Vitality chose to skip ESL Pro League Season 23, giving the other Big Three a chance at glory.
The Favorites: Team Spirit, FURIA & MOUZ
With Team Vitality skipping the event and PARIVISION knocked out, we are sure to have a new tournament winner in 2026. FURIA got to the final of IEM Krakow, so it could be theirs to lose.
Will MOUZ finally get their hands on a big trophy? Will donk get his first MVP of 2026 and start to contest ZywOo? If they want to get there, there is an online Swiss gauntlet to go through first.
These are their opening matchups for Stage 2 tomorrow, March 6th:
- Team Spirit vs 3DMAX – 14:00 CET
- MOUZ vs HEROIC – 19:00 CET
- FURIA vs B8 – 19:00 CET
FalleN to miss playoffs
If FURIA are to make the playoffs, their in-game leader FalleN will not be available, due to a “personal commitment”, according to HLTV. They will have their coach, sidde, in his stead.
Big Names with bigger fails: NAVI & G2
These two teams have a reputation to uphold. Once boasting prodigies like s1mple and NiKo, these two organizations still field competitive teams, but fail to impress.
| G2 | Rating (last 3 months) | NAVI | Rating |
| HeavyGod | 1.13 | iM | 1.09 |
| MATYS | 1.02 | b1t | 1.09 |
| malbsMd | 0.99 | makazze | 1.08 |
| SunPayus | 0.98 | w0nderful | 1.04 |
| huNter- | 0.93 | Aleksib | 0.87 |
G2 had a decent start to the year, reaching the top 6 of IEM Krakow. There, they were eliminated by MOUZ. Then, they were ousted from Cluj-Napoca by NAVI.
NAVI failed to reach the playoffs at Krakow, by losing to Spirit and FURIA. At Cluj-Napoca, they were eliminated by MOUZ.
The best thing about these teams is that they only lose to the best. But we expect more from names like these, and this is their chance to seize the moment.
These are the opening matchups for NAVI and G2:
- NAVI vs Monte – 11:30 CET
- G2 vs FaZe Clan – 16:30 CET1
Dark Horses: Can Aurora, Astralis or FUT take a further step?
These three teams have been surpassing expectations this year. They all boast threatening firepower with the ability to upset great teams.
Two highest-rated players of each team
| Aurora | Rating (last 3 months) | Astralis | Rating | FUT | Rating |
| XANTARES | 1.14 | Staehr | 1.14 | lauNX | 1.12 |
| Wicadia | 1.05 | phzy | 1.12 | cmtry | 1.05 |
These three teams have at least one game-defining star, with potentially two on the side of Astralis.
Between these three teams, they have upset Falcons, MOUZ, FURIA and PARIVISION. They have shown the capability of playing against the best. Now the question is, who will take a step further?
These are the opening matchups for Astralis, Aurora and FUT:
- Aurora vs Legacy – 14:00 CET
- FUT vs Astralis – 11:30 CET
- This marks the first time these G2 and FaZe rosters will face each other. They were supposed to play at ESL Pro League Season 22, but FaZe failed to field a competitive roster in time and forfeited. ↩︎
