ESEA League reworked to be path to ESL Challenger League again

FACEIT announced that the ESEA Counter-Strike 2 League will now operate under the VRS regulations. The strongest ESEA teams will once again advance to ESL Challenger League, as was the case before the implementation of the VRS, and subsequently to ESL Pro League.

The new ESEA League format kicks off with Season 56, with registration open from December 3 to January 7, 2026. Unlike previous seasons, squads will now be required to register before each new season, while seeding will be based on the VRS ranking. If teams are unranked, they will be seeded based on their results in the previous season.

In the reworked structure, lower leagues will promote teams to higher leagues through a single playoff bracket, which will provide wildcard invites to ESL Challenger for the top two teams in Europe and North America.

Open 10 (EU), Open 9-10 (NA), Entry (EU), Intermediate, Main, and Advanced are now VRS-rated competitions, while Open 1-8 (EU/NA) and Open 9 (EU) will remain unranked. Opens in Asia, Oceania, and South America will continue to provide wildcard slots to ESL Challenger League in their respective regions.

Teams with any VRS score are automatically promoted to Advanced to avoid imbalances and comply with VRS seeding rules. Such rosters are required to use a minimum of three players from their VRS roster in every match of the season.

Teams in Intermediate, Main, and Advanced are required to use a minimum of three players from their previous season's roster (the five players with the most matches played), reflecting the VRS requirement to retain three of the five players when receiving an invite based on their VRS rating.

The regular season of ESEA Season 56 will run from January 12 to March 1 of next year. The playoffs are scheduled for March 3-22. The final stage will play out from March 23-29.

Origin: x.com