All the top teams are here to battle for the $400,000 prize pool and for the ESL Grand Slam VI wins. Thanks to the tournament format, some fresh organizations can pull off impressive upsets.
ESL Pro League Season 22 treats the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) community to a massive Major-like format. The competition starts with Stage 1, where smaller teams have a chance for a breakthrough. The best players in the world join the party with Stage 2. In both of these stages, we can witness a lot of matches thanks to the Swiss format.
In this article on esports.gg, you’ll find all the important details about the Swiss Stages at CS2 ESL Pro League Season 22. Watch the stream, check out the schedule and matchups, review the favorites analysis, and follow the results. Who advances to the Playoffs?
Stream: How to watch Swiss Stage matches at ESL Pro League Season 22
Schedule and format
The Swiss Stages run for around two weeks at the CS2 esports event, ESL Pro League Season 22. Here is the schedule.
- Sept. 28 – Oct. 2: Stage 1. The 16 invited and qualified teams play through the Swiss System matches. The top 8 advance further.
- Oct. 4 – Oct. 8: Stage 2. The 8 invited teams (with the highest VRS Global standings) join the 8 teams from Stage 1. It’s again a series of Swiss format matches. The top 8 teams advance to the Playoffs.
Check out the next-day matchups in the table below. On Oct. 1, we can witness Round 4 matches: three teams will advance to Stage 2, and three will be eliminated.
Estimate start time | 1:30 p.m. CEST / 7:30 a.m. ET GL 2:0 B8 13:9 on Ancient 13:11 on Inferno G2 2:1 Fluxo 11:13 on Ancient 13:2 on Inferno 13:4 on Mirage | 4 p.m. CEST / 10 a.m. ET Astralis 2:1 HEROIC 13:10 on Mirage 4:13 on Inferno 13:2 on Nuke 3DMAX 2:1 ENCE 11:13 on Dust II 13:5 on Nuke 16:14 on Ancient | 6:30 p.m. CEST / 12:30 p.m. ET FURIA 1:0 M80 13:8 on Overpass Inferno Train Legacy vs M8 Ancient Mirage Nuke |
Stage 1 teams, matchups, and results at ESL Pro League Season 22
Mainly, lower-level teams join ESL Pro League Season 22 with Stage 1. Still, there are some pretty strong rosters and even tournament winners among these participants.
To advance to the next stage, the teams should achieve three wins, and they have five rounds for this. The image below shows matchups and results in each Stage 1 round.
Round 1 matches
Astralis 2:1 Fluxo 13:6 on Mirage 9:13 on Inferno 13:2 on Nuke G2 2:0 Rooster 13:9 on Overpass 13:3 on Inferno | GL 2:0 NRG 13:11 on Train 13:9 on Overpass 3DMAX 1:2 IC Esports 16:13 on Ancient 9:13 on Nuke 4:13 Train | FURIA 0:2 HOTU 8:13 on Overpass 9:13 on Dust II Legacy 1:2 B8 13:4 on Dust II 6:13 on Ancient 2:13 on Train | HEROIC 1:2 M8 6:13 on Nuke 13:7 on Mirage 12:16 on Ancient M80 1:2 ENCE 10:13 on Dust II 13:9 on Mirage 8:13 Ancient |
Round 2 matchs
1:0 Matches | 0:1 Matches |
|---|---|
| B8 1:2 HOTU 13:7 on Overpass 10:13 on Mirage 2:13 on Ancient | 3DMAX 2:0 Rooster 13:10 on Overpass 13:3 on Inferno |
| Astralis 1:2 ENCE 16:13 on Ancient 2:13 on Nuke 7:13 on Overpass | M80 0:2 HEROIC 4:13 on Dust II 9:13 on Overpass |
| GL 1:2 IC Esports 3:13 on Ancient 22:20 on Overpass 1:13 on Dust II | Legacy 2:1 NRG 6:13 on Mirage 13:8 on Nuke 13:5 on Dust II |
| G2 1:2 M8 13:2 on Inferno 11:13 on Mirage 7:13 on Ancient | FURIA 2:0 Fluxo 13:8 on Inferno 13:7 on Mirage |
Round 3 matches
2:0 Matches | 1:1 Matches | 0:2 Matches |
|---|---|---|
| HOTU 2:0 Ence 13:4 on Dust II 13:8 on Ancient | G2 1:2 B8 8:13 on Mirage 13:7 on Dust II 2:13 on Ancient | M80 2:0 Rooster 13:6 on Mirage 13:3 on Inferno |
| IC Esports 2:1 M8 8:13 on Nuke 13:10 on Mirage 13:11 on Ancient | Astralis 0:2 GL 13:0 on Nuke 13:9 on Overpass | NRG 0:2 Fluxo 8:13 on Nuke 11:13 on Train |
| FURIA 0:2 Legacy 9:13 on Dust II 11:13 on Mirage | ||
| HEROIC 0:2 3DMAX 8:13 on Dust II 9:13 on Inferno |
- HOTU is the first team to advance to Stage 2. They won the Asian qualifier to be here, and then HOTU defeated FURIA, B8, and ENCE.
- IC Esports advanced to Stage 2 of ESL Pro League S22 with wins over 3DMAX, GL, and M8.
- Rooster and NRG left the tournament after three rounds.
Round 4 matches
2:1 Matches | 1:2 Matches |
|---|---|
| GL 2:0 B8 13:9 on Ancient 13:11 on Inferno | G2 2:1 Fluxo 11:13 on Ancient 13:2 on Inferno 13:4 on Mirage |
| 3DMAX 2:1 ENCE 11:13 on Dust II 13:5 on Nuke 16:14 on Ancient | FURIA vs M80 |
| Legacy vs M8 | Astralis 2:1 HEROIC 13:10 on Mirage 4:13 on Inferno 13:2 on Nuke |
- GamerLegion and 3DMAX advance to Stage 2.
- Fluxo and HEROIC are out of this CS2 esports tournament.
Stage 2 at CS2 ESL Pro League S22
Some of the top Counter-Strike 2 teams are invited directly to Stage 2 of ESL Pro League S22. The matchups will be known after Stage 1.
Team Vitality Team Falcons | MOUZ Aurora Gaming | Team Spirit FaZe Clan | The MongolZ NAVI |
The following teams qualified from Stage 1.
HOTU IC Esports | TBD TBD | TBD TBD | TBD TBD |
The Swiss System continues at the tournament, so three wins in five rounds are needed to earn a Playoffs spot. Three losses mean elimination.
Talent reveal
The image below highlights all the talent who work during the ESL Pro League S22 streams.
Top Contenders: A look at the ESL Pro League S22 favorites
The tournament is long, and you can get interested in experimenting with CS2 esports betting: we have an article specifically about ESL Pro League Season 22. Always approach this industry with caution and safety.
Stage 1
In Stage 1, we can see a few big names.
- G2 Esports — The winners of BLAST Open Fall 2025 in London.
- FURIA — The winners of FISSURE Playground #2. It feels like the addition of FalleN to the roster strengthened the team substantially.
Among other teams, it’s interesting to follow the current progress of Astralis, specifically after the return of Emil “Magisk” Reif. M80, 3DMAX, and HEROIC are quite capable of upsets.
Stage 2
In Stage 2, the true tournament favorites join the competition.
- Team Vitality — Fans anticipate their recovery to the tournament-winning form. The Austin Major winners can surely deliver that!
- MOUZ — After a somewhat disappointing result at BLAST Open Fall 2025, Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen, the coach, talked about organizational changes for the team. MOUZ have been coming really close to big CS2 esports trophies, and they absolutely deserve to win one.
- The MongolZ have been showing us a rollercoaster of performance, but they steadily progress with their results. The team won the Counter-Strike 2 EWC 2025.
NAVI, Team Spirit, and Team Falcons are also the usual tournament favorites, but their recent results do not support this reputation.
- Spirit comes to this event with more roster changes: Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich replaced Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia.
- NAVI won StarSeries Fall 2025, which was good cash but not a proper competition for this team.
- Team Falcons brings together big celebrities and the most prominent young players. Still, the legendary coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen can’t make this machine work flawlessly and with stable results.
The Playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 22 will start on Oct. 10. This stage features single-elimination brackets with a third-place match. The grand final will be played on Oct. 12.
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