{"id":24577,"date":"2025-04-17T15:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/?p=24577"},"modified":"2025-04-17T15:04:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:04:07","slug":"iem-melbourne-2025-overview-format-teams-schedule-favorites-and-underdogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/news\/cs-2\/iem-melbourne-2025-overview-format-teams-schedule-favorites-and-underdogs\/","title":{"rendered":"IEM Melbourne 2025 Overview: Format, Teams, Schedule, Favorites and Underdogs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IEM Melbourne<\/strong> is an S-tier tournament held in <strong>Melbourne <\/strong>from <strong>April 21 <\/strong>to <strong>April 27<\/strong>. The tournament will feature sixteen teams who will have to fight for the champion trophy and prize pool of <strong>$300,000<\/strong>. Vitality won three tournaments in a row that they participated in, and they\u2019re back here at <strong>IEM Melbourne<\/strong> to give a shot at another trophy. Here, you will find the tournament format, opening matches schedule, a short overview of favorites and underdogs, and how to watch a tournament.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tournament Format<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Group Stage (April 21 &#8211; April 24)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Two double-elimination format (GSL) Groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each group has eight teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The top three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group stage winners advance to the Semifinals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group stage runners-up advance to the Quarterfinals as the High Seeds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group stage 3rd place teams advance to the Quarterfinals as the Low Seeds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Playoff Stage (April 25 &#8211; April 27)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Single-Elimination bracket<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Quarterfinals &amp; Semifinals are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Grand Final is Bo5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-150x84.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-450x253.jpeg 450w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb-1200x675.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iemmellb.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Melbourne 2025 &#8211; Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Vitality<\/td><td>Natus Vincere<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MOUZ<\/td><td>Falcons<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>TheMongolZ<\/td><td>Liquid<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Virtus.pro<\/td><td>GamerLegion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>FaZe<\/td><td>paiN<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>FlyQuest<\/td><td>3DMAX<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>BIG<\/td><td>MIBR<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Complexity<\/td><td>SAW<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Melbourne 2025 &#8211; Teams Participating<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Favorites and Underdogs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Vitality <\/strong>is the clear favorite to win this one. Vitality left no chance for any teams that played against them in three tournaments, and they\u2019re here to take another trophy home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides <strong>Vitality, <\/strong>there are favorites teams to make it far in the tournament, and it\u2019s teams like <strong>MOUZ<\/strong>, who was fighting <strong>Vitality <\/strong>in the <strong>Grand Finals<\/strong> before and had some success, and <strong>Natus Vincere<\/strong>, who were the best team half of the year in 2024 and they want to prove that they\u2019re back. <strong>Falcons <\/strong>are also the ones to look out for as a favorite as they won the <strong>PGL Bucharest 2025<\/strong> a week ago, and after that, they signed <strong>\u2018m0NESY\u2019, <\/strong>which made them even stronger on paper.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind all the teams mentioned above would be <strong>FaZe<\/strong> <strong>Virtus.pro<\/strong>, <strong>Liquid<\/strong>, <strong>and TheMongolZ\u2014<\/strong>all of them can crash anyone on a good day, but recently, they haven\u2019t shown any consistency, and even though they\u2019re still the favorites to make it to the playoff stage, it is hard to imagine them taking the trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dark horse teams would be <strong>3DMAX<\/strong>, <strong>GamerLegion<\/strong>, <strong>and Complexity. <\/strong>All three of them had some success at previous tournaments against top teams, and who knows if the experience they gained might be enough to take it further this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the underdogs, it\u2019s the rest of the teams, which are <strong>paiN<\/strong>, <strong>FlyQuest<\/strong>, <strong>MIBR<\/strong>, <strong>BIG<\/strong>, <strong>and SAW, <\/strong>as they didn\u2019t show as much at the previous tournament and have yet to prove themselves against elite-level teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening Matches Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">April 21<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>FaZe <\/strong>vs. <strong>paiN <\/strong>and <strong>TheMongolZ <\/strong>vs. <strong>Complexity <\/strong>starting at<strong> 03:15 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MOUZ <\/strong>vs. <strong>BIG <\/strong>and <strong>3DMAX <\/strong>vs. <strong>GamerLegion <\/strong>starting at <strong>05:45 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vitality <\/strong>vs. <strong>FlyQuest <\/strong>and <strong>Liquid <\/strong>vs. <strong>Virtus.pro <\/strong>starting at <strong>08:15 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Falcons <\/strong>vs. <strong>SAW <\/strong>and <strong>Natus Vincere<\/strong> vs. <strong>MIBR <\/strong>starting at<strong> 10:45 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The<strong> Grand Final<\/strong> is scheduled for<strong> April 27<\/strong> at <strong>08:30 CET<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Watch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>IEM Melbourne 2025&nbsp; <\/strong>will be streamed live for viewers worldwide. You can enjoy every thrilling moment at home, at work, or on the go.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be official <strong>Twitch, YouTube <\/strong>streams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/ESLCS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEM Melbourne 2025 Official Twitch Primary Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/ESLCS\/streams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEM Melbourne 2025 Official YouTube Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/ESLCSb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEM Melbourne 2025 Official Twitch Secondary Stream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Keep up with our coverage for more insights on the latest esports news and updates.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview IEM Melbourne is an S-tier tournament held in Melbourne from April 21 to April 27. The tournament will feature sixteen teams who will have to fight for the champion trophy and prize pool of $300,000. Vitality won three tournaments in a row that they participated in, and they\u2019re back here at IEM Melbourne to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":24579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,11,247],"class_list":{"0":"post-24577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cs-2","8":"tag-cs2","9":"tag-cs2-news","10":"tag-cs2-tournaments"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24580,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24577\/revisions\/24580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}