
ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1: Opening Day Recap
On March 1, ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1 kicked off, with teams beginning their run in the Online Stage and taking the first step toward the playoffs. The opening matchday went by without major upsets. The favorites secured confident wins and didn’t allow underdogs to shake up the bracket. The tournament is only gaining momentum, but teams have already shown they are ready to compete.
Two matches stood out in particular: Team Liquid vs Passion UA and 3DMAX vs paiN Gaming.
In the first series, Passion UA confidently won their own map pick 13–8 and then secured a hard-fought overtime victory on Nuke (19–15) to close out the series 2–0.
In the match between 3DMAX and paiN, the teams traded map wins, but on the decisive third map, Inferno, paiN managed to edge out the French squad 16–14.
Teams with a 1–0 record:
- HEROIC
- Astralis
- PARIVISION
- paiN Gaming
- Passion UA
- FUT Esports
- G2 Esports
- Legacy
Teams with a 0–1 record:
- NRG
- Monte
- 3DMAX
- SemperFi
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- M80
- Team Liquid
- Gaimin Gladiators
On March 2, we will see eight more matches in the 1–0 and 0–1 brackets, where some teams will move closer to Stage 2, while others will find themselves just one step away from elimination.
NRG Esports
Monte1.77Make a bet1.95ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1
Heroic
3DMAX
SemperFi1.1Make a bet5.8ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1
PARIVISION
paiN Gaming1.19Make a bet3.96ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1
NiP
M801.81Make a bet1.84ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1
Passion UA
FUT Esports2.5Make a bet1.47ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1 runs from March 1 to March 5, with 16 teams competing for eight spots in the next stage of the tournament. Only eight teams will advance, while the remaining eight will split a total of $39,000 in prize money.






