The Final Tournament of the Season: What to Expect from the XSE Pro League 2026

The Major finals usually wrap up the first half of the season. Players go on vacation, organizations evaluate their results, and managers prepare for summer roster moves. However, in 2026, the XSE Pro League 2026 will disrupt the usual order—a major tournament set to begin just a few days after the half-year’s main championship.

From July 1 to 12, 16 teams will compete in Guangzhou, China. Players and organizations will compete for a total prize pool of $1 million, and the top eight teams from the Swiss stage will advance to the playoffs. However, most of the world’s top teams are not among the invitees. Instead, teams that recently failed to qualify for the Major, have already changed their rosters, or are still deciding who to field for the second half of the year will be heading to China. Therefore, the XSE Pro League is unlikely to determine the world’s strongest team, but it could serve as a final test for several inconsistent teams.

The main feature of the XSE Pro League lies not in its format or the size of the prize pool, but in its place on the calendar. The tournament falls during the summer break, when most of the top teams have already finished the first half of the season.

For the players, this means nearly two more weeks of matches after several grueling months. Participants will also have to fly to China, adjust to the time zone, and prepare with virtually no rest after the Major. Under such conditions, even top-tier teams may take the tournament less seriously than ESL or BLAST events. The first withdrawals occurred even before the championship began: MOUZ, Legacy, and M80 initially accepted invitations but later withdrew from the roster. Their decisions may have been driven by various reasons, but they highlight the main issue with the XSE Pro League: not every organization needs an additional tournament in China.

For the remaining teams, the trip looks more appealing. With Team Vitality, Team Spirit, Team Falcons, and other top teams absent, squads from the lower half of the top 20 get a rare chance to compete for a major international trophy. At a typical Tier 1 tournament, the quarterfinals are often as far as they can go, whereas in Guangzhou, even an inconsistent team can reach the decisive stage. Therefore, the XSE Pro League is hardly necessary for the entire professional scene. However, it suits teams that can’t yet pass up the chance to earn money, climb the rankings, and win their first major trophy.

For several XSE Pro League participants, this event will mark not the end of the old season, but the beginning of the next one. Revamped rosters from PARIVISION, FaZe Clan, and Made in Brazil will make their debuts in Guangzhou, though the first two teams are drawing the most attention.

Following a disappointing Major, PARIVISION signed Abay “HObbit” Khasenov and Vyacheslav “slaxejezzz” Vinokurov. Now HObbit will have to fit into Jami “Jame” Ali’s system and help a roster that, until very recently, seemed lost both as a team and on an individual level.

At the same time, bringing in yet another veteran should give PARIVISION more than just an extra voice during matches. HObbit needs to maintain his high individual level of play and not hinder the development of the younger players. It’s too early to draw final conclusions based on the first tournament, but even with a raw roster, the team should be in contention for the playoffs.

FaZe faces just as many questions. Once a perennial title contender, the team has fallen out of the top ten and has once again reshuffled its roster. Captaincy has passed to Russell “Twistzz” Van Dalken, and the team itself has lost nearly all the hallmarks of the five-man lineup that, until recently, regularly reached the finals. The individual skill level of FaZe’s players may be enough to defeat most of the other teams. David “frozen” Chernyansky and Twistzz are capable of deciding the outcome of a single series even without a perfectly functioning system. However, the new roster is just as likely to be eliminated as early as the Swiss stage if the players don’t have time to get used to their roles.

While FaZe and PARIVISION are kicking off a new cycle, other organizations have yet to finalize their rosters for the second half of the year. After the XSE Pro League concludes, there will be about a month left until the Esports World Cup—enough time to make one substitution and complete the first few weeks of preparation, but too little for a complete overhaul.

The tournament is particularly important for Monte, BIG, 3DMAX, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. They periodically deliver Tier 1-level results but have yet to establish themselves as consistent contenders for the later stages. In Guangzhou, they won’t have their usual excuse of facing an overly strong field of competitors, so another mid-table finish will only fuel talk that they’ve hit a ceiling. The tournament is of particular importance for Monte. Success in China will solidify the current lineup’s position. The XSE Pro League itself is unlikely to trigger a massive transfer window, but it could provide management with the final argument they need before a decision that’s already been brewing.

The roster of participants looks unusual simply because the top favorites aren’t FaZe or any other well-known European club. The strongest contenders are 9z Team and BetBoom Team—two teams that reached the quarterfinals of the Major.

In just a few months, 9z has gone from being a promising Tier 2 contender to a team capable of competing with the top ten. Franco “dgt” García and Ignacio “meyern” Meyer provide stability, while Luciano “luchov” Herrera and Matías “HUASOPEEK” Ibáñez Hernández have added the necessary firepower. Furthermore, unlike several of its direct competitors, 9z did not make any roster changes ahead of the tournament.

Fatigue could be their main threat. The team has just competed in one of the most important tournaments in its history and headed to China almost immediately afterward. Now, for the first time, 9z will find itself in the role of the clear favorite at a major championship: a victory over them will be considered a success for any opponent, while an early elimination would be seen as a failure.

BetBoom is approaching the XSE Pro League in a similar position. Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov’s squad also reached the quarterfinals of the Major and has been playing with the same five-man lineup for quite some time. At the same time, the team’s performance does not depend on any single player. Alexander “zorte” Zagodyrenko remains a reliable sniper, but Pavel “S1ren” Ogloblin, Daniil “d1Ledez” Kustov, and Kirill “Magnojez” Rodnov are also capable of excelling on specific maps.

9z and BetBoom appear to be the most logical contenders for the final. They outperform most of the other teams in terms of current form and have not made any roster changes. However, the absence of the usual powerhouses increases the pressure: now both teams are expected not just to put on a decent performance, but to put up a real fight for the title.

It’s hard to call TYLOO and Lynn Vision Gaming championship contenders, but the XSE Pro League offers them conditions that are nearly impossible to find at a typical European tournament. Both teams will compete without long flights or a difficult adjustment period, and the local crowd will support them in matches against virtually any opponent. But that alone isn’t enough to win. Chinese teams still lag behind the favorites in consistency, and their results against strong European teams depend too much on the specific map and individual form. Nevertheless, the format leaves room for an upset.

The first matches of the Swiss stage will be best-of-one. A single successful map could send TYLOO or Lynn Vision into the group stage with a 1-0 record, and then pair them with a more manageable opponent. A realistic upset would be at least one Chinese team advancing to the playoffs.

The return of Cache, which has replaced Overpass, will add an extra layer of unpredictability. The XSE Pro League is set to be the first major LAN event with the updated map pool, and the teams have had almost no time for proper preparation. Most likely, many teams will consistently ban Cache. However, a permanent ban gives the opponent more freedom in choosing the remaining maps. Therefore, as early as Guangzhou, we may see the first teams attempting to turn this new development to their advantage, especially in the best-of-one opening matches.

The XSE Pro League won’t determine the world’s strongest team. Most of the elite will skip the trip to China, and the results of the revamped rosters shouldn’t be taken as a definitive verdict. However, the tournament will answer some more specific questions. 9z and BetBoom must prove that their quarterfinal runs at the Major were a natural progression of their improvement. FaZe and PARIVISION will debut their new rosters for the first time. Monte, BIG, 3DMAX, and Ninjas in Pyjamas will get one last chance to close out the first half of the year without further talk of roster changes.

For Chinese teams, the tournament will be a rare opportunity to achieve a notable result in front of a home crowd. For the other participants, it’s a chance to win a major international trophy without having to consecutively defeat several teams from the world’s top five.

The XSE Pro League has indeed ended up in a strange time slot. For some players, it will mean two extra weeks of work during their well-deserved vacation. However, teams that failed to achieve their goals at the Major couldn’t simply walk away and take a break anyway. Some participants will leave Guangzhou with a major trophy and the distinction of kicking off the second half of the year. Others, upon returning home, may find that their roster has already begun to change. Therefore, the final tournament of the season will also serve as the first tournament of the next one.