ESL Pro League Season 21 Play-In Betting Insights – Picking the Top 8
As one of the most anticipated CS2 tournaments of the season, the ESL Pro League Play-In is the first stage of this $400,000 tournament. Accordingly, in this betting preview, we’re ranking the competition and figuring out which teams are making it to the next stage.
ESL Pro League Play-In – Outright Odds
Before we dive into our predictions, here’s a look at the outright qualification CS2 betting odds thanks to GG.Bet accessed at the time of writing:
| ESL Pro League Season 21 Play-In Teams | GG.Bet Outright Qualifying Odds |
|---|---|
| Eternal Fire | 1.07/-1428 |
| Heroic | 1.14/-714 |
| FURIA Esports | 1.22/-454 |
| paiN Gaming | 1.25/-400 |
| GamerLegion | 1.33/-303 |
| Team 3DMAX | 1.44/-227 |
| MIBR | 1.57/-175 |
| M80 | 1.72/-138 |
| SAW | 1.83/-120 |
| Nemiga Gaming | 2.00/+100 |
| FlyQuest | 2.50/+150 |
| NRG | 2.75/+175 |
| Lynn Vision Gaming | 5.00/+400 |
| TYLOO | 6.00/+500 |
| Mindfreak | 14.0/+1300 |
| Housebets | 18.0/+1700 |
Odds accessed 26/02/25, liable to change.
Considering that only half of the competition moves on, we’re sorting out the competition into three tier lists. Specifically, read on to find out who we consider favourites, contenders and underdogs in short form.
Destined for Stage 2 – Favourites
Our ESL Pro League Season 21 Play-In favourites are teams who are more than likely to move on to the next stage of the competition by finishing in the top 8 as per our CS2 predictions:
- Eternal Fire – recently finishing 2nd at BLAST Bounty Spring, Eternal Fire has established itself as a top CS2 team by placing 5-6th at the most recent IEM Katowice and PGL Cluj-Napoca events.
- FURIA Esports – packing a mix of veteran leadership and young talent, FURIA did disappoint by finishing 13-16th at IEM Katowice recently. However, while they struggle against Tier 1 teams, they are favoured against Tier 2 talent in the Play-In.
- HEROIC – forging a brand new roster in January, this roster has plenty of firepower although remains inconsistent. A 5-8th finish at BLAST Bounty Spring gives this team its status, but there is a world where this team can crack.
- paiN Gaming – after signing “dav1deuS” in January, this team levelled up to qualify for BLAST Bounty Spring and finish 5-8th at PGL Cluj-Napoca, giving them the momentum at the ESL Pro League Play-In.
No man’s land – Contenders
Moving on, Contenders are teams we vision finishing in the 5-10th range, battling it out for qualification spots between themselves as per the CS2 odds:
- GamerLegion – with a double roster change in January, GamerLegion is trying everything to get better. Considering they managed to finish 7-8th at IEM Katowice 2025 with a lucky run, GamerLegion is a strong contender.
- Team 3DMAX – just like GamerLegion, 3DMAX also made a dent at IEM Katowice after finishing in the top 12 teams. Following up their Perfect World Shanghai Major performance, we’d like to think they’ll move on.
- MIBR – 2025 has been rather dismal for MIBR at international tournaments, failing to crack into the top 12. However, a recent 2nd place finish at a Tier 2 South American event with a role swap could be enough for this team to move on.
- M80 – this team has been dominant in NA Tier 2 competitions. However, in the ESL Pro League Play-In, their chances are down considering they haven’t competed internationally since the last ESL Pro League where they finished an impressive 5-8th.
- SAW – despite having just finished 5-8th at PGL Cluj-Napoca, SAW went ahead and made a double change to the roster. Bearing this in mind, we’re not quite sure what version of SAW will show up to the the ESL Pro League.
- Nemiga Gaming – this CIS roster consistently competes in Tier 2 and Tier 1 Qualifiers, consistently placing near the top 8. The EPL could be their chance to turn things around.
ESL Pro League Play-In – Underdogs
There’s not much to say about the underdogs so we’ll keep it short, although we’d love to be surprised:
- FlyQuest – 15-16th at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, haven’t looked too promising recently.
- NRG – recently won IEM Dallas NA Qualifier, but lost to M80 at a regional NA tournament.
- Lynn Vision Gaming – China’s best at the tournament, finishing 29-32nd at the EPL Season 20.
- TYLOO – China’s second best, unlikely to impress.
- Mindfreak – after finishing 13-16th at a BLAST Rising Asia Qualifier, it’s not looking good.
- Housebets – very little is known about this open seeded team.
Form the underdogs, NRG has the best chance to break through.
