February is coming to an end and it means that the matches of ESL Pro League Season 17 join the CS:GO match schedule. The best teams of the competitive CS:GO world will meet in Malta to decide the strongest.
The championship will be carried out from February 22 to March 26 this year. 32 contenders from all over the world will fight for the monetary reward of $850,000 and, besides it, 6,700 BLAST Points, a ticket for IEM Cologne 2023, and a slot in BLAST World Final 2023.
In anticipation of the CSGO holiday, we propose to talk about the main contenders to prevail in EPL S17.
Table of Contents
G2 Esports on the wave of success
The first contender to achieve victory in EPL S17 will be G2 Esports. The team has its best times and will cause big problems for its counterparts for sure.
Having hired HoXi as a captain in August 2022, G2 Esports relied on “the future” and initial championships with the participation of “the samurai” with the new IGL looked like a circus show but the club’s patience was rewarded a bit later.
At the end of 2022, G2 prevailed at BLAST Premier: World Final 2022 and continued to win championships in the European arena. At the beginning of this year, G2 Esports achieved victory at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 to IEM Katowice, one of the oldest and most prestigious CS:GO tournaments, in a month.
G2’s formula began to work and it brought nothing good to the opponents of G2 Esports.
Heroic in pursuit of “the samurai”
Heroic was another contender to achieve the world championship at the end of 2022. Despite being unable to stay on the top (G2 stopped them), they still have a pretty big chance to prevail in EPL S17.
Xizt’s rookies shined bright at the home BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2022 when they outplayed FaZe Clan in the grand final. A bit later, namely, in the middle of February, Heroic visited Spodek Arena where they lost to G2 Esports in the final IEM Katowice.
ESL Pro League Season 17 can become a nice reason to avenge the rivals from G2 Esports. The chance to succeed is high because Heroic will not face large obstacles in its group on its way to the quarterfinals.
FaZe Clan: time to wake up
Having held the first place in the world rankings suddenly, the international super club started losing momentum. After the victory in Antwerp almost a year ago, FaZe was far from the results of that period.
The team dramatically failed at Rio Major 2022, after which it had a mediocre performance in the BLAST World Finals 2022. At the beginning of the new season, FaZe faced a problem: Liquid eliminated the 2022 world champions from IEM Katowice and did not let them proceed to the playoffs.
EPL S17 had to become a reason to remember the old times and return to the top. And they have everything to do so: the experienced players with a high level of personal play, the serious captain, and the passable group.
Outsiders in an attempt to show class
It can’t be compared to G2 but Outsiders can still be called another contender to achieve victory in EPL S17. The team has to find itself again and the format of ESL Pro League will help: many matches in a group, passable matches at the beginning of the way, and a chance to gain momentum during the tournament.
We know that Outsiders is a skillful team. They proved themselves at IEM Rio Major 2022 when they won it surprisingly.
After the triumph in the heart of the competitive CS:GO, the team declined but did not lose a skill. EPL S17 might become a lifeline for Outsiders.
Team Liquid in an attempt to win a rematch for the 16th season
Another contender for victory will be Team Liquid. Liquid is always around the pantheon of the strongest teams in the world but they still can’t secure a spot there.
The team held the top 2 at the last year’s BLAST Global Finals and entered the top 4 at IEM Katowice 2023. It could be top results but it is still not enough.
EliGE and the company want to raise the cup of the champions, especially the ESL Pro League championship cup. Liquid was one map away from triumph last year: Team Vitality won the title that time, having left Liquid with nothing.
Perhaps it is time for revenge?
Conclusion
ESL Pro League Season 17 is a massive competition, which has gathered all the strongest teams and even more. Besides the obvious favorites, there are, at least, a few teams, which can surprise: Complexity, Vitality, NiP, etc.
The tournament will not be boring. We are not against it: we are ready to root for our favorite teams, support the beautiful CS:GO, and enjoy the monthly marathon of matches at EPL S17.
