The Counter-Strike 2 circuit is making its customary stop Down Under this week with ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 seeing eight squads battle for a shot at joining the big dogs for next season of ESL Pro League Season 20.
Kicking off on Friday for us Aussies (Thursday if you’re from the U.S.), the three-day event is just one part of DreamHack Melbourne, Australia’s biggest gaming festival, and is one of many events held in and around Melbourne Park. From PGL Copenhagen Major attendees down to Aussie minnows KZG, teams from far and wide converge on Margaret Court Arena and battle it out in front of thousands of fans (including our mates in Row F).
Here’s everything you need to know about ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 CS2: Full schedule, results, how to watch, and more.
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 format
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 is an eight-team event featuring squads from domestic competition in Australia and international invites and qualifiers.
Three teams got direct invites via ESL’s World Ranking, while other qualifiers were held across Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania to determine the remaining participants. A “Local Hero Invite” rounded out the group, which is a slot given to the local region’s top-performing team available for the CS2 event.
- ESL World Ranking
- Apeks
- MIBR
- Rebels
- Local Hero Invite
- Rooster
- European Qualifier
- Aurora
- North American Qualifier
- Party Astronauts
- Oceanic Qualifier
- sunday school
- KZG
- Asian Qualifier*
- NewHappy
* Asian qualifiers NewHappy are unable to attend, with Oceanic qualifier runner-ups KZG promoted in their place.
The eight teams have been seeded into two groups of four, with each group playing through a double-elimination “GSL” style bracket. The top two from each group progress to the playoffs, with the final four playing out a single-elimination bracket to determine the champion.
The winners at Margaret Court Arena this weekend will walk away with a cool $50,000 USD as well as a coveted spot at ESL Pro League Season 20 later this year.
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 CS2 schedule and results
Group stage
All match times are in Central Time U.S. (CT).
Thursday, April 25
- 7pm: Apeks 13-2 sunday school
- Apeks proceeds to Group A upper bracket final, sunday school falls to lower bracket.
- 8:25pm: Party Astronauts 3-13 Aurora
- Aurora proceeds to Group A upper bracket final, Party Astronauts falls to lower bracket.
- 9:50pm: MIBR 13-4 KZG
- MIBR proceeds to Group B upper bracket final, KZG falls to lower bracket.
- 11:15pm: Rooster 7-13 Rebels
- Rebels proceeds to Group B upper bracket final, Rooster falls to lower bracket.
Friday, April 26
- 12:40am: Apeks 13-11 Aurora
- Group A upper bracket final. Apeks proceeds to playoffs, Aurora falls to lower bracket.
- 2:05am: MIBR 13-10 Rebels
- Group B upper bracket final. Winner proceeds to playoffs, loser falls to lower bracket.
- 3:30am: KZG 0-2 Rooster
- Rooster wins 13-3 on Inferno.
- Rooster wins 13-2 on Anubis.
- Group B elimination match. KZG is eliminated.
- 11pm: sunday school vs. Party Astronauts
- Group A elimination match. Loser is eliminated.
Saturday, April 27
- 1:15am: MIBR vs. Rooster
- Group B decider match. Winner proceeds to playoffs, loser is eliminated.
- 4:30am: Aurora vs. TBD
- Group A decider match. Winner proceeds to playoffs, loser is eliminated.
Playoffs
Saturday, April 28
- 11pm: Apeks vs. TBD
- Semifinal. Winner proceeds to grand final, loser is eliminated.
Sunday, April 29
- 1:15am: TBD vs. TBD
- Semifinal. Winner proceeds to grand final, loser is eliminated.
- 4:30am: TBD vs. TBD
- Grand final.
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 CS2 streams: How to watch
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 will be broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube. If you missed the action, head to ESL’s respective channels to watch spoiler-free VODs uploaded shortly after the conclusion of each match day.
Community broadcasters may be streaming the event in other languages–check back soon for more information about third-party streams.
