ROUNDS reach ESEA Advanced playoffs — what’s next?

Big news; there’s a Finnish squad to follow in the pinnacle of ESEA S57. But how do the playoffs and Season Finals work?

ROUNDS CS2 have made the playoffs in ESEA for the second season in a row, but this time in the top tier of the competition (Advanced) instead of the second division (Main) like last season. The playoffs in itself has been a phase of the league that has been met with a lot of prestige over the years, but since last season ESEA introduced an additional high to chase, the Season Finals. ROUNDS made it there last time around and it’s in the cards again, how will this season compare?

First off, let’s get to the nitty gritty. For the sake of recap, what are the new ESEA Season Finals? Last season (season 56) FACEIT announced that ESEA League, from high Open to Advanced, would start following a VRS format meeting Valve’s ranking requirements. Like before the change, it would still offer a “path to pro” through the ESL Challenger League into even the ESL Pro League at the very top. This is achieved by playing the so called ESEA Season Finals in between, where the different divisions battle it out against one another for the coveted Challenger League spot, pictured below.

So, ROUNDS are currently past the regular season of Advanced (ADV) and into the playoffs. If we were to get through to the Finals again, we’d wait and find out who our opponents would be, as they could be any qualified team from Open10 to Main. Last season, when we were the ones in one of the “MAIN” positions, we beat our Intermediate (IM) opponents, but eventually lost in the ADV vs. MAIN game. This time, we would skip out on all of that, as we are already in Advanced.

But the way there is not so easy either. The playoffs of Advanced have long served as the hardest in the league’s structure, and even with the Season Finals being introduced, serve a big role in deciding which of the top dogs of Counter-Strike actually advance. It’s going to be really interesting to watch what kind of show our boys will cook up for us this time around, the usual ROUNDS way (expect overtimes and excitement)! Oh yeah, and of course, we are on the hunt for HLTV coverage and VRS points here too. That’ll never change. Rock ‘n’ roll!

Follow ROUNDS on Twitch or subscribe to our YouTube channel for live streams of the matches with Finnish commentary! We will also be keeping you all updated on our Twitter/X, Instagram stories, as well as the official ROUNDS Discord server. These are also good places to come ask questions if you’re left with any, our Twitch chat and Discord community are very friendly and helpful! Currently, literally right as we speak, ROUNDS are playing in the Betclic Clash Online 2026, which we qualified for through open qualifiers. So you can come support the team even before the playoffs roll around later this (and next) week!

Lari – finkka
ROUNDS