IEM Dallas 2025 is the last S-tier CS2 tournament before the highly anticipated BLAST.tv Austin Major. The event takes place between May 19 – 25, offers $300.000 in prize money, and features 16 teams, including the world’s best three: Team Vitality, Team Falcons, and MOUZ.
Tournament Format
IEM Dallas 2025 starts with a double-elimination group stage in which the 16 teams are divided into two groups of eight. In each group, the winner advances to the semifinals while the 2nd and 3rd place teams advance to the quarterfinals. All matches are best-of-three.
This is a very challenging format that favors the strong competitors. Losing a Bo3 twice is unlikely if you’re Vitality, Falcons, or one of the other giants. In a best-of-one match, anything can happen. But with such error margins, it’s hard to believe that the favorites will leave the race before the playoffs.
Participants and Favorites
Here are the 16 teams that compete in IEM Dallas 2025:
Group A
- Team Vitality
- Legacy
- 3DMAX
- GamerLegion
- The MongolZ
- FURIA
- Lynn Vision Gaming
- G2 Esports
The favorites in this group are Vitality, The MongolZ, and G2. However, given G2’s recent results, 3DMAX, GamerLegion, and FURIA could easily steal their playoffs spot.
Group B
- MOUZ
- BC.Game Esports
- Team Liquid
- FaZe Clan
- Aurora Gaming
- HEROIC
- NRG
- Team Falcons
This will be a tough group for a lot of teams. The clear favorites are Team Falcons and MOUZ. The remaining playoffs spot could go to FaZe Clan, Liquid, Aurora, or HEROIC. All of these teams are strong enough to secure a top three result in the group stage.
Also, we must not forget that NRG have several strong players on their roster:
- Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella
- Joshua “oSee” Ohm
- Alexander “br0” Bro
This makes them capable of causing serious upsets at IEM Dallas 2025.
