EPL S22 Stage 1: Preview

The first stage of ESL Pro League Season 22 is all set to kick off in a couple of days. Starting on 28th September 2025, Stage 1 will run a Swiss system bo3 across sixteen teams to filter half of them out. Teams with three wins head into the main event and teams with three losses get eliminated. ESL Pro League Season 22 starts on 4th October 2025 and will run for nine days. A similar Swiss system bo3 sends eight teams to a single-elimination bracket playoffs where the winner is crowned after a bo5 grand-final.

Chinese team Lynn Vision and Australian team Rooster are the only Asia-Pacific representatives in the opening round. These two will square up against HEROIC and Astralis in the opening round. Here are the opening round's matches:

Sunday, 28/09/2025

G2, FURIA, 3DMAX, Astralis, Virtus.pro and GamerLegion were handed out invites to the first stage based on their positions in the Global VRS. A flawless upper-bracket run in the Asian closed qualifier booked HOTU's spot at the first stage. Legacy cleared the South American qualifier, M80 cleared the North American qualifier and Inner Circle cleared the European qualifier. Winners of ESL Challenger Leagues across Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania have also received direct entries into the first stage of ESL Pro League Season 22. These teams are Lynn Vision, B8, NRG, Inner Circle and Rooster.

The top eight from Stage 1 will join the elites in the main event. The MongolZ, being #2 in Global VRS have bagged a direct main event invite alongside the likes of Vitality, Spirit, FaZe, Falcons, MOUZ, Aurora and NAVI.