The EPL Returns! EPL Season 15 Groups Announced

Hot off the heels of the announcement of the First Major of 2022, PGL Antwerp, ESL has revealed the group distribution for ESL Pro League Season 15. The month-long event kicks off on March 9th. EPL Season 15 Groups will mark a return to LAN, with the event taking place in the island nation of Malta.

The previous four seasons of EPL were scheduled to take place in Malta as well, but due to the ongoing pandemic, they were moved online. The 24 teams include the 14 active partner teams and 10 teams from qualifying events (EPL Conference, ESEA Premier S38) and the ESL World Rankings.

Each EPL Season 15 group will see three teams qualify for the playoffs. Overall, the seeding seems balanced, with each group having three favorites but a chance of upset from the lower teams.

Group A's clear favorite is G2 Esports. The NiKo powered team has looked good in the opening days of BLAST Premier and should win this group. Challenging them for the group win is NIP. NIP may not have Device on the roster but they still have looked decent with phzy.

CIS's 4th best, Entropiq is a promising squad that broke out at the PGL Stockholm Major, being one map away from the Playoffs. Now as a top 10 team, they are going to be tough opponents for any team. With this field, they should be making playoffs for sure.

The international squads MOUZ and Fnatic are going to be fighting to make an upset in this group. Both squads have strong youngsters and accomplished veterans. For LFO, all we can say is, winning a single game will be a big overperformance.

Group B on paper looks like the toughest group in its current form. Vitality and Faze looked great in Blast Premier group C and VP has had months of practice under their belt with FL1T. FURIA's signing of Saffee is a great move that should restore the team to its 2019/20 glory. ENCE has also upgraded its roster with Maden.

That's without even mentioning Sprout who somehow manages to keep returning to the top of tier 1 after every setback. Faze look like the favorites, while Vitality and Virtus.Pro should both make playoffs. But winning Group B and reaching EPL Season 15 playoffs will be a tough battle.

In stark contrast to Group B, this group is one of the weakest. Gambit will be playing their first officials at their title defense of Katowice, but they should be the best team in this group. Even with the upgrades Liquid and BIG have made, Gambit should sweep this group. For the other two spots, Liquid seems like a lock-in. Nitr0 and Shox haven't produced great numbers but the team looks tactically adept and the trio of stars is fragging out.

The final spot will be a battle between BIG and Godsent. While the Brazilians look great in their bouts on EU soil, BIG should be the better team and should be taking the final slot.

Rounding the group stage out is the mixed bag Group D. World Number One, NaVi headline the group but their shaky first day has raised some questions. Heroic and Astralis both had high peaks in the Arenas, but they have heavily disappointed since then. As for the two NA squads, neither of them have a chance at the playoffs if they play as they did at BLAST Groups, but if they can level their game up, this group might get interesting for the Danes.

EPL Season 15 kicks off on March 9th, with the Grand finals concluding on April 10th. Stay tuned to Esports.gg to stay up to date with all the latest news surrounding the event.