We have the top 12 teams for the ESL Pro League Season 14 after a gruelling group stage in which the best of the best CSGO teams battled it out. The top 12 will have one week break before they return to do battle in Atlanta.
The playoffs of the ESL Pro League Season 14 will feature a best-of-five single-elimination bracket with a new Swiss group format that will allow the teams more time to prepare. In addition, the teams will play two matches against their opposition in a Day 1 double-elimination bracket while their opponents do it on Day 2.
All matches are played over a Best of 3 series. Each match is played on Train and Inferno only with a Best of 3 series extension/double overtime if necessary. The Grand Final is played over Train, Inferno, and Nuke only. For the Semi-Final matches, the two teams will pick one map each to play in the Grand Final. The team that wins the Best of 3 series will advance to the Grand Final match while their opponent will drop down to the Lower Bracket.
On Day 2, both teams play their respective match against each other followed by an Upper Bracket match and a Lower Bracket match on Day 3. As a result of this new format, there are no vetoes for Day 2 on top of it being a Swiss system. However, 8 teams from each group were seeded into this stage instead of 12 unlike before.
The playoffs will be played as a single-elimination tournament with best-of-five matches played as best-of-three series except for the Grand Final which will be played as best-of-five series.
