulty winning both matches with a score of 3:1.
Seasons 9 and 18. MOUZ – from underdog to champion
To everyone’s surprise, the ninth season of the ESL Pro League was not won by the favorite. In 2019, MOUZ was not yet the same team that consistently performs on the tier-1 stage, but it had Finn karrigan Andersen, who in the future would prove his superiority over other captains more than once. On their way to the championship, the team beat Evil Geniuses and those same Astralis, and in the grand final, with a score of 3:0, they defeated Fnatic, who also turned out to be sensational in it.
Four years later, MOUZ would return for another ESL Pro League trophy with a completely different roster that still exists today. It was this team that became the last EPL champion and has a chance to do it again in the 19th season. The grand final of last year’s championship also ended with a score of 3:0, but Natus Vincere became the opponent.
Seasons 15 and 17. FaZe Clan on horseback
The long history of the ESL Pro League could not do without the victories of FaZe Clan, who have not left the top of the best teams in the world for a long time. The team managed to win the 15th and 17th seasons of the EPL. In the grand finals, the star team turned out to be stronger than ENCE and Cloud9 with a score of 3:1. FaZe Clan, like MOUZ, is one of the favorites in the current ESL Pro League and has the best chance of winning the third season of the league. The team had already passed the group, but they actually did it from third place.
The rest of the ESL Pro League champions
The remaining seasons of the ESL Pro League also turned out to be extremely spectacular, and completely different teams became champions. These results did not turn out to be sensational and some of the main favorites won the tournament, but this always happened with great competition. More teams participate in EPL seasons than in other championships, and the championships themselves take place over several weeks, so it is extremely difficult to predict the winners in advance. It all depends on how teams enter and play out the tournament meta.
One-time ESL Pro League champions:
- Season 4 – Cloud9;
- Season 5 – G2 Esports;
- Season 9 – Team Liquid;
- Season 13 – Heroic;
- Season 14 – Natus Vincere;
- Season 16 – Team Vitality.
The ESL Pro League has never had and will never receive major status, but many esports players want to win it. These tournaments are very prestigious on the tier-1 stage and have an impressive prize fund, and the winner also gets slots for other important championships from the tournament operator. The 19th season of the EPL is already in full swing and it is extremely difficult to predict the winner while we are watching the group stage, which is in full swing. Its champion will also receive a direct invitation to IEM Cologne 2024, which will be one of the most important tournaments of the summer.