IEM Melbourne 2025 is ready to begin after one week. However, Team Spirit has officially announced that they won’t be a part of the upcoming tournament. The news was released through ESL, who confirmed the withdrawal and announced Complexity Gaming would be taking their spot.
Complexity, the next team in line according to the most recent Counter-Strike 2 Global VRS rankings, has taken up the offer and will now appear in Melbourne. Even though Team Spirit notified about their withdrawal last week, they haven’t provided any reason for that.
Team Spirit’s withdrawal is one of a number of high-profile withdrawals this year, with G2 Esports, FURIA, and Astralis also withdrawing from the event. The finalized team line-up with group placements as follows:
Group A
- MOUZ
- The MongolZ
- FaZe Clan
- 3DMAX
- GamerLegion
- paiN Gaming
- Complexity
- BIG
Group B
- Team Vitality
- Natus Vincere
- Team Falcons
- Virtus.pro
- Team Liquid
- SAW
- MIBR
- FlyQuest
Team Spirit have withdrawn from the event. In accordance with the global ranking at the time of withdrawal, we approached the next eligible teams per our rulebook. Complexity have accepted the invite and will join us in Melbourne!
ESL
Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Melbourne 2025 represents a major return of top-class Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) competition to the Australian continent. Taking place between April 21 and 27, the tournament will take place at Melbourne’s legendary Rod Laver Arena with 16 top teams competing for a portion of the $1,000,000 prize money.
The first phase uses a double-elimination system with two groups of eight teams. All matches are best-of-three (Bo3). The group winners automatically go to the semifinals, and the second and third-placed teams go to the quarterfinals.
Playoffs switch to single-elimination bracket. Quarterfinals and semifinals are Bo3, leading into a best-of-five (Bo5) grand final on April 27.
Which team are you rooting for in IEM Melbourne 2025? Let us know in the comments below!