Your Guide To IEM Dallas 2025

IEM Dallas 2025 kicks off today, 19 May. For those Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports fans who haven't marked their calendars yet, do so now! It's a super-exciting event, especially with the return of s1mple and being the last one before the BLAST.tv Austin Major, there's a lot of hype.

Read More: StarLadder Reveals Budapest Major 2025

Take a seat and let's discuss all the essential details CS2 esports fans must know about for IEM Dallas 2025, including schedule, format, teams competing for their share of the huge $1 million prize pool, and how to watch the action unfold live.

IEM Dallas Schedule & Format

IEM Dallas 2025 is scheduled to take place from 19 to 25 May. The Group Stage matches will be held from 19 to 22 May. The Playoff stage, which will be open to the public at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, is set for 23 to 25 May 2025. For those who are just interested in the Grand Final, it will take place on 25 May. 

IEM Dallas 2025 features a two-stage format: a Group Stage followed by a single-elimination Playoff bracket. The Group Stage consists of two double-elimination format (GSL-style) groups, with eight teams in each group.

All matches in the Group Stage are best-of-three. The top three teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs. The winners of each group will secure a direct spot in the Semifinals, while the runners-up will proceed to the Quarterfinals as High Seeds, and the third-place teams will enter the Quarterfinals as Low Seeds.

Read More: CS2 Prodigy kyousuke Heading To Team Falcons, Reports Suggest

The Playoffs will feature a six-team single-elimination bracket. The Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be best-of-three matches, culminating in a best-of-five Grand Final to determine the champion.

Teams Competing at IEM Dallas 2025

A total of 16 teams from around the globe are competing in IEM Dallas 2025. These teams qualified either through their Valve Regional Standings (VRS) ranking or via regional qualifiers. Some of the confirmed teams participating include:

• G2 Esports
• Team Vitality
• FaZe Clan
• Aurora
• MOUZ
• Team Liquid
• FURIA
• The MongolZ
• Team Falcons
• BC.Game Esports
• 3DMAX
• GamerLegion
• HEROIC
• NRG
• Legacy
• Lynn Vision Gaming

It will be interesting to see if Team Vitality can keep their win streak going (25 matches in a row thus far) and what type of impact s1mple will have on FaZe Clan's prospects of a deep run.

How To Watch IEM Dallas 2025

CS2 esports fans can catch all the IEM Dallas 2025 action right from their homes if they cannot attend the event in person. Watch IEM Dallas 2024 via the ESLCS Twitch channel. Remember, there's also a B-stream taking place on some days where multiple matches run at the same time.

Alternatively, you can watch via the ESLCS YouTube channel. For your convenience, we've embedded the Twitch channel below.