It’s that time of the year, everyone, ESL Pro League is back. And it actually might not be terrible this time.

Well, just as soon as we get past the CCT-looking first stage, that is.

The teams are… uninspiring, to say the least. Eternal Fire, HEROIC, and GamerLegion are the best of a bad bunch, and there is at least some intrigue around NRG with br0 and SAW with their new signings, but the excitement is easily balanced out by the likes of FlyQuest, Housebets, and Mindfreak.

And yes, we did just name the three teams from Down Under. Maybe that should be a sign.

At least two of them won’t be there for very long, one of the big positives of this Pro League (other than it’s reduced length) is the new format. Full BO3 Swiss is something that has us very excited, especially for when the big boys arrive in Stage 2.

That’s because, unlike at PGL Cluj-Napoca, the elite teams actually all decided to accept invitations to this event.

Spirit, Vitality, and NAVI will all be battling it out again, while Falcons and MOUZ will both have opportunities to prove that their results in Romania came from actual progress, not just a weakened field.

All of this combined with the fact that it will no longer be held in a hotel conference room in Malta, and this Pro League might be a return to the glory days.

It might not be an arena event, so there’ll always be a caveat - and probably a few more frags for ZywOo - but it’s a lot better than what we had before.