ESL Pro League Winter 2014/15

ESL Pro League Winter 2014/15
E lectronic S ports L eague Pro League Winter 2014/15
Disciplines	Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
winner	Natus Vincere
organizer	Electronic Sports League
venue	ESL-Studio, Cologne (final round)
Participating clans	16
Beginning	December 10, 2014
final	April 12, 2015
Prize pool	$ 48,000
Games	33 (of which 32 carried out)

The ESL Pro League Winter 2014/15 was the first and only season of the ESL Pro League under this name. It was held from December 10, 2014 to April 12, 2015. The winner of the tournament was Natus Vincere . Only European teams took part in the competition.

mode

The 16 participating European teams were divided into two groups A and B, each with eight teams. In the groups, the best four teams of both groups were determined online in league mode. The remaining eight clans finally determined the master of the ESL Pro League (EPL) offline . For this purpose, two groups of four teams were formed. The best two teams in the two groups reached the semi-finals. There the winner of group A met the runner-up in group B and the winner of group B met runner-up in group A. The two winners of the semifinals determined the champion in the final.

In addition to the ESL Pro League, the semi-professional second-highest division ESL Major League and the third-rate ESL Open League for amateurs were formed with 32 teams .

course

The first season of the EPL is scheduled to start on December 10, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. It was played for $ 48,000 in prize money . Half of the 16 participating teams were invited by the ESL. The other half qualified through regional or Europe-wide qualifications. The German team Penta Sports only qualified because the actual winner of the German qualification mousesports was subsequently disqualified because they had played two qualifying games with the cheater Simon "smn" Beck. On December 4, 2014, the original participant became Ninjas in Pajamas by the Finnish team 3DMAX! replaced. NiP withdrew its participation as the tournament falls during the holiday season of the players. On December 8, 2014, the British participant became FM! eSports disqualified due to communication difficulties and replaced with British qualifying finalist Demgunz .

On November 25th, the ESL announced the distribution of the two groups:

Group A	Group B
3DMAX!	Team EnVyUs 4
Team SoloMid 1	Virtus.pro
Natus Vincere	Titan eSports
Epsilon eSports	Planetkey Dynamics
Copenhagen Wolves 2	Team Dignitas 3
Penta Sports	Team Orbit
ESC gaming	K1ck eSports
Key price comparison	DemgunzEMGUNZ

¹until January 31, 2015 under contract for Team Dignitas , from February 1, 2015 under contract for Team SoloMid

²until 16 December 2014 myXMG under contract, of 16 December 2014 to 26 January 2015 Awesome is Nothing begun

³until January 11, 2015 under contract for Copenhagen Wolves, meanwhile started as Deponeret , from February 1, 2015 under contract for Team Dignitas

^4thuntil February 1, 2015 under contract for Team LDLC

1st phase (online)

Group A

	First round							Second round							Qualified teams
		Team Dignitas	16	16
		Key price comparison	11	12
									Team Dignitas	16	16
									Awesome is nothing	9	1
		3DMAX!	8th	1
		myXMG	16	16
																Team SoloMid
																Natus Vincere
		Epsilon eSports	13	16	16
		Penta Sports	16	4th	7th
									Epsilon eSports	12	8th
									Natus Vincere	16	16
		ESC gaming	16	14th	11
		Natus Vincere	9	16	16

First round							Second round							Qualified teams
								Epsilon eSports	11	11
	3DMAX!	16	16					3DMAX!	16	16
	Key price comparison	4th	10												3DMAX!
															Copenhagen Wolves
								Copenhagen Wolves	8th	16	21st
	ESC gaming	6th	16	16				ESC gaming	16	1	16
	Penta Sports	16	6th	14th

Group B

	First round							Second round							Qualified teams
		Team LDLC	16	16
		Demgunz	6th	3
									Team LDLC	16	16
									Deponeret	10	3
		Copenhagen Wolves	16	16
		Planetkey Dynamics	13	5
																Team EnVyUs
																Titan eSports
		Titan eSports	16	16
		Team Orbit	9	11
									Titan eSports	16	16
									Virtus.pro	9	11
		K1ck eSports	12	3
		Virtus.pro	16	16

First round							Second round							Qualified teams
								Virtus.pro	16	16
	Planetkey Dynamics	16	7th	16				Planetkey Dynamics	3	9
	Demgunz	13	16	9											Virtus.pro
															Team Dignitas
								Team Dignitas	21st	16
	Team Orbit	1	1					Team Orbit	18th	8th
	K1ck eSports 4	0	0

^4th K1ck eSports withdrew

2nd phase (offline final in Cologne)

The offline finals of the 1st EPL were held from April 10th to 12th in the ESL studios in Cologne. The lineup from Natus Vincere emerged as the winner .

Group A

	Semifinals							Group victory game
		Team SoloMid	16	14th	16
		Virtus.pro	12	16	12
									Team SoloMid	16	9	16
									Team Dignitas	9	16	13
		Team Dignitas	16	2	16
		Natus Vincere	11	16	12

	Loser match
		Virtus.pro	16	4th	9
		Natus Vincere	5	16	16

	Game for the second group place
		Team Dignitas	4th	3
		Natus Vincere	16	16

Group B

	Semifinals							Group victory game
		Team EnVyUs	16	16
		Copenhagen Wolves	6th	4th
									Team EnVyUs	16	5	16
									Titan eSports	11	16	2
		3DMAX!	17th	8th
		Titan eSports	19th	16

	Loser match
		Copenhagen Wolves	7th	14th
		3DMAX!	16	16

	Game for the second group place
		Titan eSports	16	10	16
		3DMAX!	14th	16	6th

Final round

	Semifinals							final
		Team SoloMid	17th	16	14th
		Titan eSports	19th	10	16
									Titan eSports	12	16	13
									Natus Vincere	16	7th	16
		Natus Vincere	15th	16	16
		Team EnVyUs	19th	7th	12

Prize money distribution

All teams received $ 2,000 travel allowance in addition to the prize money they won.

space	clan	Prize money (in US dollars )
1.	Natus Vincere	$ 15,000
2.	Titan eSports	$ 7,000
3rd to 4th	Team SoloMid Team EnVyUs	$ 3,000
5th-8th	3DMAX! Copenhagen Wolves Team Dignitas Virtus.pro	$ 1,000

Web links

• Overview of the ESL Pro League Winter 2014/15 on csgo.99damage.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Changes in Group A - NiP out, 3DMAX in. (No longer available online.) Pro.eslgaming.com, December 3, 2014, archived from the original on December 9, 2014 ; accessed on December 5, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ FM! eSports replaced by Demgunz. Shortly before the start we have to announce that FM! eSports gets disqualified and replaced by Demgunz. (No longer available online.) Pro.eslgaming.com, December 8, 2014, archived from the original on April 27, 2015 ; accessed on December 8, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ The full lineup is now confirmed! (No longer available online.) In: pro.eslgaming.com. November 25, 2014, archived from the original on November 28, 2014 ; accessed on November 30, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ The finals of the ESL Pro League start. Let the games begin. 99damage, April 10, 2015, accessed April 10, 2015 .