They come to a land Down Under: IEM Melbourne 2025 is bringing all the CS2 hype

It’s an extremely exciting period for fans of competitive Counter-Strike esports, as many of the big teams are looking to make significant roster changes while the shadow of the Austin Major looms ever larger. Here is everything you can expect from IEM Melbourne: the storylines, the odds, the schedule, and the all-around awesomeness.

IEM Melbourne schedule and format, explained

Counter-Strike esports tournaments taking place Down Under are always a special occasion – be it Sydney or Melbourne, the crowd is nothing short of incredible, and the hometown heroes always make the spectacle, well, spectacular. This time around, the action will take place in Melbourne, and while the hours at play may not be the most friendly for international audiences, this is exactly the sort of tournament that makes it well worth your while to keep up with the action.

The 2025 edition of IEM Melbourne will take place between April 21 and April 27 in the Rod Laver Arena. (Two days later, there’s a Hans Zimmer concert in the same venue, so it’s a pretty damn cool place.)

The group stage will run from April 21 to April 24, and it will feature the usual ESL tournament format: two eight-team groups with double elimination, where the group winner directly qualifies for the semifinal, and the other upper bracket finalist and the lower bracket winner will proceed to the quarterfinals for the playoffs, making it six teams in total for the final portion of the competition. Every match is a best-of-three affair.

There will be no break in the action, either, as the playoffs stage will immediately follow the groups, from April 25 to April 27. The grand final will be a best-of-five occasion to further elevate the action.

Invitations were sent out based on the February 25 VRS standings. By the time the event has rolled around, the invitations for the Austin Major have been set in stone (with the earliest stage of the qualification process already underway), so it’s the next race that begins here to the second Major of the year, but for the short term, the pressure is not as high as it has been for the previous few big CS2 competitions. This is also reflected by upcoming roster changes, which we will discuss further below.

The teams will compete for a nominal $300,000 prize pool in Melbourne – there was no big reduction at play, it’s just that it is now becoming more commonplace to not denote the portion of the money delivered as appearance fees and team stipends as part of the totals. With that in mind, the prize pool is sliced up as such:

• 1st place: $125,000
• 2nd place: $50,000
• 3rd-4th place: $25,000
• 5th-6th place: $12,500 each
• 7-8th place: $7,000 each
• 9-12th place: $5,000 each
• 13th-16th place: $4,000 each

IEM Melbourne 2025 groups and opening matchups

Group A:

MOUZ vs. BIG

GamerLegion vs. 3DMAX

FaZe Clan vs. paiN Gaming

Complexity vs. The MongolZ

Team Vitality vs. FlyQuest

Virtus.pro vs. Team Liquid

Team Falcons vs. SAW

MIBR vs. Natus Vincere

The big teams and players missing from IEM Melbourne

Team Spirit

(chopper, sh1ro, magixx, zont1x, donk)
#1 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

The Shanghai Major champions were set to make an appearance in Melbourne but ultimately decided to sit this one out, no doubt with their focus set firm on a title defense in Austin. Having also skipped PGL Bucharest, their last event played remains BLAST Open Spring, where they finished in the semifinals – the same spot they reached in ESL Pro League Season 21.

Eternal Fire (now known as Aurora)

(jottA, MAJ3R, Wicadia, woxic, XANTARES)
#6 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

In a shocking development, Eternal Fire’s CS roster was bought out by Aurora, a move that reflected the Turkish org’s difficulties in securing heavyweight sponsorships and marketing deals in line with local laws. As their Counter-Strike team continued to grow in stature and salary expectations, they made the tough decision to transfer to a different organization – and to sit out IEM Melbourne along the way.

Team rosters and storylines for IEM Melbourne – a squad-by-squad rundown

Team Vitality

(apEX, ropz, ZyOo, flameZ, mezii)
#2 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

Make no mistake: Team Vitality have the strongest Counter-Strike esports team right now. One of the best AWPers in the form of ZyWOo and one of the best IGLs in apEX have now been joined by one of the best riflers in the game in the form of ropz, and the early results have been nothing short of stellar. They are clearly the team to beat, and no one has really managed to do so in a while. Unless they are heavily saving strats for the Major, they should win IEM Melbourne at a canter – make no mistake, they are definitely the favorites over the entire field.

The MongolZ

(bLitz, Techno, Senzu, mzinho, 910)
#3 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

The MongolZ have been the sensation of Asian Counter-Strike for a while now, and they kept going from strength to strength in the latter months of 202, with two impressive semifinal finishes to follow in the new year. Lately, however, things seem to have caught up to them, with a 7-8th place exit at BLAST Open Spring and a 9-11th elimination at PGL Bucharest. Their explosive playstyle depends a lot on confidence, and they seem to be clearly lacking it right now, and if a series gets dicey, or if we’re dealing with a playoff game in front of an audience, bLitz and co. seem prone to crumbling. A reinvention is in order ahead of the Major, and don’t expect them to show off anything special they’re cooking for Austin in Melbourne. In many cases, their VRS spot seemed below what their form and the eye test would suggest – this time, it clearly overstates their case.

MOUZ

(Brollan, Spinx, torzsi, Jimpphat, xertioN)
#4 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

So, Brollan as an IGL, huh? MOUZ continue to defy the doubters left, right, and center, and they are arguably the top two team on form right now, but definitely a step behind Vitality. Against anyone else, they should be seen as favorites going into a best-of-three series. Still, our previous caveat continues to stand: longevity in the IGL role is really rather rare, but if MOUZ keep making deep runs for a handful of further tournaments, then we’re going to have to accept that this is indeed the real deal, and their shock pre-Katowice roster move that saw them jettison siuhy may have turned out to be the correct one.

FaZe Clan

(karrigan, rain, broky, frozen, EliGE)
#5 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

FaZe still continue to be less than the sum of their parts, but at least broky is doing somewhat better, and EliGE is starting to find his rhythm as well. Still, the team remains shaky and clearly a step below the top dogs – and while karrigan’s bravery to pick Nuke against Falcons in the PGL Bucharest semifinals shows that interesting curveballs are still abound, the ensuing straightforward defeat shows that there is still a lot of work to be done, and it is beginning to feel more and more like another roster change will be necessary if this team wants to challenge again for top titles.

Team Falcons

(NiKo, Magisk, TeSeS, degster*, kyxsan)
#6 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

So, is it superteam time? Falcons made a Swiss comeback for the ages to then go on a playoff run in Bucharest to lift their maiden CS2 title, and they have now confirmed the long-rumored signing of m0NESY from G2 to replace degster, getting one step closer to a bona fide super-squad. Riding high on form and bringing in a fantastic young AWPer, they will be real contenders in Melbourne, especially with Team Spirit missing.

Natus Vincere

(Aleksib, iM, b1t, jL, w0nderful)
#9 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

NAVI’s continued sinking in the VRS standings is a testament to their precipitous drop in form. It just feels like the team has run out of road, with sloppy individual decisions and unexpected errors pointing to significant signs of burnout. The Aleksib-B1ad3 axis remains formidable and should definitely survive any roster change, but for the time being, NAVI are not much more than playoff contenders.

Virtus.pro

(electroNic, FL1T, fame, FL4MUS, ICY)
#12 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

We’re now a third way into the year, and Virtus.pro’s only notable tournament result remains their playoffs run at IEM Katowice. While they did make the top eight in Bucharest, the diminished field there makes it less of an accomplishment – and neither the teams they defeated along the way nor the nature of the performances suggest anything great to come in Melbourne. Clearly, Jame wasn’t the answer as we head deeper and deeper into the CS2 era, but it is becoming more and more clear that electroNic isn’t, either, at least as far as the IGL role is concerned. Unlike Liquid, VP persist with their experiment of wasting a star rifler in a leadership role – with similar results so far.

GamerLegion

(sl3nd, ztr, Tauson, PR, REZ)
#13 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

Another month, another set of promising results from GamerLegion, whose coach, ashhh, seems to have once again cobbled together another impressive squad. After an impressive run at ESL One Pro League Season 21, they made the playoffs in Bucharest, just as we have predicted. Still, Team Falcons proved to be a step too far, at least the second time around (since they did manage to defeat them in the group stage). A similar performance in Melbourne – meaning a strong set of group stage showings followed by an early playoffs exit – seems quite a realistic possibility once again for this squad that continues to punch above its weight.

3DMAX

(bodyy, Maka, Lucky, Ex3rcice, Graviti)
#14 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

Much like GamerLegion, 3DMAX also had a super impressive Bucharest run, but their resurgence feels sharper and more recent than that of ashh’s men. The French squad seems to have made a good move with picking up bodyy, and having made it to the Austin Major with a Stage 2 invitation should take a lot of weight off the team’s collective shoulders. No doubt they will treat Melbourne as a free hit with the Major right around the corner – expect fast and loose and fun action from them.

Team Liquid

(siuhy, NAF, NertZ, Twistzz, ultimate)
#15 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

The Twistzz IGL experiment is officially over, as Liquid picked up one of the hottest IGL properties on the market in the form of ex-MOUZ leader siuhy on a short-term loan. For what it’s worth, MOUZ’s continued ability to defy their doubters since the leadership swap has somewhat damaged the young Pole’s stock, and Liquid’s first outing with him at the helm was nothing short of a catastrophe, with an 0-3 finish at PGL Bucharest where they failed to win a single map. Of all the teams in Melbourne, they may have the most to prove.

paiN Gaming

(biguzera, dav1deuS, nqz, snow, deemO)
#11 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

This Brazilian outfit is another one of those teams that greatly benefitted from the VRS being a lagging indicator, for their recent set of results has been extremely underwhelming – so much so that it prompted yet another roster change on their behalf, benching kauez and bringing in academy player deemO as a replacement. As far as first impressions go, PGL Bucharest was not much to write home about, with an 0-3 exit – though facing Aurora, FaZe, and Falcons is rather unfortunate, and the two map wins to their name should give fans reasons for optimism. Not playoffs-level optimism, but still.

BIG

(tabseN, Krimbo, JDC, kyuubii, hyped)
#17 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

Such is the fall from grace of BIG that they hardly even make appearances at S-Tier CS2 tournaments anymore – and it is a key part of the VRS ranking system that it is extremely difficult to climb back up once you fall out of that upper echelon. Having fallen down to Tier 2 events (with poor showings in Katowice and Cluj-Napoca as their sole top-tier appearances this year, they also failed to make a mark in Tier 2 events, either. Be it the CCT grind of the YaLLa Compass events, this team is whimpering rather than banging – and we’d rate them the worst squad at IEM Melbourne, nominal ranking be damned.

MIBR

(exit, brnz4n, insani, saffee, Lucaozy)

#18 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

Like the other Brazilian sided, MIBR also made multiple roster changes in the past few months – and like their fellow Brazilians, their disappointing results certainly made them all seem rather reasonable choices. Nevertheless, it feels like the national merry-go-round continues to produce misfires (if you can excuse these terribly mixed metaphors), and while you could easily see a top 5-worthy national team cobbled together from all the notable side, this individual iteration just isn’t it.

SAW

(MUTIRIS, story, Ag1l, AZUWU, cej0t)
#19 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

The beneficiaries of Eternal Fire/Aurora withdrawing from the event, SAW get a golden ticket to Melbourne with vague hopes of making a mark. The team has had hit-and-miss performances so far in 2024, with a joint-last elimination in Katowice followed by a quarterfinals finish in Cluj-Napoca and a 12-14th spot at ESL Pro League Season 21. Perhaps the biggest black mark on the team is their inability or unwillingness to dip their toes into Tier 2 events: while it does make sense to protect their precious VRS placing, ring rust seems quite likely for a squad that hasn’t had a competitive outing for over a month. At the time of writing, they are still alive in the Europe Regional Qualifier for the Austin Major – but it’s not like they’re setting the world alight there, either.

Complexity

(JT, Grim, hallzerk, Cxzi, nick)
#23 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

Complexity join the event as a late replacement for Team Spirit, and while it would make sense to dismiss them based on their poor ranking and the plethora of awful showings they served up since EliGE’s departure, they have put up a shockingly impressive display in Bucharest, finishing with a 3-1 record in the Swiss bracket with wins over Falcons and FaZe, then securing a quarterfinals win over Aurora (the ex-Eternal Fire squad, so no slouches either) before falling short to G2. In fact, they were responsible for both of their defeats at the event, as they were also the ones who got the better of them in the Swiss stage.

However you slice it, it was a case of redlining – individual overperformance, to borrow a tennis term. They’d have to do the same all over again if they want to deliver another set of surprises in Melbourne.

FlyQuest

(INS, Liazz, Vexite, regali, nettik)
#26 in the February 25 Valve global rankings

The lowest-ranked team in the competition, and one that relied specifically on the VRS Asia spot to earn a spot at their hometown event, FlyQuest failed to make much of their impressive early showings at the Shanghai Major, so much so that they ended up benching dexter, their tenured IGL with international experience. Things were so bad that fans didn’t even consider this an incorrect move at all. Fellow Aussie nettik serves as his replacement, and while the home crowd boost in Australia is nothing to sneeze at, one series win against fellow strugglers is the most we expect out of this squad.

Conclusion

IEM Melbourne, like any other Counter-Strike event in Australia, is going to be a barnburner despite the timezone differences. Last-minute Major preparations and the freedom to play a little looser – with the invitations already set in stone – should make for fun and fast and loose gameplay. Team Vitality are the overwhelming favorites right now, and we’d even take them as favorites over the field.

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