The ESL Pro League resumes next month to kick off a new, bigger and better year of CS:GO. With a whopping US$1,500,000 up for grabs and the very best teams set to participate, we can expect tons of fantastic matches and world-class CS:GO action.
Last year, we introduced a number of changes to the Pro League relegation system, including adding a new team at the end of each season. As such, we are happy to announce that the wildcard team joining the North American division will be Renegades.
Renegades are an Australian team and have been competing together since June 2015. The team has taken part in tournaments all around the world including ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters and the iBUYPOWER Cup. Their last performance was in the RGN Pro Series, where they fought their way through to the finals but lost to Cloud9, taking second place in the end. Renegades recently relocated from Australia to North America in order to compete regularly on a high level.
Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles, co-owner of Renegades, said the following of joining the ESL Pro League:
"Renegades is thrilled to participate in the next season of the ESL Pro League. Our players have traveled a great distance from their homes in Australia and committed to relocating to North America in order to regularly play in a higher level of competition. We hope to evolve our gameplay and skill over the course of 2016, and regular league play is the first step towards improvement. We're excited to be in the next season and grow into a stronger, more confident team!"
Renegades previously played in ESEA before their explosive run through major tournaments across the globe. Currently, nearly 2,500 teams have registered for the upcoming 21st season, which is set to start on Sunday the 24th of January.
Registration for the new season in both Europe and North America is set to close at 23:59 CST on Wednesday the 20th of January (Thursday the 21st of January 07:00 CET). Be sure to sign up today at www.esea.net/league to start your journey to the Pro League, where you will face the North American division's top teams - including Renegades.
We are looking forward to seeing Renegades compete in the ESL Pro League's North American division. This leaves one unknown team to join the European division - the details of this last competitor are coming soon.
Get ready for plenty of thrilling matches and plays to remember! Season 3 begins on February the 9th so be sure to keep an eye on the ESL Counter-Strike Twitter and Facebook as well as ESEA on Twitter for the latest information about the upcoming matches.
