Everything You Need to Know Ahead of ESL Impact League Season 5

Monday, March 4, 2023, Cologne/New York – ESL Impact League returns for the first time this year, with Season 5 beginning on March 6. Following a series of Open Qualifiers in early February, the all-women Counter-Strike 2 circuit will bring together the top 28 teams in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia to compete for eight spots at the ESL Impact Season 5 Global Finals set to take place live at DreamHack Dallas from May 31 to June 2. North America, Europe, and South America will host group stage competition to qualify for the season’s Grand Finals, while Asia will put on a Wildcard Online Qualifier to determine who will earn a spot at the event.

This season will feature a $150,000 total prize pool, with DreamHack Dallas qualifiers competing for $123,000 of that pool and a chance to be crowned the ESL Impact Season 5 Champions. Here’s everything else you need to know about ESL Impact Season 5.

ESL Impact at a Glance

ESL Impact was launched at the beginning of 2022 as part of ESL FACEIT Group’s (EFG) #GGFORALL program. For over two years, it has set a standard for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in Counter-Strike esports by providing women teams, broadcast talent, and support staff additional opportunities to follow their dreams of being a part of the professional esports scene. ESL Impact provides teams, talent, players, fans, and more with a dedicated ecosystem for women, by women, creating a more inclusive and positive community for an underrepresented demographic in esports.

Over the past four seasons, the ecosystem has cemented itself as the hold for premier women’s Counter-Strike competition, and created critical pipelines for players and teams to grow their fanbases. Squads like NAVI Javelins, Shimmer, FURIA, FlyQuest RED, and more have demonstrated grit and skill on ESL Impact stages, building passionate followings amongst Counter-Strike fans around the world. 

These teams and more will attempt to knock Team Pigeon (formerly Nigma Galaxy), which has won every ESL Impact LAN since the league’s launch. Team Pigeon, meanwhile, will attempt to defend the title streak it’s held since the Season 1 Finals at DreamHack Dallas in 2022.

DreamHack, an international gaming lifestyle festival also put on by EFG, has been a central part of ESL Impact since the circuit’s inception. The festival hosted the first-ever ESL Impact Global Finals as well as the Season 3 finals in 2023 and will bring teams to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center once again later this year, alongside programming such as Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Dallas, the Overwatch Champions Series DreamHack Dallas Major, and more.

Schedule and Format

ESL Impact League Season 5: March 6 to April 20

• North America:
  • North America has one group of eight teams.
  • The Group Stage will be a single round-robin, and all matches will be best-of-three.
  • The winner and runner-up will advance to the season’s Global Finals.
• South America:
  • South America has one group of eight teams.
  • The Group Stage will be a single round-robin, and all matches will be best-of-three.
  • The winner will advance to the season’s Global Finals.
• Europe:
  • The EU region has two groups of six teams.
  • The Group Stage will be a single round-robin, and all matches will be best-of-three.
  • The first-placed team in each group will advance to the Global Finals. The second-place team in each group will play the third-place team from the other group in a decider match, with winners of those two matches also advancing to the Global Finals.
• Asia:
• Asia will host a single Wildcard Online Qualifier from March 9-11.
• The qualifiers will feature a single bracket, best-of-three competition, with the winner earning a spot at the Global Finals.
   

Teams attending:

Europe:

• 1win Gang
• BIG EQUIPA
• Fearless Cheetahs – Formerly 9Pandas Fearless
• GamerLegion Prism
• NAVI Javelins
• Ninjas in Pyjamas 
• Team Pigeons – Formerly Nigma Galaxy
• Astralis (From EU Qualifier)
• ENCE Athena (From EU Qualifier)
• Guild Esports (From EU Qualifier)
• Team Spirit Female (From EU Qualifier)
• VP.Angels (From EU Qualifier)

North America:

• FlyQuest RED
• Limitless Angels
• Shimmer
• Team Karma
• cleanup crew (From NA Qualifier)
• COVEN (From NA Qualifier)
• Nouns fe (From NA Qualifier)
• WG Bandits (From NA Qualifier)

South America:

• Atrix Esports
• Fluxo Demons
• FURIA 
• MIBR 
• Divina   (From SA Qualifier)
• GENKID4M4 (From SA Qualifier)
•  KG Network (From SA Qualifier)
• w7m Esports  (From SA Qualifier)

Prize Money:

Where to Watch

ESL Impact Season 5 and its Global Finals will be streamed live on FACEIT Watch, Twitch, and YouTube. 

The live finals at DreamHack Dallas May 31 to June 2 are open to festival badge-holders. Tickets for the three-day immersive gaming lifestyle festival start at $89 and are available on the DreamHack Dallas website.

Assets for ESL Impact Season 5 can be found in the ESL Impact Season 5 press kit.

For more information about the all-women Counter-Strike ecosystem, please visit the official website and follow ESL Impact on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.