IEM Chengdu 2025: Groups and Opening Matches Confirmed

ESL has unveiled the group draw and opening fixtures for IEM Chengdu 2025, set for November 3–9 at the Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center with a live crowd throughout the event. Sixteen teams will battle for a total of $1,000,000 in prize money (player share $300,000, club share $700,000). 

Venue, schedule, and format at a glance

Venue & audience: Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center; group stage and playoffs will be played in front of a live audience.

Dates: November 3–9, 2025.

Format: Two GSL-style double-elimination groups (best-of-three). Group winners head straight to the semifinals; 2nd–3rd place advance to quarterfinals. Playoffs are single-elimination (BO3) with a BO5 grand final and a BO3 third-place decider.

Daily arena times (local): Doors 09:00; first match 10:00; last match wraps ~22:00 (specific day-by-day times published by ESL).

The groups

Group A
The MongolZ, Spirit, Falcons, Natus Vincere, Astralis, paiN, TYLOO, HEROIC. 

Group B
Vitality, FURIA, MOUZ, G2, 3DMAX, FaZe, Virtus.pro, Lynn Vision. 

Two Chinese squads (TYLOO and Lynn Vision) will represent the home crowd. 

Opening matches — November 3 (local time)

TYLOO vs. Falcons – 03:00

FURIA vs. Lynn Vision – 03:00

MOUZ vs. FaZe – 05:30

Vitality vs. Virtus.pro – 05:30

The MongolZ vs. HEROIC – 08:00

G2 vs. 3DMAX – 08:00

paiN vs. Spirit – 10:30

Astralis vs. Natus Vincere – 10:30

Form guide & key storylines

Vitality’s return to winning ways: Fresh off a commanding 3–0 over Falcons to win ESL Pro League S22 on October 12, Vitality headline Group B. Captain Dan “apEX” Madesclaire on the ESL broadcast: “We’ve been working hard and we really wanted to get back to trophies.” The team framed Chengdu as part of a push to close in on a double-digit trophy count for the year. 

The MongolZ shock change: The biggest late roster twist before Chengdu came from The MongolZ, who benched Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold, ending a two-year stretch without changes. Their first outing post-move will be in Chengdu.

Falcons’ mixed signals: Falcons reached the EPL S22 final but were swept by Vitality. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač told HLTV after a tight playoff win earlier in the event: “A bit frustrated with how we played, but happy that we won.” Consistency—especially in pistols—remains an admitted focus. 

Crowd from day one: ESL confirmed a live audience for all stages, meaning group matches will be played in front of thousands—an unusual and fan-friendly twist for a Tier-1 arena event’s early phase. 

Who’s in, and why it matters

ESL previously announced the 16 direct invites, with all top names accepting—setting up Chengdu as one of the year’s last stacked stops before the StarLadder Budapest Major. Notably, community outlets highlighted the absence of North American teams among the invites. 

Prize pool & map pool

HLTV’s event hub lists the combined $1,000,000 allocation (player + club shares) and confirms the current CS2 seven-map pool (Dust2, Mirage, Inferno, Nuke, Train, Overpass, Ancient).