CS2 teams at ESL Pro League Season 23: Vitality and Falcon skip

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This event marks a significant shift for the series and may explain why two leading teams have chosen not to compete in EPL Season 23.

This Counter-Strike 2 tournament is a major event on the esports calendar, largely due to its inclusion in the ESL Grand Slam VI and the impressive $1,000,000 prize for the winning team. However, ESL Pro League Season 23 has seen some unexpected reductions in quality.

The first stage of competition is now happening online, a change from previous seasons like Season 22 which featured in-person matches. This shift will likely impact how players compete and how many people watch.

ESL has announced the teams invited to its next tournament, and notably, Team Vitality and Team Falcons won’t be participating. Both organizations turned down their invitations, and while the exact reason isn’t known, it likely has to do with the quick turnaround – another CS2 event is scheduled to begin only two days after the tournament’s final match.

Passion UA and Ninjas in Pyjamas have earned spots in Stage 1. Additionally, Aurora Gaming and B8 will advance to Stage 2.

All teams invited to CS2 esports ESL Pro League Season 23

The full lineup of teams at EPL Season 23 is shown in the image below.

Stage 1 teams at EPL Season 23

LegacyAstralisNinjas in PyjamasGaimin GladiatorsG2 EsportsHEROICPassion UASemperFi EsportsTeam LiquidpaiN GamingPARIVISIONM803DMAXFUT EsportsNRGMonte

Some pretty strong teams start from the online stage at ESL Pro League Season 23.

  • G2 Esports won BLAST Open Fall 2025. The players still suffer with inconsistency, so they are seeded low at this and some previous events: such as IEM Krakow 2025. 
  • Legacy had ups and downs in 2025. They won CS Asia Championships 2025 but then couldn’t advance even to Stage 2 at the Budapest Major 2025.

Besides the top teams from the global rankings, the competition also features winners from regional qualifying events like ESL Challenger League Season 50 and DreamHack Knockout.

  • M80 had a great start at the Budapest Major, but then, they crumbled under the pressure of Stage 2.
  • Monte is generally an obscure team, but these players already managed to defeat NAVI at BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 — and eliminated them in the online qualifier.

Stage 2: The top CS2 esports teams at ESL Pro League Season 23

FURIAFaZe ClanTeam SpiritThe MongolZNatus VincereAurora GamingMOUZB8

Team Vitality took first place at EPL Season 22, beating Team Falcons in the championship match. However, both of these top Counter-Strike 2 teams will not participate in Season 23.

Now that they’re eliminated, FURIA is widely considered the frontrunner to win. However, we still need to see how well this CS2 team performs at the beginning of the 2026 competitive season, especially considering their surprisingly strong performance in the latter half of 2025.

Esports betting sites are likely to give good odds to both MOUZ and Spirit. Spirit previously defeated MOUZ in the grand finals of IEM Cologne 2025, winning the tournament.

Following unexpected losses against weaker teams in the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 online qualifiers, both NAVI and FaZe Clan now have a chance to demonstrate why they are considered top contenders at EPL Season 23.

As a huge esports fan, I’m already getting excited for 2026! ESL and FACEIT are planning a ton of events, including Season 23 of the Pro League, and Intel Extreme Masters stops in some awesome cities – Kraków, Rio, Atlanta, and Cologne. It’s going to be a packed year!

IEM Cologne 2026 got the status of a CS2 Major! It happens from June 2 to June 21.

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2026-01-16 17:11