G2 Esports, GamerLegion and HOTU swept to victories Sunday as eight matches opened competitors in ESL Professional League Season 22 in Stockholm, Sweden.
There are 16 groups in Stage 1, with eight extra groups invited to Stage 2.
Stage 1 runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 with a 16-team Swiss format and all matches best-of-three. The highest eight groups advance to Stage 2, which is Oct. 4-8 and has the identical format.
The groups invited to Stage 2 are Crew Vitality, MOUZ, Crew Spirit, The MongolZ, Crew Falcons, Aurora Gaming, FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere.
The highest eight groups from Stage 2 qualify for the playoffs, which run Oct. 10-12 with a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three aside from the grand closing, which is best-of-five.
The match has a $400,000 prize pool, with the winner rewarded with $100,000.
On Sunday, G2 Esports gained 2-0 over Rooster, GamerLegion blanked NRG and HOTU swept FURIA.
Different winners, by 2-1 scores within the best-of-three format, had been Astralis over Fluxo, B8 over Legacy, ENCE over M80, Mild Mates over HEROIC and Inside Circle Esports over 3DMAX.
Spherical 2 excessive matches set for Monday:
–B8 vs. HOTU
–Astralis vs. ENCE
–GamerLegion vs. Inside Circle Esports
–G2 Esports vs. Mild Mates
Spherical 2 low matches scheduled for Monday:
–3DMAX vs. Rooster
–M80 vs. HEROIC
–Legacy vs. NRG
–FURIA vs. Fluxo
ESL Professional League Season 22 prize pool:
1. $100,000, TBD
2. $50,000, TBD
3. $28,000, TBD
4. $22,000, TBD
5-8. $18,000, TBD
September 11. $13,500, TBD
12-14. $10,500, TBD
15-16. $8,500, TBD
17-19. $6,500, TBD
20-22. $4,500, TBD
23-24. $3,000, TBD
–Area Stage Media