ESL Pro League Season 14 will be played online thanks to COVID-related travel restrictions

^{Image courtesy of ESL}

This is a blow to the return of normalcy to esports tournaments everywhere.

ESL, one of the biggest esports organization names has just announced that the 14th Season of Pro League will now be played online fully due to COVID-related travel restrictions. With the sudden uptake of a new variant, the organizers will be taking the necessary safety precautions for players and their own team members alike.

The return of LAN gaming is an enticing thing to happen, especially with the recent success of IEM Cologne, which was played on-site, but without spectators. The challenges that is faced by ESL due to the new wave of infections spreading in Europe is immense and the team feels that it is much safer for everyone for the game to be played entirely online.

In a recent announcement made by the organizer, the 24 teams taking part in the competition will now play from their respective homes or boot camps. In sense, it will be a repeat of Season 13 of Pro League.Teams like Astralis, G2 Esports, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas and many more will take part in the event, so the excitement levels will still be high.

While the  announcement does mean that going back to normal LAN games will be tougher, ESL is still evaluating the situation for IEM Fall and IEM Winter 2021. Dont forget to check out our hub for Season 14 of the ESL Pro League, right here. 

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Season 14 Pro League will be starting from August 16. There will be three stages – the group stage, the play-in stage and the playoff stage where all matches will be a Best of Three match, with the Gran Final played as a Best of Five. The team who will be joining the competition are:

• ASTRALIS
• compLexity
• ENCE
• Evil Geniuses
• FaZe Clan
• Fnatic
• G2 Esports
• MOUZ
• Natus Vincere
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Team Liquid
• Team Vitality
• Entropiq
• SINNERS Esports
• Bad News Bears
• Team oNe
• Renegades
• TBD (to be detemined by ESL world ranking)
• TBD(to be detemined by ESL world ranking)
• TBD(to be detemined by ESL world ranking)
• TBD(to be detemined by ESL world ranking)
• TBD(to be detemined by ESL world ranking)
• TBD(to be detemined by ESL world ranking)

Format:

Group stage

• Round Robin
• Winners proceed to Play-in for see
• 2nd and 3^rd place advance to Round of 12 (play-in)
• Bo3

Play-in

• Single Elimination Bracket
• Winners proceeds to semifinals
• Losers proceeds to quarterfinals
• Bo3

Playoffs

• Bo3

Grand Final

• Bo5