ESL Pro League Season 24 Day One: TYLOO Fall to NiKo's Falcons as ZywOo and w0nderful Shine in Katowice
Asia's TYLOO lost 2-0 to Falcons on the opening day of ESL Pro League Season 24, while Vitality, NAVI, Spirit and FURIA started with wins.
ESL Pro League Season 24 began in Katowice, Poland, on Saturday, 3 October. Sixteen teams are playing for a US$1 million prize pool. Asia's only representative, Chinese side TYLOO, lost their opening match to Falcons.
Falcons too strong for TYLOO
TYLOO started well on Mirage and led 5-1 on the T side. Falcons then came back and won the map 13-11, with m0NESY taking over the game. TYLOO won the pistol round on Anubis and went 3-0 up, but once Falcons could buy full equipment they took over and won 13-7.
According to Dust2.in, NiKo led Falcons with 37 kills to 25 deaths and a 1.50 rating, and TeSeS and m0NESY both passed 30 kills. Zero was TYLOO's best player with 36 kills and a 1.18 rating. JamYoung added 31 kills.
ZywOo leads Vitality's rout of 1win
Vitality, ranked No. 2, looked like title contenders in a 2-0 win over 1win. They won 1win's pick, Dust2, 13-1 and then took Cache 13-5. ZywOo finished the series 37-11, and every Vitality player had a rating above 1.20.
NAVI upset G2
The biggest surprise of the day was NAVI's 2-0 win over G2. NAVI won Cache 13-7 and then G2's own pick, Inferno, 13-4. w0nderful went 33-11 with a 1.48 rating. Skin.Club News reported that the win lifted NAVI from 32nd to 19th in Valve's VRS rankings.
The rest of the opening round
- Spirit 2-1 ShindeN. The top seeds lost Dust2 13-11 to the Argentine underdogs, then won Nuke 13-11 and Mirage 13-4. HLTV credited donk with a 1.54 rating, including 2.30 on Mirage.
- PARIVISION 2-1 Legacy. Legacy took Dust2 13-5. PARIVISION then won Inferno 13-2 and Ancient 16-12, with Jame posting 52 kills to 27 deaths.
- FURIA 2-0 BetBoom. FURIA won Mirage 13-5 and Cache 16-14 in overtime. YEKINDAR went 50-30.
- MOUZ 2-0 M80 and Aurora 2-0 9z completed the 1-0 group.
How the event works
The group stage uses a Swiss system with best-of-three matches. Teams that reach three wins go to the playoffs, and teams with three losses are out. Eight teams make the single-elimination playoffs, where every match is best-of-three apart from the best-of-five grand final. The event runs until 11 October.
The map pool is Cache, Dust2, Mirage, Inferno, Nuke, Ancient and Anubis. Cache came up again and again on the first day, and it was picked or played in several of the opening series.
TYLOO are now in the 0-1 group with G2, Legacy, BetBoom, ShindeN, 1win, M80 and 9z. That group gets more crowded with every round, so their next match matters a lot. Southeast Asian fans who want Asian representation in Katowice will be hoping Zero and JamYoung can turn things around quickly.
Key takeaways
- TYLOO, Asia's only team in the event, lost 2-0 to Falcons despite leading early on both maps.
- NAVI beat G2 2-0, the biggest upset of the opening day.
- ZywOo went 37-11 as Vitality beat 1win 13-1 and 13-5.
- Top seeds Spirit dropped a map to ShindeN before winning 2-1.
FAQ
Where and when is ESL Pro League Season 24? In Katowice, Poland, from 3 to 11 October 2026.
How do teams reach the playoffs? Teams need three wins in the Swiss stage. The top eight reach the single-elimination playoffs.
What is the prize pool? US$1 million.
Sources: HLTV, Dust2.in, Skin.Club News