The hectic competitive Counter-Strike schedule waits for no one, and with PGL Bucharest 2025 not even reaching its conclusion yet, ESL has already announced the Groups and opening matches for IEM Melbourne 2025, giving players a glimpse of the action they can expect between April 21st – 27th. The announcement of the Groups follows earlier news that Complexity have replaced Spirit in the event.
Credit: ESL
With IEM Melbourne 2025 swiftly approaching, ESL has finally revealed Groups A and B at the event, featuring eight of the best CS2 teams in the world in each. You can check them out below:
Group A
Group B
All in all, I’d say both of these Groups are pretty fairly matched. Group B has the mighty Vitality, a team with an iron grip on the top of the competitive Counter-Strike scene right now. This is balanced out in Group A by the quality brought by the likes of MOUZ, The MongolZ, and FaZe Clan, all of whom will fancy their chances at a Playoff run down under.
THE #IEM MELBOURNE 2025 GROUP STAGE ???
GROUP A@mousesports@1mongolz@FaZeEsports@3DMAXGaming@GamerLegion@paiNGamingBR@ComplexityCS@BIGCLANgg
GROUP B@TeamVitalityCS@natusvincere@FalconsEsport@TeamLiquidCS@virtuspro@sawggofficial@MIBR@FlyQuestCS pic.twitter.com/om873r92kt
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) April 11, 2025
Alongside the Groups announcement, ESL also revealed all of the opening matches of IEM Melbourne. Check out each one below!
Group A
Group B
Credit: ESL
Credit: ESL
For me, each Group has one standout match to kick things off. In Group A, you should watch out for The MongolZ vs. Complexity. The Mongolian roster had an extremely rough showing at PGL Bucharest 2025, while the North American team are still involved in proceedings at the Semi-Final stage. This could be an epic clash.
Meanwhile, look out for Liquid vs. Virtus.pro in Group B. These two teams are very evenly matched on paper, and it’s always a good showing when they go up against one another. Don’t miss it!
LOL
CS2
Dota 2
Valorant
Fortnite
Call of Duty
Mobile Games
Gaming
