ESL Pro League Season 2 (officially known as ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2; shortened as EPL Season 2) was an Electronic Sports League (ESL) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the second season of the ESL Pro League. The Finals took place in Burbank, California, United States from December 10 to December 13, 2015. The regular season for Europe began on September 9, 2015, with Ninjas in Pyjamas beating Team EnVyUs and ended with Team EnVyUs defeating mousesports. North America's season began on the same date and kicked off with compLexity Gaming defeating Enemy and concluded with Team Liquid defeating Enemy. The season ended with Fnatic defeating Natus Vincere in a close best of five finals, 3–2. Teams from two continents, North America and Europe, competed in twelve team leagues and play against each other twice to determine the top four teams from each continent would play in the Finals.
Format Each continent featured the top nine teams from last season's ESL Pro League Season 1, the winning team from ESEA Season 19: Premier Division for North America and the winning team from ESEA Season 21: Premier Division for Europe, and two teams from the ESL Pro League Season 1 Relegation. North America had one more spot remaining after roster of disbanded, so ESL invited one more team to complete the twelve team league. Teams within each continent will play each other twice to determine the top four teams to the Finals in Burbank. The regular season spanned to eleven weeks of play and all these matches were played online.
The top four teams after the conclusion of the regular season moved on to Burbank to play in the Finals; in addition, those teams were invited to next season's ESL Pro League. Teams that placed fifth to ninth place did not make the Finals, but were invited to next season's ESL Pro League. The teams in ninth and tenth place were required to play in Season 2's Relegation match, in which two teams from each continent play to see which team moves on to next season's ESL Pro League. The teams in twelfth place would have no chance to redeem themselves and were automatically demoted to the premier division.
The Finals consisted of eight teams, four from Europe and four from North America. These teams will be separated into two groups – the first and third seeds from North America and the second and fourth seeds from Europe will be in one group and the other teams in the other group. The group stage will consist of the highest seed going against the lowest seed and the middle two seeds against each other, both games in a best of one format. The winners will play in a best of one to determine one team in the Playoffs; the losers will play in a best of three to determine which team gets eliminated from the tournament. The remaining two teams will play in a best of three to determine which team will be the second team in the group to move on to the Playoffs. In the Playoffs, the semifinals will be a best of three and the finals will be a best of five. The winner of the finals will win the tournament and the top prize. All games in the Finals will be played offline.
Teams North America
Cloud9 (Season 1 #1) Luminosity Gaming (Season 1 #2) Winterfox (Season 1 #3) Counter Logic Gaming (Season 1 #4) Team Liquid (Season 1 #5) compLexity Gaming (Season 1 #6) Conquest (Season 1 #8) 3sUP Enterprises (Season 1 #9) SapphireKelownaDotCom (Invited) Coastless (Premier Season 19) Enemy (Season 1 Relegation) Method (Season 1 Relegation) Europe
Fnatic (Season 1 #1) Virtus.pro (Season 1 #2) Team SoloMid (Season 1 #3) Team EnVyUs (Season 1 #4) Ninjas in Pyjamas (Season 1 #5) HellRaisers (Season 1 #6) Natus Vincere (Season 1 #7) Team Dignitas (Season 1 #8) Titan (Season 1 #9) SK Gaming (Premier Season 21) mousesports (Season 1 Relegation) PENTA Sports (Season 1 Relegation)
North America
Broadcast Talent Commentators Cory "megaman" Gilbert John "BLU" Mullen Jason "moses" O'Toole
Final standings Final Standings Place Prize Money TeamW-LRF-RARDPts RosterCoach 1st 18,000 Team Liquid 18-4 340-212 +128 54 , ELiGE, FugLy, Hiko, GBJame^s 2nd 16,500 Luminosity Gaming 16-6 294-197 +97 48 , , FalleN, , nak 3rd 15,000 Conquest 15-7 324-236 +88 45 , NAF, , RUSH, ShahZaM 4th 13,500 Counter Logic Gaming 14-8 301-245 +56 42 , , , , FNS 5th 13,000 compLexity Gaming 12-10 341-293 +48 36 , , , , Semphis Warden 6th 11,500 Cloud9 12-10 295-246 +49 36 fREAKAZOiD, n0thing, sgares, Skadoodle, shroud 7th 10,000 3sUP Enterprises 11-11 284-280 +4 33 , , Professor_Chaos, , 8th 8,500 Enemy 10-12 276-291 -15 30 Anomaly, , MAiNLiNE, Relyks, Uber Ryu 9th 7,000 SapphireKelownaDotCom 8-14 250-291 -41 24 , , OCEAN, FGB, 10th 5,500 Method 8-14 246-276 -30 24 , SileNt3m, streboR, Toy, DAVEY 11th 4,000 Winterfox 8-14 270-302 -32 24 , , , LeX, Xp3 12th Coastless1 , , ScrunK 1Coastless disbands before the season starts, forcing the team to forfeit all games.
Europe
Broadcast Talent Commentators Anders Blume Mitch "Uber" Leslie Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat Alex "Machine" Richardson Lauren "Pansy" Scott Leigh "Deman" Smith Final Standings Place Prize Money TeamW-LRF-RARDPts RosterCoach 1st 18,000 Team SoloMid 18-4 342-215 +127 54 , , dupreeh, karrigan, Xyp9x 3k2 2nd 16,500 Fnatic 17-5 337-255 +82 51 dennis, flusha, KRiMZ, JW, olofmeister 3rd 15,000 Natus Vincere 14-8 325-267 +58 42 Edward, , GuardiaN, seized, Zeus 4th 13,500 Team EnVyUs 14-8 311-266 +45 42 apEX, Happy, kennyS, kioShiMa, NBK- 5th 13,000 Titan 12-10 270-294 -24 36 Rpk, , SmithZz, Ex6TenZ, ScreaM 6th 11,500 Team Dignitas 12-10 269-287 -18 36 Kjaerbye, , MSL, , RUBINO zonic 7th 10,000 Ninjas in Pyjamas 11-11 294-265 +29 33 , friberg, GeT RiGhT, Xizt, allu 8th 8,500 mousesports 9-13 278-298 -20 27 , , , , NiKo 9th 7,000 Virtus.pro 8-14 257-322 -65 24 byali, NEO, , Snax, TaZ kuben 10th 5,500 SK Gaming 6-16 256-304 -48 18 AcillioN, , Friis, Magiskb0y, MODDII 11th 4,000 HellRaisers 6-16 256-304 -61 18 ANGE1, , , , STYKO 12th 2,500 PENTA Sports 5-17 213-318 -105 15 , Spiidi, , ,
Finals The finalized teams are shown below. Each team's world ranking for December 8, 2015 is also shown.
North America Team Liquid (9) Luminosity Gaming (7) Conquest (16) Counter Logic Gaming (13) Europe ? (3) Fnatic (1) Natus Vincere (5) Team EnVyUs (2) Broadcast Talent Host Alex "Machine" Richardson Commentators Anders Blume Sean "sgares" Gares Corey "Megaman" Gilbert Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat John "BLU" Mullen Jason "moses" O'Toole Lauren "Pansy" Scott Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett Observers Heather "sapphiRe" Garrozo
Group stage
Group A PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Team EnVyUs 2 0 64 36 +28 6 2 Fnatic 2 1 81 68 +13 6 3 Team Liquid 1 2 85 93 -8 3 4 Conquest 0 2 43 76 -33 0 Group A Matches Team Liquid 0 2 Team EnVyUs Fnatic 2 0 Conquest Fnatic 0 2 Team EnVyUs Team Liquid 2 1 Conquest Fnatic 2 0 Team Liquid
Group A Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team Liquid 14 Cobblestone 16 Team EnVyUs Team Liquid 5 Cache 16 Team EnVyUs Team Liquid Mirage Team EnVyUs Fnatic 16 Mirage 4 Conquest Fnatic 16 Inferno 10 Conquest Fnatic Cache Conquest Fnatic 11 Cobblestone 16 Team EnVyUs Fnatic 6 Inferno 16 Team EnVyUs Fnatic Mirage Team EnVyUs Team Liquid 12 Inferno 16 Conquest Team Liquid 16 Cache 7 Conquest Team Liquid 16 Overpass 6 Conquest Fnatic 16 Cache 14 Tean Liquid Fnatic 16 Mirage 8 Tean Liquid Fnatic Dust II Team Liquid
Group B PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 ? 2 0 64 43 +21 6 2 Natus Vincere 2 1 104 85 +19 6 3 Luminosity Gaming 1 2 85 96 -11 3 4 Counter Logic Gaming 0 2 38 64 -26 0 Group B Matches ? 2 0 Counter Logic Gaming Luminosity Gaming 0 2 Natus Vincere ? 2 0 Natus Vincere Luminosity Gaming 2 0 Counter Logic Gaming Natus Vincere 2 1 Luminosity Gaming
Group B Scores Team Score Map Score Team ? 16 Mirage 12 Counter Logic Gaming ? 16 Infenro 6 Counter Logic Gaming ? Train Counter Logic Gaming Luminosity Gaming 5 Dust II 16 Natus Vincere Luminosity Gaming 15 Inferno 19 Natus Vincere Luminosity Gaming Overpass Natus Vincere ? 16 Train 12 Natus Vincere ? 16 Inferno 13 Natus Vincere ? Mirage Natus Vincere Luminosity Gaming 16 Mirage 8 Counter Logic Gaming Luminosity Gaming 16 Overpass 12 Counter Logic Gaming Luminosity Gaming Cache Counter Logic Gaming Natus Vincere 16 Cobblestone 11 Luminosity Gaming Natus Vincere 12 Cobblestone 16 Luminosity Gaming Natus Vincere 16 Mirage 6 Luminosity Gaming
Playoffs
Bracket
Semifinals Semifinals Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 9 Dust II 16 Natus Vincere Team EnVyUs 18 Cobblestone 22 Natus Vincere Team EnVyUs Mirage Natus Vincere ? 12 Inferno 16 Fnatic ? 14 Mirage 16 Fnatic ? Dust II Fnatic
Finals Finals Team Score Map Score Team Natus Vincere 14 Inferno 16 Fnatic Natus Vincere 14 Dust II 16 Fnatic Natus Vincere 16 Mirage 6 Fnatic Natus Vincere 16 Train 14 Fnatic Natus Vincere 6 Cobblestone 16 Fnatic
Finals Standings Final Standings Place Prize Money Team Roster Coach 1st 100,000 Fnatic dennis, flusha, KRiMZ, JW, olofmeister vuggo 2nd 60,000 Natus Vincere Edward, , GuardiaN, seized, Zeus starix 3rd 4th 25,000 ? cajunb, dev1ce, dupreeh, karrigan, Xyp9x Team EnVyUs apEX, Happy, kennyS, kioShiMa, NBK- Next 5th 6th 12,500 Luminosity Gaming coldzera, FalleN, fer, fnx, TACO zews Team Liquid adreN, ELiGE, FugLy, Hiko, m0E, nitr0 GBJame^s 7th 8th 7,500 Conquest daps, NAF, stanislaw, RUSH, ShahZaM Counter Logic Gaming hazed, jdm64, reltuC, tarik, FNS
Between the end of the online season and the start of the finals, an unexpected number of changes took place.
The players of Team SoloMid opted out of their contracts, leaving the players without a team. Before the players started their own organization, which would be called Astralis, the team played under the name "?", which is pronounced "Question Mark."
Team EnVyUs pick up a new coach, Jordan "Next" Savelli.
Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski had final exams for his high school on the first day of finals, so Team Liquid brought in former Counter-Strike: Source professional turned streamer Mohamad "m0E" Assad as a replacement in Liquid's match against EnVyUs.
Luminosity Gaming replaced Ricardo "boltz" Prass, Lucas "steel" Lopes, and Renato "nak" Nakano and brought up Lincoln "fnx" Lau, Epitácio "TACO" de Melo, and Wilton "zews" Prado from Games Academy, an organization FalleN is the owner of.
References