What Does ESL Pro League Mean for HEROIC?

published 26 September 2025

ESL Pro League Season 22 Stage 1 is both a mouthful of a name, and the last CS tournament that HEROIC will be competing in before the Budapest Major VRS cutoff. With the October 6th deadline fast approaching, we currently sit at #16 in the European VRS ranking. This is the last available Major slot for the region and it’s hotly contested; just 31 points separate us and the next closest team in Gentle Mates.

If you’ve already erased Fissure from your mind, we don’t blame you, but with the squad going 0-3 in the Swiss stage and losing 101 points, almost double the amount we gained from our win over Team Spirit at the EWC, it is vital that we make it through to Stage 2 of Pro League with either a 3-0 or 3-1 record to secure our spot. Depending on a few other results, this *should* be enough to get us to the Major.

There are roughly 6 teams still in contention for the last 2 spots and according to VRS professional, @MischiefCS2, we have a 56% chance of making it. With Lynn Vision being forced to pull out of the tournament last-minute, our first opponent will be Gentle Mates, where hopefully a win against them will be the confidence boost the team needs to get his VRS heist over the line. To our team’s credit, there’s been another recent roster change and all of our series at Fissure went to 3 maps with overtimes - we’re on the cusp of getting things to click, we just have the added pressure of the Major now to consider.

With so much on the line, make sure to show your support for our boys on their road to the Major during their opening match up this Sunday, September 28th at 10:30 CEST!