Six teams to follow at EPL S23 Stage 1: Stream, schedule, and results

Season 23 brings changes to the recent traditions of ESL Pro League (EPL). The competition starts with two Swiss System stages as usual, but they happen online. Only the final brackets are played in the LAN environment.

Such a format certainly affects the tournament atmosphere. However, it can’t make Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports less exciting!

Stage 1 of EPL S23 features clashes of lower-seeded teams. Only 8 out of 16 can make it to Stage 2 and face the top favorites — for a chance to qualify for the playoffs. We can highlight six early participants, as they are arguably the most interesting to follow.

• Stream and schedule
• Six teams to follow
• Results

How to watch ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1: Stream

The official YouTube and Twitch channels of ESL Counter-Strike broadcast the Stage 1 matches of EPL S23.

Schedule

Stage 1 of EPL Season 23 starts on March 1. Teams should accumulate three wins in five rounds. Losing three matches means elimination.

Six teams to follow at Stage 1 of ESL Pro League Season 23

The participants of this tournament phase are interesting for different reasons. Some can potentially reach the final brackets and even battle for the trophy — they are among the favorites on the esports betting platforms. Others bring special energy and an interesting style to CS2 esports events.

G2 Esports

It’s even weird to see G2 seeded at EPL S23 so low — Stage 1 should be a fun walk for a team of this caliber. G2 Esports were in the top 6 at IEM Kraków 2026 but could not reach the playoffs at PGL Cluj-Napoca.

PARAVISION

This organization still experiences the traces of being an underdog team, as this Stage 1 seeding is hardly relevant for them. PARAVISION won BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 and were in the grand final at PGL Cluj-Napoca.

Stage 1 of ESL Pro League Season 23 should prove the stability of PARAVISION as top competitors or reconfirm their shaky performance from Kraków.

Legacy 

For this season, Legacy benched Lucas “lux” Meneghini and signed Andrei “arT” Piovezan as their new in-game leader. That move did not bring immediate good results, and EPL S23 Stage 1 is a chance to see if this team is still relevant for top Counter-Strike.

Legacy won the CS Asia Championships and had other decent placements in 2025. Alongside paiN Gaming, they can prove that Brazilian CS2 is not only about FURIA.

Team Liquid 

It’s an iconic organization with many fans. In its current state, the Liquid roster can reach high placements, like the top 8 at BLAST Bounty Winter 2026, or be way below their own standards, like the top 20 in Kraków. What can they pull off during Stage 1 of EPL S23?

Astralis 

The team signed two new players after losing Emil “Magisk” Reif and Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. From not qualifying for the main event of BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 to being in the top 8 at IEM Kraków 2026 — Astralis keep playing with their fans’ emotions.

3DMAX

It’s pretty fun to watch matches of 3DMAX, as these players are often reckless with their offense, fearless. Such an aggressive playstyle brought good results in 2025, but it was not successful during the first tournaments of 2026.

Results of EPL S23 Stage 1

All rounds of Stage 1 at ESL Pro League Season 23 are under the best-of-three format. With three wins, the team secured spots in Stage 2, which also featured five Swiss System rounds.

Round 1

• There were not many surprise results in this round, as most of the favorites won their matches.
• Astralis recovered after a 4:13 on Dust II and the delivered similar devastating scores. After this match, the community wondered how Monte even managed to defeat NAVI at BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 — the inconsistency of this team was drastic.
• Passion UA defeated Team Liquid, having a 15:19 overtime on Nuke. There were roster changes in PUA right before EPL Season 22. Santino “try” Rigal from Imperial Esports and Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold from The MongolZ joined the team. Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli and Michael “Grim” Wince are out. Senzu is on loan.
• In a match with no clear favorites, paiN Gaming defeated 3DMAX.

Round 2

• Team Liquid lost another match and fell to the elimination zone. One of the underdogs, Gamin Gladiators won this intense battle.
• PARAVISION survived a 19:15 overtime over paiN Gaming and then won the match.
• Quite surprisingly, Legacy defeated G2 Esports.

Matchups and results of Round 3

• FUT Esports defeated Astralis to advance to Stage 2.
• Legacy won their qualification match versus PARAVISION.
• The match between HEROIC and Monte delivered us the biggest overtime in the tournament so far, 22:20.
• NRG and SemperFi got eliminated. Team Liquid barely survived their battle, and they have two elimination matches ahead.

Round 4

• Monte defeated PARAVISION in a match for a Stage 2 spot. The favorites take a long run in Stage 1, with the risk of elimination in the final round.
• G2 Esports lost to paiN Gaming in a close match with two overtimes. Stage 1 is pretty much a disaster for G2.
• Astralis is another team to advance to the next phase of EPL S23. They defeated 3DMAX confidently.
• Gaming Gladiators, Passion UA, and M80 are out.

Round 5

• HEROIC eliminated PARAVISION. From the grand final at PGL Cluj-Napoca to not reaching the online Stage 2 — PARAVISION’s performance is super shaky.
• G2 Esports finally won their qualification match. They defeated NiP.
• 3DMAX reached Stage 2 and sent Team Liquid home.

The final matches of ESL Pro League Season 23 happen from March 13 to March 15 — in Stockholm, Sweden.

Right after this tournament, all the top CS2 esports teams gather at BLAST Open Spring 2026. This event starts on March 18, with the grand final on March 29.