G2 Esports, GamerLegion and HOTU swept to victories Sunday as eight matches opened competition in ESL Pro League Season 22 in Stockholm, Sweden.
There are 16 teams in Stage 1, with eight more teams invited to Stage 2.
Stage 1 runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 with a 16-team Swiss format and all matches best-of-three. The top eight teams advance to Stage 2, which is Oct. 4-8 and has the same format.
The teams invited to Stage 2 are Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, The MongolZ, Team Falcons, Aurora Gaming, FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere.
The top eight teams from Stage 2 qualify for the playoffs, which run Oct. 10-12 with a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.
The tournament has a $400,000 prize pool, with the winner rewarded with $100,000.
On Sunday, G2 Esports won 2-0 over Rooster, GamerLegion blanked NRG and HOTU swept FURIA.
Other winners, by 2-1 scores in the best-of-three format, were Astralis over Fluxo, B8 over Legacy, ENCE over M80, Gentle Mates over HEROIC and Inner Circle Esports over 3DMAX.
Round 2 high matches set for Monday:
–B8 vs. HOTU
–Astralis vs. ENCE
–GamerLegion vs. Inner Circle Esports
–G2 Esports vs. Gentle Mates
Round 2 low matches scheduled for Monday:
–3DMAX vs. Rooster
–M80 vs. HEROIC
–Legacy vs. NRG
–FURIA vs. Fluxo
ESL Pro League Season 22 prize pool:
1. $100,000, TBD
2. $50,000, TBD
3. $28,000, TBD
4. $22,000, TBD
5-8. $18,000, TBD
9-11. $13,500, TBD
12-14. $10,500, TBD
15-16. $8,500, TBD
17-19. $6,500, TBD
20-22. $4,500, TBD
23-24. $3,000, TBD
–Field Level Media