Asia’s finest CS2 teams will battle for a huge prize pool in Shanghai this coming May.
Hero Esports, with assistance from the teams behind the Esports World Cup and DreamHack, is bringing the Asian Champions League to life in 2025 with competitions spanning nine esports in May. Among the huge titles on show, ACL 2025 also features an expansive CS2 tournament.
While the likes of Dota 2, Honor of Kings, LoL, VALORANT and more represented in Yancheng and Shanghai over the course of several weeks, eyes turn to the CS2 tournament which will see the region's best battle for the lion's share of the $300,000 USD prize pool, valuable VRS ranking points, and a spot at EWC 2025.
Here's everything you need to know about CS2 at ACL 2025: Format, schedule, teams, and more.
Table of contents
ACL 2025 format and teams
ACL 2025 is an eight-team tournament held in Yancheng and Shanghai, China. It all kicks off on May 6 with the live finals taking place May 16.
Four teams have been invited directly via VRS, while the remaining four will play through a closed qualifier that features squads from all over Asia and Oceania. The final eight will be split into two groups of four where they'll play a double-elimination bracket. The team that wins the group heads straight to the grand final; the runner up takes a spot in the third-place playoff.
The two playoff matches will be played from the KPL Esports Centre in Shanghai on May 16. Here are the teams participating in the Hero Esports ACL 2025 main event:
Qualification | Team(s) |
|---|---|
| VRS Invites (as at Feb. 25) | FlyQuest Lynn Vision The Huns Esports TYLOO |
| Closed Qualifier | Rare Atom JiJieHao Nomads NinJa* |
ACL 2025 schedule, results, and standings
Group Stage (May 6)
All match times are in China Standard Time (GMT+8).
Tuesday, May 6
- 2:30pm: The Huns 0-2 JiJieHao
- 5:50pm: Lynn Vision 2-0 NinJa
Wednesday, May 7
- 2:30pm: TYLOO 2-0 Rare Atom
- 5:50pm: FlyQuest 2-0 Nomads
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Thursday, May 8
- 2:30pm: JiJieHao 2-0 Lynn Vision
- Winner qualifies for the Group A Final.
- 5:50pm: The Huns 2-0 Ninja
- Loser is eliminated.
Friday, May 9
- 2:30pm: TYLOO vs. FlyQuest
- Winner qualifies for the Group B Final.
- 5:50pm: Rare Atom vs. Nomads
- Loser is eliminated.
Saturday, May 10
- 2:30pm: TBD vs. TBD
- Winner qualifies for the Group A Final, loser is eliminated.
- 5:50pm: TBD vs. TBD
- Winner qualifies for the Group B Final, loser is eliminated.
Sunday, May 11
- 2:30pm: TBD vs. TBD
- Group A Final. Winner qualifies for the grand final, loser falls to third-place decider.
- 5:50pm: TBD vs. TBD
- Group B Final. Winner qualifies for the grand final, loser falls to third-place decider.
Playoffs (May 16)
Friday, May 16
- 2:10pm: TBD vs. TBD
- Third-place decider.
- 7pm: TBD vs. TBD
- Grand final (best-of-three).
Standings
Here is the full standings for ACL 2025:
Placement | Prize ($ USD) | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $100,000, EWC 2025 Qualification | TBD |
| 2nd | $60,000 | TBD |
| 3rd | $40,000 | TBD |
| 4th | $30,000 | TBD |
| 5th-6th | $12,000 | TBD TBD |
| 7th-8th | $7,000 | NinJa TBD |
How to watch ACL 2025: All streams
ACL 2025 will be streamed live on Twitch and Chinese platform Huya. Additional streams can be found on the event's Liquipedia page.
For more CS2 news head to esports.gg.
