Renegades to play in ESL Pro League

ESL has announced that the wildcard spot in the North American division of its 'Pro League' has been given to Renegades.

The Australian team, who recently relocated to North America to play top-flight Counter-Strike on a regular basis, are the twelfth and final team confirmed for the region's ESL Pro League, kicking off on February 9.

Originally, teams could only gain access to the Pro League by moving up from the Premier division, but the recent changes to the relegation system, introduced by ESL in November, have made it possible for a wildcard team to enter the big league directly.

Renegades join Pro League action 

By competing in the ESL Pro League, which will give away $1.5 million in 2016, Renegades will get the chance to further enhance their international credentials. Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill's men are also due to compete at Intel Extreme Masters Taipei and in the E-League, for which they have been providing streamed content. 

"Renegades is thrilled to participate in the next season of the ESL Pro League," Renegades co-owner Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles said in a statement.

"Our players have traveled a great distance from their homes in Australia and committed to relocating to North America in order to regularly play in a higher level of competition.

"We hope to evolve our gameplay and skill over the course of 2016, and regular league play is the first step towards improvement. We're excited to be in the next season and grow into a stronger, more confident team!"

The following 12 teams will compete in the North American division of the ESL Pro League:

Luminosity	Liquid	CLG
OpTic Gaming	compLexity	Cloud9
SPLYCE	Enemy	Sponsorless
NRG	Winterfox	Renegades

Chad 'SPUNJ' Burchill Age: 26 Team: Renegades Rating 1.0: 0.92 Maps played: 78 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.73