The group stage of ESL Pro League Season 22 has officially ended. The next step is clear – the playoffs start on October 10 in Stockholm, and the race for the $1,000,000 prize pool begins. Before that, let’s look back at the most important results and storylines from the group stage.

Surprise teams from Stage 1

Three teams that shocked everyone in Stage 1 – HOTU, Inner Circle, and Gentle Mates – all managed to win one match each in Stage 2.But all three ended up finishing near the bottom with a 1-3 record.

• Gentle Mates started strong, beating Vitality in their first match. It was an amazing performance, full of confidence and quality. But then they lost three matches in a row and dropped out.
• HOTU also began with a great win against The MongolZ. After that, they lost three straight matches, all with a 0-2 score.
• Inner Circle played a close match against Spirit, but lost. Then they beat The MongolZ but fell to FURIA, and FaZe, finishing 1-3.

Even so, for all these teams, this tournament was a success. None of them qualified for the Major before, but they earned important Valve ranking points and showed their potential on the big stage.

Spirit are back

Team Spirit looked powerful with their new lineup. The addition of Andrey "tN1R" Tatarinovich made a big impact. He’s now one of the best players of this stage. Spirit played 7 maps and lost only one. Their matches were not against top-tier opponents – Inner Circle, HOTU, and G2 – but they still showed great balance and confidence. tN1R plays his old roles from HEROIC and performs almost at the level of Danil "donk" Kryshkovets. The team looks sharp and ready for tougher competition.

In the playoffs, Spirit will face FaZe first. That will be a better test. But if they pass, they might meet FURIA or Vitality next – a much bigger challenge.

Spirit player stats:

3DMAX – the biggest surprise of Stage 2

The French team 3DMAX became one of the biggest surprises of the stage. Almost no one expected them to reach the playoffs. But they did – with huge wins against FaZe, NAVI, and G2. Their only losses came against FURIA and MOUZ. Bryan "Maka" Canda played brilliantly with a 6.4 rating, and the new captain Filip "Graviti" Branković also impressed with 5.8.

3DMAX rarely reach playoffs in big events. The last time they did it was at PGL Bucharest 2025. They also made playoffs at FISSURE Playground 1, but that event had weaker opponents. This time, it’s a major success – their best result of the season so far.

Disappointments: G2, The MongolZ, and Aurora

Three teams expected to qualify – G2, The MongolZ, and Aurora – failed to reach playoffs. The MongolZ had one of the strangest runs. They lost to two underdogs, HOTU and Inner Circle, and only beat GamerLegion and Gentle Mates. Their defeat to NAVI ended their hopes.

G2 started with two wins and managed to beat FURIA, the recent FISSURE Playground 2 champions. After that, they suffered three losses in a row. Losing to 3DMAX was especially painful – a real upset for such a strong roster.

Aurora won only against Gentle Mates and Astralis. They lost every other match, even to teams around their level, including FaZe. It was a disappointing performance overall.

FaZe: from technical loss to redemption

FaZe Clan had a chaotic but exciting group stage. They started with a technical loss because of a roster mistake – their management tried to play without Håvard "rain" Nygaard which resulted the loss of the VRS core. After fixing that, they returned to the server and lost their first real match to 3DMAX.

But from there, they made a great comeback. FaZe won three matches in a row against Astralis, Inner Circle, and Aurora. The team looked refreshed with Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken and David "frozen" Čerňanský back in action. Helvijs "broky" Saukants stayed consistent as well, and Finn "karrigan" Andersen showed great form in the last four games. FaZe still look messy and aggressive, but that chaos works for them. With so many strong individuals, they can beat anyone on their best day.

FaZe player stats:

What’s next

The playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 22 start October 10 and will run until October 12 in Stockholm, Sweden. It’s a single-elimination bracket, where every match counts – no second chances.

All matches except the Grand Final will be best-of-three, and the final will be best-of-five. Only the best eight teams remain, fighting for the $1,000,000 prize pool and the Pro League title.