On April 23, 2024, ESL Pro League Season 19 will begin, running until May 12. The event will see 32 of the world's top teams gather in Malta to compete for a $750,000 prize pool. ESL Pro League Season 19 is a life-long tournament, but to help you understand it better, we have written a preview of this championship.

After recent updates from ESL, two groups will play at the same time. In this article, we will cover Group A and Group B. The remaining groups, C and D, will be discussed in the next piece.

Group A

In the first group of the championship, teams such as FaZe Clan, Imperial, Eternal Fire, Astralis, Virtus.pro, Fnatic, 3DMAX, and SAW will compete. The initial matches of the group will start on April 23 at 20:30 Kyiv time. The matches include:

• FaZe Clan vs. Imperial (April 23 at 20:30)
• Eternal Fire vs. Astralis (April 23 at 17:30)
  
• Virtus.pro vs. Fnatic (April 23 at 14:30)
  
• 3DMAX vs. SAW (April 23 at 14:30)
  

Group A will be played in a Triple Elimination format. Only four teams will advance to the next stage of the tournament. The bracket is displayed below:

Group B

Group B includes teams such as Team Vitality, Sharks, BetBoom, M80, Falcons, TheMongolz, TYLOO, and G2. The first matches will also begin on April 23, with some continuing on April 24. The match schedule is as follows:

• Team Vitality vs. Sharks (April 23 at 17:30)
• BetBoom vs. M80 (April 23 at 20:30)
  
• Falcons vs. TheMongolz (April 24 at 14:30)
  
• TYLOO vs. G2 (April 24 at 14:30)
  

Group B will also be played in a Triple Elimination format, with only four teams advancing to the next phase. The bracket is shown below:

Playoffs and Prize Pool

From all groups, 16 teams will advance to the playoffs, which will be played in a Single Elimination format. As previously mentioned, the prize pool of the championship is $750,000, with the distribution detailed below:

• 1st place — $170,000 + a direct invite to IEM Cologne 2024 + 2,000 BLAST Premier Points
• 2nd place — $80,000 + 1,400 BLAST Premier Points
  
• 3rd-4th place — $45,000 + 750 BLAST Premier Points
  
• 5th-8th place — $32,000 + 275 BLAST Premier Points
  
• 9th-12th place — $23,500
  
• 13th-16th place — $17,500
  
• 17th-20th place — $12,000
  
• 21st-28th place — $7,000
  
• 29th-32nd place — $3,500
  

Additionally, don't forget about the Pickem Challenge, which is already available on our website. You can make your predictions for this tournament for free, and if you place in a prize-winning position, you will also receive a nice bonus in the form of a Counter-Strike skin! More details can be found here.