Apeks through to ESL Pro League Season 18

European team Apeks won ESL Challenger League Season 45 Europe, qualifying for ESL Pro League Season 18, as in the final of the event, the Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski-led roster bested Spirit Academy.

During the tournament, Apeks defeated ex-Partizan, K23, 9INE, 1WIN and Monte, and also lost to Spirit Academy in the upper bracket final.

ESL Pro League Season 18 will play out in Malta from August 15 to September 24, with 32 teams competing for $850,000 in prize money. Fifteen partners of the tournament operator, ESL invitees and the winners of various qualifiers will take part in the event.

The team list for ESL Pro League Season 18 looks as follows:

 Astralis
 BIG
 Complexity
 ENCE
 Evil Geniuses
 FaZe
 fnatic
 FURIA
 G2
 Heroic
 MOUZ
 NAVI
 NIP
 Liquid
 Vitality
 ESL direct invitee #1
 ESL direct invitee #2
 ESL direct invitee #3
 Monte
 MIBR
 Lynn Vision
 Apeks
 ATK
 Rare Atom
 Movistar Riders
 ESL Challenger Katowice 2023 winner
 ESL Australia & NZ Championship Season 16 winner 
 ESL Brazil Premier League Season 14 winner 
 Europe qualifier winner #1
 Europe qualifier winner #2
 South America qualifier winner
 Oceania qualifier winner