In less than a month's time 32 teams will converge in Malta to fight in the new-look ESL Pro League Season 17.

ESL has announced the group distribution and romanti sex videosopening matchups for the upcoming 17th season of ESL Pro League, which is set to be played over five weeks from February 22 to March 26.

EPL recently underwent an expansion from 24 to 32 teams as well as a change in format. This change will see the participating teams play in four groups of eight featuring a triple elimination format. The top four teams advance to varying stages of the playoffs — first-placed to the quarter-finals, second-placed to the second round, and third-fourth-placed to the first round of the knockout bracket.

Season 16 champions Vitality feature in Group C along with three other international sides

Group A is headlined by IEM Rio Major and BLAST Premier World Final winners, Outsiders and G2, who will be accompanied by another top-10 team in Cloud9 and a variety of top 30 teams from all over the world — fnatic, MIBR, Evil Geniuses, Eternal Fire, and IHC.

In Group B, HEROIC are the top seed following their runners-up finish in Rio and title-winning campaign at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, and will be joined by MOUZ and FURIA as the headliners. BIG, Complexity, Imperial, SAW, and Movistar Riders round out the second group.

Four international teams feature in Group C — FaZe, Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and OG — along with two Brazilian representatives in 00NATION and paiN and two Australian teams, Grayhound and Rooster.

Liquid are currently the highest-ranked team of Group D, and will be joined by Natus Vincere, ENCE, Spirit, Astralis, ATK, FORZE, and Rare Atom.

Group distribution

Group A (Feb 22)
RussiaOutsiders
EuropeG2
RussiaCloud9
Europefnatic
BrazilMIBR
United StatesEvil Geniuses
TurkeyEternal Fire
MongoliaIHC Group B (Mar 1)
DenmarkHEROIC
EuropeMOUZ
BrazilFURIA
GermanyBIG
North AmericaComplexity
BrazilImperial
PortugalSAW
SpainMovistar Riders Group C (Mar 8)
EuropeFaZe
EuropeVitality
EuropeNinjas in Pyjamas
EuropeOG
Brazil00NATION
BrazilpaiN
AustraliaGrayhound
AustraliaRooster Group D (Mar 15)
United StatesLiquid
UkraineNatus Vincere
EuropeENCE
RussiaSpirit
DenmarkAstralis
OtherATK
RussiaFORZE
ChinaRare Atom

Opening matchups

Group A

RussiaOutsiders vs. MongoliaIHC
BrazilMIBR vs. Europefnatic
RussiaCloud9 vs. United StatesEvil Geniuses
EuropeG2 vs. TurkeyEternal Fire

Group B

DenmarkHEROIC vs. SpainMovistar Riders
GermanyBIG vs. North AmericaComplexity
BrazilImperial vs. BrazilFURIA
PortugalSAW vs. EuropeMOUZ

Group C

EuropeFaZe vs. AustraliaRooster
BrazilpaiN vs. EuropeNinjas in Pyjamas
EuropeOG vs. Brazil00NATION
EuropeVitality vs. AustraliaGrayhound

Group D

United StatesLiquid vs. ChinaRare Atom
OtherATK vs. EuropeENCE
RussiaSpirit vs. DenmarkAstralis
UkraineNatus Vincere vs. RussiaFORZE

ChinaRare Atom #58 Rare AtomChinaZhuo 'advent' LiangMalaysiaAndrew 'kaze' KhongChinaYi 'JamYoung' YangChinaJingxiang 'Mercury' WangChinaQianhao 'Moseyuh' Chen ChinaXielin 'k4Mi' Zhu RussiaFORZE #33 FORZERussiaVladislav 'Krad' KravchenkoRussiaAndrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovRussiaAleksandr 'zorte' ZagodyrenkoRussiaAleksandr 'shalfey' Marenov RussiaArtem 'Fierce' Ivanov SpainMovistar Riders #28 Movistar RidersSpainAlejandro 'alex' MasanetSpainAlejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo CanoSpainPere 'sausol' Solsona SaumellSpainDavid 'dav1g' Granado BermudoSpainAntonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez SpainGalder 'bladE' Barcena BrazilMIBR #36 MIBRMIBRBrazilHenrique 'HEN1' TelesBrazilRaphael 'exit' LacerdaBrazilMatheus 'Tuurtle' AnhaiaBrazilBreno 'brnz4n' PolettoBrazilFelipe 'insani' Yuji BrazilBruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima UkraineNatus Vincere #8 Natus VincereUkraineOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievRussiaDenis 'electroNic' SharipovRussiaIlya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyUkraineValeriy 'b1t' VakhovskiyUkraineAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi UkraineAndrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy EuropeOG #12 OGSerbiaNemanja 'nexa' Isakovi?Czech RepublicAdam 'NEOFRAG' ZouharIsraelShahar 'flameZ' ShushanRussiaAbdul 'degster' GasanovPolandMaciej 'F1KU' Miklas DenmarkCasper 'ruggah' Due United StatesLiquid #4 LiquidUnited StatesNick 'nitr0' CannellaCanadaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicUnited StatesJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiUnited StatesJosh 'oSee' OhmLatviaMareks 'YEKINDAR' Ga?inskis CanadaDamian 'daps' Steele BrazilImperial #32 ImperialBrazilGabriel 'FalleN' ToledoBrazilRicardo 'boltz' PrassBrazilMarcelo 'chelo' CespedesBrazilVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoBrazilJhonatan 'JOTA' Willian BrazilRafael 'zakk' Fernandes PortugalSAW #20 SAWPortugalChristopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesPortugalRicardo 'roman' OliveiraPortugalTiago 'JUST' MouraPortugalJo?o 'story' VieiraPortugalMichel 'ewjerkz' Pinto SpainOmar 'arki' Chakkor OtherATK #38 ATKSouth AfricaRhys 'Fadey' ArmstrongCanadaJonathan 'djay' DallalSwedenJonathan 'b0denmaster' BodenmalmUnited StatesMichael 'Swisher' SchmidSouth AfricaGareth 'MisteM' Ries IsraelDaniel 'sprayxd' Kogan Brazil00NATION #39 00NATIONBrazilMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidBrazilEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloBrazilEduardo 'dumau' WolkmerBrazilBruno 'latto' RebelattoBrazilLucas 'nqz' Soares BrazilOlavo 'chucky' Napole?o EuropeVitality #9 VitalityFranceDan 'apEX' MadesclaireDenmarkPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenDenmarkEmil 'Magisk' ReifFranceMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautIsraelLotan 'Spinx' Giladi DenmarkDanny 'zonic' S?rensen Europefnatic #11 fnaticSwedenFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonNetherlandsDion 'FASHR' DerksenDenmarkNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiDenmarkFredrik 'roeJ' J?rgensenUnited KingdomWilliam 'mezii' Merriman United KingdomJamie 'keita' Hall DenmarkAstralis #18 AstralisDenmarkAndreas 'Xyp9x' H?jslethDenmarkLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderDenmarkNicolai 'device' ReedtzDenmarkBenjamin 'blameF' BremerDenmarkChristian 'Buzz' Andersen DenmarkPeter 'casle' Ardenskjold BrazilFURIA #6 FURIABrazilAndrei 'arT' PiovezanBrazilYuri 'yuurih' SantosBrazilKaike 'KSCERATO' CeratoBrazilRafael 'saffee' CostaBrazilAndré 'drop' Abreu BrazilNicholas 'guerri' Nogueira United StatesEvil Geniuses #21 Evil GeniusesEvil GeniusesUnited StatesTimothy 'autimatic' TaUnited StatesVincent 'Brehze' CayonteKazakhstanSanzhar 'neaLaN' IskhakovUnited StatesJerric 'wiz' JiangCanadaJadan 'HexT' Postma DenmarkDaniel 'Vorborg' Vorborg RussiaCloud9 #10 Cloud9KazakhstanAbay 'HObbit' KhassenovKazakhstanTimur 'buster' TulepovRussiaSergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovRussiaDmitry 'sh1ro' SokolovRussiaVladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov RussiaKonstantin 'groove' Pikiner GermanyBIG #15 BIGBIGGermanyJohannes 'tabseN' WodarzGermanyFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeGermanyNils 'k1to' GruhneGermanyJosef 'faveN' BaumannGermanyKarim 'Krimbo' Moussa GermanyFatih 'gob b' Dayik North AmericaComplexity #22 ComplexityComplexitySouth AfricaJohnny 'JT' TheodosiouUnited StatesRicky 'floppy' KemeryNorwayH?kon 'hallzerk' Fj?rliUnited StatesMichael 'Grim' WinceCanadaJustin 'FaNg' Coakley South AfricaTiaan 'T.c' Coertzen RussiaOutsiders #5 OutsidersRussiaEvgenii 'FL1T' LebedevKazakhstanAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevRussiaDzhami 'Jame' AliRussiaAleksandr 'KaiR0N-' AnashkinRussiaPetr 'fame' Bolyshev KazakhstanDastan 'dastan' Akbayev BrazilpaiN #29 paiNpaiNBrazilVinicios 'PKL' CoelhoBrazilWesley 'hardzao' LopesBrazilRodrigo 'biguzera' BittencourtBrazilFelipe 'skullz' MedeirosBrazilRomeu 'zevy' Rocco BrazilHenrique 'rikz' Waku EuropeNinjas in Pyjamas #16 Ninjas in PyjamasNinjas in PyjamasDenmarkKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeSwedenFredrik 'REZ' SternerFinlandAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenSwedenLudvig 'Brollan' BrolinUkraineDaniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov SwedenDaniel 'djL' Narancic AustraliaGrayhound #31 GrayhoundNew ZealandSimon 'Sico' WilliamsAustraliaJay 'Liazz' TregillgasAustraliaAlistair 'aliStair' JohnstonAustraliaJoshua 'INS' PotterAustraliaDeclan 'Vexite' Portelli AustraliaDavid 'Kingfisher' Kingsford EuropeMOUZ #7 MOUZAustraliaChristopher 'dexter' NongSlovakiaDavid 'frozen' ?erňanskyGermanyJon 'JDC' de CastroHungaryádám 'torzsi' TorzsásIsraelDorian 'xertioN' Berman DenmarkDennis 'sycrone' Nielsen EuropeENCE #14 ENCEDenmarkMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferDenmarkValdemar 'valde' Bj?rn Vangs?MontenegroPavle 'Maden' Bo?kovi?PolandPawe? 'dycha' DychaSpainálvaro 'SunPayus' García FinlandEetu 'sAw' Saha DenmarkHEROIC #1 HEROICHEROICDenmarkCasper 'cadiaN' M?llerDenmarkMartin 'stavn' LundDenmarkRené 'TeSeS' MadsenDenmarkRasmus 'sjuush' BeckDenmarkJakob 'jabbi' Nygaard SwedenRichard 'Xizt' Landstr?m EuropeFaZe #3 FaZeDenmarkFinn 'karrigan' AndersenNorwayH?vard 'rain' NygaardCanadaRussel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenEstoniaRobin 'ropz' KoolLatviaHelvijs 'broky' Saukants SwedenRobert 'RobbaN' Dahlstr?m TurkeyEternal Fire #27 Eternal FireTurkeyEngin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliTurkeyIsmailcan 'XANTARES' D?rtkarde?TurkeyBu?ra 'Calyx' Ark?nTurkey?mer 'imoRR' Karata?TurkeyYasin 'xfl0ud' Ko? TurkeySezgin 'Fabre' Kalayc? EuropeG2 #2 G2Bosnia and HerzegovinaNikola 'NiKo' Kova?Bosnia and HerzegovinaNemanja 'huNter-' Kova?AustraliaJustin 'jks' SavageDenmarkRasmus 'HooXi' NielsenRussiaIlya 'm0NESY' Osipov GermanyJan 'Swani' Müller RussiaSpirit #13 SpiritSpiritRussiaLeonid 'chopper' VishnyakovRussiaBoris 'magixx' VorobievRussiaPavel 'S1ren' OgloblinRussiaRobert 'Patsi' IsyanovUkraineIhor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov RussiaSergey 'hally' Shavaev AustraliaRooster #98 RoosterNew ZealandMichael 'chelleos' HawkinsAustraliaAkram 'ADK' SmidaNew ZealandCorey 'nettik' BrowneAustraliaTyson 'asap' PatersonAustraliaTynan 'TjP' Purtell MongoliaIHC #30 IHCMongoliaBat-Enkh 'kabal' BatbayarMongoliaTengis 'sk0R' BatjargalMongoliaTuvshintugs 'Annihilation' NyamdorjMongoliaGaridmagnai 'bLitz' ByambasurenMongoliaSodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold MongoliaErdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat