Counter-Strike 2’s esports ecosystem saw a few substantial changes with the beginning of 2025. These include an open circuit, allowing more third-party companies to host events—which resulted in an abundance of tier-one tournaments in the following months.
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Each month there will be a few tournaments worth following, so it’s easy to get lost in the calendar. With so many options, don’t expect your favorite teams to participate in each of them. However, the year is still shaping up to be the busiest it has ever been in CS2.
All tier-one events in CS2 in 2025
January
January is already over, and with the winter break it featured only one tier one tournament, BLAST Bounty Season One. Team Spirit triumphed in the final after defeating Eternal Fire.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner BLAST Bounty Season One Online, LAN Finals in Copenhagen, Denmark Jan. 14 – Jan. 19 32 $500,000 Team Spirit
February
Just days after signing ropz, Vitality claimed their first trophy. Screenshot via Team Vitality
The number of events slowly accelerates in February with IEM Katowice 2025 and PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025. The former has already concluded, with Team Vitality hoisting the trophy.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner IEM Katowice 2025 Katowice, Poland Jan. 31 – Feb. 9 24 $1,000,000 Team Vitality PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 Bucharest & Cluj-Napoca, Romania Feb. 14 – Feb. 23 16 $1,250,000 TBD
March
The majority of the tier-one calendar in CS2 in March will be absorbed by ESL Pro League Season 21, with BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 taking place by the end of the month.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner ESL Pro League Season 21 Stockholm, Sweden March 1 – March 16 24 $1,000,000 TBD BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 Group stage in Copenhagen, Denmark, Playoffs in Lisbon, Portugal March 19 – March 30 16 $400,000 TBD
April
Counter-Strike is returning to Australia, but going to Melbourne instead of Sydney. Photo by Sarah Cooper via ESL Gaming
Four tier-one events are scheduled for April. They will take place on three continents, with only one of them being Europe.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner PGL Bucharest 2025 Bucharest, Romania April 5 – April 13 16 $1,250,000 TBD YaLLA Compass Qatar 2025 Doha, Qatar April 15 – April 20 12 $600,000 TBD IEM Melbourne 2025 Melbourne, Australia April 21 – April 27 16 $1,000,000 TBD BLAST Rivals 2025 Season One Monterrey, Mexico April 30 – May 4 Eight $350,000 TBD
May
The action in May will stay outside of Europe, with top teams going to Dallas, Ulaanbaatar, and Astana.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2025 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia April 30 – May 4 TBD $250,000 TBD PGL Astana 2025 Astana, Kazakhstan May 10 – May 18 16 $1,250,000 TBD IEM Dallas 2025 Dallas, USA May 19 – May 25 16 $1,000,000 TBD ESL Impact League Season Seven Finals Dallas, USA May 23 – Mary 25 Eight $150,000 TBD
June
First Major of the year is scheduled for June. Photo by Joao Ferreira via PGL
June will cool off with the number of tournaments due to one of the two most important events scheduled for the month. That is the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Austin, USA June 3 – June 22 32 $1,250,000 TBD
July
After a one-month break, another key event in the CS2 calendar will take place this summer, and it’s nneo other than IEM Cologne 2025. Before that, though, a few teams will travel to Serbia.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner FISSURE July 2025 Event Belgrade, Serbia July 15 – July 20 TBA $1,000,000 TBD IEM Cologne 2025 Cologne, Germany July 23 – July 25 24 $1,250,000 TBD
August
Vitality won last year’s Cologne. Photo by Helena Kristiansson via ESL FACEIT Group
In August top CS2 teams will return to Europe and Saudi Arabia, with the latter hosting Esports World Cup once again.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner BLAST Bounty Season Two Group stage online, playoffs in Copenhagen, Denmark Aug. 5 – Aug. 17 32 $500,000 TBD Esports World Cup 2025 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Aug. 20 – Aug. 24 16 $1,250,000 TBD BLAST Open London 2025 Group stage in Copenhagen, playoffs in London, UK Aug. 27 – Sept. 7 16 $400,000 TBD
September
Another season of ESL Pro League spearheads the top competition in September, accompanied by two other events.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner FISSURE September 2025 Event Belgrade, Serbia Sept. 9 – Sept. 21 TBA $1,250,000 TBD StarLadder StarSeries Budapest 2025 Budapest, Hungary Sept. 13 – Sept. 21 16 $500,000 TBD ESL Pro League Season 22 Stockholm, Sweden Sept. 27 – Oct. 12 24 $400,000 TBD
October
October is stacked with four events worth attention from every CS2 fan. These include another edition of CS Asia Championships and another PGL stop, this time in Belgrade.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner CS Asia Championships 2025 China Oct. 1 – Oct. 13 TBA TBA TBD Thunderpick World Championship 2025 Budapest, Hungary Oct. 15 – Oct. 19 Eight $850,000 TBD MESA Nomadic Masters Fall 2025 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Oct. 15 – Oct. 19 TBA $250,000 TBD PGL Belgrade 2025 Belgrade, Serbia Oct. 25 – Nov. 2 16 $1,250,000 TBD
November
FaZe are the defending IEM Chengdu champions. Will they return to China? Image via ESL Gaming
However, the busiest month for top-tier CS2 teams is undoubtedly November. It will feature five events, including IEM Chengdu and ESL Impact League Season Eight Finals. Participants will have the last chance to sharpen their skills ahead of second CS2 Major in the following month.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner IEM Chengdu 2025 Chengdu, China Nov. 3 – Nov. 9 16 $300,00 TBD Skyesports Masters 2025 India Nov. 10 – Nov. 16 Eight $350,000 TBD BLAST Rivals 2025 Season Two Eastern Asia Nov. 12 – Nov. 16 TBA $350,000 TBD YaLLa Compass UAE 2025 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Nov. 18 – Nov. 23 12 $600,000 TBD ESL Impact League Season Eight Finals Stockholm, Sweden Nov. 28 – Nov. 30 Eight $150,000 TBD
December
The final month of the year will conclude similarly to how it did in 2024—with a Major. The location is currently unknown, but it’s rumored to be organized by PGL in Budapest, Hungary.
Tournament name Location Date Number of participants Prize pool Winner CS2 December Major TBA Dec. 1 – Dec. 14 32 TBA TBD
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