IEM Melbourne 2025: Schedule, Teams, Format, and Prizes Revealed
This article discusses the upcoming IEM Melbourne 2025 event, covering the teams involved, match schedules, tournament format, and rewards.
m0NESY is set to join NiKo for his first outing with the Falcons in Melbourne.
Counter-Strike makes its return to Australia for IEM Melbourne, following the successful conclusion of the BLAST.tv Austin Major MRQs. The tournament will be hosted at Rod Laver Arena from April 21-27 and features an impressive lineup of teams including Vitality, FaZe, and Natus Vincere, all absent from PGL Bucharest.
Fans will witness Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov back alongside Nikola “NiKo” Kovač for the first time since m0NESY’s departure from G2 as he officially joins the Saudi organization after PGL Bucharest.
Teams
Seven teams ranked in the top ten will compete at IEM Melbourne:
However, Spirit has opted out of the event due to health concerns, making way for Complexity, who impressed at PGL Bucharest with notable wins against teams like FaZe and Falcons.
The full team list:
- Group A: MOUZ, FaZe, The MongolZ, 3DMAX, GamerLegion, Complexity, paiN, BIG
- Group B: Vitality, Natus Vincere, Falcons, Virtus.pro, Liquid, SAW, MIBR, FlyQuest
Schedule
IEM Melbourne is scheduled from April 21-27. The group stage occurs between April 21-23, followed by playoffs starting April 25.
The opening matches include:
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| IEM Melbourne 2025 | ||
| April 21, 2025 | FaZe vs paiN at 03:15 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | The MongolZ vs Complexity at 03:15 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | MOUZ vs BIG at 05:45 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | 3DMAX vs GamerLegion at 05:45 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | Vitality vs FlyQuest at 08:15 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | Liquid vs Virtus.pro at 08:15 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | Falcons vs SAW at 10:45 | Match |
| April 21, 2025 | Natus Vincere vs MIBR at 10:45 | Match |
For the full schedule, you can click here.
Format
IEM returns with its classic 16-team double-elimination format, with top six teams proceeding to the playoffs. The leading seed from each group automatically advances to the semi-finals, while the second and third seeds enter a four-team quarter-final matchup.
The playoff bracket functions as a best-of-three single-elimination format, culminating in a best-of-five grand final.
Prizes
- $125,000 + Club share: $160,000
- $50,000 + Club share: $100,000
3-4. $25,000 + Club share: $80,000
5-6. $12,500 + Club share: $60,000
7-8. $7,000 + Club share: $40,000
9-12. $5,000 + Club share: $20,000
13-16. $4,000
Fantasy
A fantasy game to earn season points is already live, with rewards including:
- Hydra Gloves | Mangrove (Field-Tested)
- AWP | Hyper Beast (Field-Tested)
- M4A1-S | Hyper Beast (Field-Tested)
Currently, players from Vitality dominate the selections, with several featuring among the top eight, alongside Falcons newest recruit, m0NESY. Assemble your team in the IEM Melbourne fantasy page.
