The Counter-Strike 2 ESEA League is undergoing another format overhaul to reestablish itself as a direct path to the ESL Challenger League.
As per an official announcement from FACEIT, the ESEA League is being reworked to meet VRS-ranked requirements, creating a renewed online pathway toward the ESL Pro League and restoring its role as a stepping-stone from amateur to pro competition.
This new format, debuting in Season 56, will require teams to register at the start of every season. The teams will be seeded based on their VRS ranking, while those without one will be placed according to their performance in the previous season.
Moving forward, Open10 (EU), Open9-10 (NA), Entry (EU), Intermediate, Main, and Advanced will also operate as a VRS-ranked competition, while Open1-8 (EU/NA) and Open9 (EU) will remain unranked.
The top four teams from Open10 (EU), Open9-10 (NA), Entry (EU), Intermediate, Main, and Advanced will move forward to a Finals Bracket. Lower groups will have to go through additional matches based on the difficulty of their groups. The top two teams in both EU/NA will receive wildcard invites to an ESL Challenger League cup.
Teams with any amount of VRS Points will be seeded into Advanced to prevent unbalanced competition and align with VRS seeding rules. Placements for Season 56 will use the VRS Rankings from December 2025. The teams must field at least three players from their VRS-ranked lineup in every League match during the season.
Registrations for the upcoming season are set to kick off from December 3rd, giving teams just over a month to apply for the event before it comes to a close on January 7th, 2026.
The regular season is set to run from January 12 to March 1, 2026, followed by playoffs from March 3 to March 22. The Grand Finals will take place from March 23 to March 29, 2026.
Fans can check out the detailed format changes by heading over to the FACEIT website.