ESL Pro League Season 4 (shortened as EPL Season 4) was a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by ESL. It was the fourth season of the ESL Pro League, and had an overall prize pool of $750,000 . For the first time, the Finals took place in South America – São Paulo, Brazil, from October 28 to October 30. Teams from two continents, North America and Europe competed in fourteen team leagues to attempt to qualify for the Finals. Europe's season began with FaZe Clan defeating Team X (which later formed into Heroic) and ended with Team Dignitas defeating Virtus.pro in a best of three 6th place decider. North America's season started with Cloud9 defeating Team Liquid and ended with Immortals defeating Echo Fox. In the finals, Cloud9 defeated SK Gaming 2–1 to become the ESL Pro League Season 4 Champions and take home $200,000 prize money; this upset would also mark the first time a North American won an international premier event since iBUYPOWER won ESEA Season 16 - Global Invite Division in 2014.
Format The format was slightly different to the previous renditions of the tournament.
Each continent featured the top 11 teams from ESL Pro League Season 3, one team from the ESEA Season 21: Premier Division Qualifier, one team from the ESL Pro League Season 3 Relegation, and one team from the Wild Card Qualifier. Teams within each continent played each other twice to determine the top four qualifiers to the Finals in Brazil. There was a total of nine weeks in this phase of the tournament. All games were played online.
Teams that placed seventh to eleventh are automatically invited to next season's ESL Pro League. 12th and 13th place are invited to Season 4's Relegation and 14th place will be placed in the ESEA Premier Season 24.
The Finals consisted of twelve teams, six from Europe and six from North America. These teams were separated into two groups. The group stage consisted of every team in each group playing against each other. The top three teams in each group moved on to the Playoffs. The knockout stages were a best of three format. All games in the Finals were played offline. The top team in each group received a bye and automatically moved onto the Semifinals. The other four teams played in the Round of Six. The winners of those two games moved on to the Semifinals, and the winner of the Semifinals moved onto the Finals.
Teams North America
SK Gaming (Season 3 #1) Cloud9 (Season 3 Top #2) OpTic Gaming (Season 3 #3) Team Liquid (Season 3 #4) NRG eSports (Season 3 Top #5) Selfless Gaming (Season 3 #6) Renegades (Season 3 #7) Winterfox (Season 3 #8) Splyce (Season 3 #9) Counter Logic Gaming (Season 3 #10) (Season 3 #11) Immortals (ESEA Premier Season 21) (Season 3 Relegation) Echo Fox (Wild Card) Europe
Ninjas in Pyjamas (Season 3 #1) Astralis (Season 3 #2) Fnatic (Season 3 #3) G2 Esports (Season 3 #4) Natus Vincere (Season 3 #5) Team Dignitas (Season 3 #6) FaZe Clan (Season 3 #7) mousesports (Season 3 #8) Team EnVyUs (Season 3 #9) Heroic (Season 3 #10) Flipsid3 Tactics (Season 3 #11) HellRaisers (ESEA Premier Season 21) PENTA Sports (Season 3 Relegation) Virtus.pro (Wild Card)
North America
Broadcast Talent Host Tom "Tsquared" Taylor Commentators Sam "DaZeD" Marine John "BLU" Mullen Jason "moses" O'Toole Analysts Steve "Ryu" Rattacasa Erik "da_bears" Stromberg Observers Heather "sapphiRe" Garozzo DJ "Prius" Kuntz
Standings The final standings are shown below. Each team's in-game leader is shown first. The rosters that are shown are the rosters that were in place by the end of the season. For instance, Skyler "Relyks" Weaver left in the middle of the season and was replaced with Jacob "kaboose" McDonald. Thus, kaboose's name is shown below and Relyks's name is not shown.
North America Final Standings Place Prize Money TeamW-LRF-RARDPts Roster 1st TBD Cloud9 25-1 383-225 +158 75 Stewie2k, , n0thing, Skadoodle, shroud 2nd TBD Immortals 20-6 385-234 +151 60 zews, boltz, , HEN1, LUCAS1 3rd TBD SK Gaming 18-8 341-225 +116 54 FalleN, , , , TACO 4th TBD OpTic Gaming 17-9 376-306 +70 51 , NAF, tarik, RUSH, 5th 18,000 Renegades 17-9 371-271 +100 51 AZR, , Yam, USTILO, Rickeh 6th TBD NRG Esports 17-9 344-278 +76 51 , LEGIJA, , FugLy, 7th TBD Team Liquid 15-11 370-318 +52 45 Hiko, EliGE, , , Pimp 8th 15,500 Echo Fox 13-13 337-353 -16 39 sgares, fREAKAZOiD, , , ShahZam 9th 13,000 Counter Logic Gaming 10-16 288-377 -89 30 , , , , Subroza 10th 10,500 Winterfox 9-17 273-364 -93 27 , , , , 11th 8,000 compLexity Gaming 9-17 269-377 -108 27 Uber, , APE, , Surreal 12th 5,500 Selfless Gaming 7-19 302-387 -85 21 Nifty, Brehze, , , 13th 3,000 Splyce 3-23 240-402 -162 9 arya, AcillioN, CRUC1AL, DAVEY, Machinegun 14th 1,500 2-24 239-409 -170 6 , , , Marved,
Results SK C9 OpTic Liquid NRG SLF RNG WFX SPY CLG coL IMT eU FOX SK FF-WFF-W 16-819-15 10-1613-16 16-1416-7 16-916-7 12-160-16 W-FFW-FF 16-1016-6 16-716-4 16-716-1 11-164-16 16-816-3 16-1216-11 C9 W-FFW-FF 16-316-12 16-816-10 16-516-10 16-1216-12 16-1219-16 16-1116-7 16-1316-2 16-1116-10 16-916-5 16-516-14 16-616-8 12-1616-8 OpTic 8-1615-19 3-1612-16 3-1620-22 16-1012-16 16-1322-20 16-1312-16 16-816-6 16-816-9 16-916-5 16-416-6 13-1616-12 16-216-12 16-516-11 Liquid 16-1016-13 8-1610-16 16-322-20 14-167-16 13-1616-6 10-1612-16 16-1416-11 16-816-6 16-512-16 16-1116-7 16-1212-16 16-216-11 10-1616-19 NRG 14-167-16 5-1610-16 10-1616-12 16-1416-7 16-516-5 9-1616-10 16-516-5 16-416-8 14-1616-9 16-1016-4 6-167-16 16-816-8 16-1116-9 SLF 9-167-16 12-1612-16 13-1620-22 13-166-16 5-165-16 13-1610-16 16-1316-19 16-1316-14 15-1916-5 9-1616-7 1-168-16 12-1616-6 13-1614-16 RNG 16-1216-0 12-1616-19 13-1616-12 16-1016-12 16-910-16 16-316-10 16-316-8 16-616-3 16-29-16 10-1616-8 2-1613-16 16-516-13 16-814-16 WFX FF-WFF-W 11-167-16 8-166-16 14-1611-16 5-165-16 13-1619-16 3-168-16 16-1316-7 16-1116-13 16-114-16 7-161-16 16-1216-11 11-1616-8 SPY 10-166-16 13-162-16 8-169-16 8-166-16 4-168-16 13-1614-16 6-163-16 13-167-16 9-1615-19 16-1411-16 7-164-16 16-1416-3 10-166-16 CLG 7-164-16 11-1610-16 9-165-16 5-1616-12 16-149-16 19-155-16 2-1616-9 11-1613-16 16-919-15 16-98-16 8-163-16 16-1016-14 16-1412-16 coL 7-161-16 9-165-16 4-166-16 11-167-16 10-164-16 16-97-16 16-108-16 11-1616-14 14-1616-11 9-1616-8 7-1616-12 16-1119-15 9-1619-15 IMT 16-1116-4 5-1614-16 16-1312-16 12-1616-12 16-616-7 16-116-8 16-216-13 16-716-1 16-716-4 16-816-3 16-712-16 16-1010-16 16-1016-4 eU 8-163-16 6-168-16 2-1612-16 2-1611-16 8-168-16 16-126-16 5-1613-16 12-1611-16 14-163-16 10-1614-16 11-1615-19 10-1616-10 7-168-16 FOX 12-1611-16 12-168-16 5-1611-16 16-1019-16 11-169-16 16-1316-14 8-1616-14 16-118-16 16-1016-6 14-1616-12 16-915-19 10-164-16 16-716-8
Europe
Broadcast Talent Host Alex "Machine" Richardson Commentators Henry "HenryG" Greer Mitch "Uber" Leslie Lauren "Pansy" Scott Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett Analyst Janko "YNk" Paunović Observers Alex "Rushly" Rush
Standings The final standings are shown below. Each team's in-game leader is shown first. The rosters shown reflect the rosters as they were by the end of the season. For instance, Timothée "DEVIL" Démolon was replaced with Christophe "SIXER" Xia on Team EnVyUS midway through the season. Therefore, SIXER's name is shown instead of DEVIL's. Europe Final Standings Place Prize Money TeamW-LRF-RARDPts Roster 1st Fnatic 19-7 401-322 +79 57 , olofmeister, , , Lekr0 2nd Ninjas in Pyjamas 19-7 387-282 +105 57 Xizt, f0rest, friberg, GeT RiGhT, 3rd mousesports 18-8 381-304 +77 54 , Spiidi, , IoWel, NiKo 4th FaZe Clan 18-8 378-350 +28 54 karrigan1, allu, , , 5th Team EnVyUs 16-10 337-301 +36 48 Happy, , kennyS, NBK-, SIXER 6th Team Dignitas 14-12 359-327 +32 42 MSL, , , Magiskb0Y, RUBINO 7th 18,000 Virtus.pro 14-12 334-339 -5 42 NEO, , , Snax, TaZ 8th 15,500 Natus Vincere 13-13 330-344 -14 39 , Edward, , , GuardiaN 9th 13,000 G2 Esports 13-13 354-346 +8 39 , , Rpk, SmithZz, ScreaM 10th 10,500 Astralis 12-14 353-335 +18 36 karrigan1, , dupreeh, Kjaerbye, Xyp9x 11th 8,000 Hellraisers 9-16 321-352 -31 27 ANGE1, , Deadfox, STYKO, Zero 12th 5,500 Heroic 8-18 316-375 -59 24 Snappi, Friis, , , MODDII 13th 3,000 PENTA Sports 5-21 291-410 -119 15 , , , , 14th 1,500 FlipSid3 Tactics 4-22 226-378 -152 12 Blad3, , , WorldEdit,
Results NiP Astralis Fnatic G2 Na'Vi dig FaZe mouz nV Heroic F3 HR PENTA VP NiP 16-147-16 14-169-16 16-1016-5 8-1616-11 16-810-16 16-316-12 16-1316-5 15-1916-6 16-1416-8 16-116-7 19-1616-11 16-716-5 16-817-19 Astralis 14-1616-7 13-1619-17 4-1614-16 7-166-16 16-1016-6 16-1916-11 10-162-16 14-1616-3 13-1613-16 6-1616-12 16-1316-8 14-1616-5 14-1614-16 Fnatic 16-1416-9 16-1317-19 13-1616-8 16-316-6 11-169-16 9-1622-18 16-1216-14 14-1616-8 16-1416-12 16-216-9 19-1715-19 16-1116-12 16-1416-8 G2 10-165-16 16-416-14 16-138-16 12-1611-16 16-1314-16 12-1612-16 11-1616-6 14-166-16 19-1612-16 16-1216-6 16-516-9 16-1116-14 16-1916-12 Na'Vi 16-811-16 16-716-6 3-166-16 16-1216-11 8-1614-16 23-2515-19 16-813-16 17-1916-10 4-1616-7 16-1216-7 7-165-16 19-1716-7 3-1616-9 dig 8-1616-10 10-166-16 16-1116-9 13-1616-14 16-816-4 4-1617-19 14-1614-16 12-169-16 16-316-12 16-516-9 18-2219-17 16-1016-7 7-1616-7 FaZe 3-1612-16 19-1611-16 16-918-22 16-1216-12 25-2319-15 16-419-17 6-163-16 6-1616-10 16-1316-5 16-147-16 16-1416-11 22-1816-10 16-816-5 mouz 13-165-16 10-1616-2 12-1614-16 16-116-16 8-1616-13 16-1416-14 16-616-3 16-916-9 16-1416-4 16-416-9 16-816-12 16-1116-13 16-825-28 nV 19-156-16 16-143-16 16-148-16 16-1416-6 19-1710-16 16-1216-9 16-610-16 9-169-16 16-710-16 16-416-5 16-916-10 16-1016-5 FF-W210-16 Heroic 14-168-16 16-1316-13 14-1612-16 16-1916-12 16-416-7 3-1612-16 13-165-16 14-164-16 7-1616-10 7-1616-9 14-1616-6 16-1916-14 12-1610-16 F3 1-167-16 6-1612-16 2-169-16 12-166-16 12-167-16 5-169-16 14-1616-7 4-169-16 4-165-16 16-79-16 7-163-16 14-1616-7 16-55-16 HR 16-1911-16 13-168-16 17-1919-15 5-169-16 16-716-5 22-1817-19 14-1611-16 8-1612-16 9-1610-16 16-146-16 16-716-3 11-1616-7 16-147-16 PENTA 7-165-16 16-145-16 11-1612-16 11-1614-16 17-197-16 10-167-16 18-2210-16 11-1613-16 10-165-16 19-1614-16 16-147-16 16-117-16 7-1616-7 VP 8-1619-17 16-1416-14 14-168-16 19-1612-16 16-39-16 16-77-16 8-165-16 8-1628-25 W-FF116-10 16-1216-10 5-1616-5 14-1616-7 16-710-16
Team Dignitas vs. Virtus.pro Tie-breaker Team Score Map Score Team Team Dignitas 16 Nuke 5 Virtus.pro Team Dignitas 16 Cobblestone 12 Virtus.pro Team Dignitas Mirage Virtus.pro
1Finn "karrigan" Andersen was on the Astralis until the end of the regular season. However, FaZe Clan acquired the Danish in-game leader before the São Paulo Finals. Since Astralis did not qualify for the Finals and FaZe did, karrigan's name is shown in both Astralis's and FaZe's rosters.
2Team EnVyUs was forced to forfeit its first map to Virtus.pro as two of its players could not log on to their accounts. The second map was played as normal.
Finals The finalized teams are shown below. Each team's world ranking for October 24, 2016 is also shown.
North America Cloud9 (7) Immortals (13) SK Gaming (3) OpTic Gaming (11) NRG Esports (25) Team Liquid (8) Europe Fnatic (9) Ninjas in Pyjamas (6) mousesports (14) FaZe Clan (15) Team EnVyUs (10) Team Dignitas (2) Broadcast Talent Host Beatriz "Bia" Bauer Desk Host Alex "Machine" Richardson Commentators Henry "HenryG" Greer John "BLU" Mullen Jason "moses" O'Toole Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett Analysts Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill Janko "YNk" Paunović Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu Observers Heather "sapphiRe" Garozzo Davis DJ "Prius" Kuntz Alex "Rushly" Rush
Group stage
Group A PosTeamWLRFRARD 1 mousesports 3 1 62 47 +15 2 Team EnVyUs 3 1 57 30 +27 3 OpTic Gaming 2 2 47 38 +9 4 Team Liquid1 1 3 34 62 -28 5 Immortals 1 3 41 60 -19 6 Fnatic2 0 0 0 0 0