by The 17th season of the ESL Pro League will kick off on February 22 in Malta, with Group A starting off competitive play for the first week of the event.
Of the 32 teams participating in the ESL Pro League, every CS:GO team that is ranked inside the top 20 in the world will be there, as well as 10 other teams ranked between 20 and 50, with only Rare Atom (#74) and Rooster (#100) sitting outside the top 50.
After a very impressive IEM Katowice campaign and finishing victorious over Heroic in the grand final, G2 Esports will enter ESL Pro League 17 as a $3.00 favourite with esports betting sites, while Heroic will be the second favourite at $5.50. FaZe Clan ($8.00), Team Vitality ($9.00) and Natus Vincere ($9.00) round out the teams in single figures.
Below you will find our best outright bets and group betting picks for all four of the sections.
Group A
There isn’t much value around for the winner of Group A, as the tournament favourite and No.1-ranked team in the world, G2 Esports, will be very hard to topple. The reigning IEM Katowice champions are expected to win their first three series and go straight through to the quarterfinals. G2 are currently $2.15 to win Group A with GG Bet, and considering their current form – winning their last 15 matches – it looks a fair price.
Group A winner – G2 Esports
Group B
Group B is another group that looks set to fall the way of one of the pre-tournament favourites, with Heroic currently the $3.00 favourite to top Group B. Heroic are eight ranking places higher than any team in their group, and there doesn’t look to be a roster that can challenge the Danish juggernaut across a three-map series.
Group B winner – Heroic
Group C
FaZe Clan and Team Vitality currently sit as $2.50 and $2.75 favourites, respectively, to take out Group C, with the former looking to bounce back after somewhat of a disappointing IEM Katowice performance. There is no doubt that both teams should play off for top spot in Group C, but we will be siding with the favourite.
Group C winner – FaZe Clan
Group D
Team Liquid were the third-best team at IEM Katowice and will be bringing a lot of momentum into the ESL Pro League. It is expected that one of Team Liquid or Natus Vincere will win Group D, but we will be taking Liquid at the juicy odds of $4.33 with GG Bet.
Group D winner – Team Liquid
ESL Pro League S17 outright betting pick
G2 Esports are dominating the professional Counter-Strike scene at the moment, taking out the BLAST Premier World Final to end 2022 and then finishing IEM Katowice unbeaten as the first S-tier event champion for 2023. The world No.1 has won 15 series in a row, and the start of the G2 dynasty has only just begun. With the likes of rising star Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov and veteran Nikola “NiKo” Kovac at their disposal, this international roster is stacked with talent — much more than any other squad. It is hard to see another team getting close to G2, with their IEM Katowice demolition of Heroic showing that the gap between No.1 and No.2 in the world is large, let alone the gap between the top two and the rest. G2 Esports may be the favourite to take out ESL Pro League 17, but the $4.00 on offer with most esports betting sites is hard to ignore.
