Once again, the Counter-Strike 2 circuit has made its usual stop in Australia, with the ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 hosting eight top teams competing for a chance to join the CS2 elite in Season 20 of the ESL Pro League.
This three-day event was a part of DreamHack Melbourne, the largest gaming festival in Australia, and was among numerous events held at Melbourne Park. Teams from all over the world, including attendees of the PGL Copenhagen Major and local Australian team KZG, gathered at Margaret Court Arena to compete in front of thousands of fans, including our friends in Row F.
Here’s everything you need to know about ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 CS2: Full schedule, results, and more.
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 format
The ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 was an event featuring eight teams from both local Australian competitions and international qualifiers and invites.
Three teams were directly invited based on ESL’s World Ranking, while other qualifiers were held in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania to fill the remaining spots. A “Local Hero Invite” was also given to the top-performing team from the local region for the CS2 event.
- ESL World Ranking
- Local Hero Invite
- European Qualifier
- North American Qualifier
- Oceanic Qualifier
- Asian Qualifier*
* Asian qualifiers NewHappy were unable to attend, with Oceanic qualifier runner-ups KZG promoted in their place.
The eight teams were divided into two groups of four, each group playing a double-elimination “GSL” style bracket. The top two from each group advanced to the playoffs, where the final four competed in a single-elimination bracket to crown the champion.
The victorious team at Margaret Court Arena received a prize of $50,000 USD and a much-desired spot at the ESL Pro League Season 20 later this year.
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 CS2 schedule and results
Group stage
All match times were 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 0-2 Party Astronauts
- Party Astronauts win 13-1 on Nuke.
- Party Astronauts win 13-2 on Overpass.
- Group A elimination match. Sunday school is eliminated.
Saturday, April 27
- 1:15am: MIBR 2-0 Rooster
- MIBR win 13-8 on Nuke.
- MIBR win 13-6 on Vertigo.
- Group B decider match. MIBR proceeds to playoffs, Rooster is eliminated.
- 4:30am: Aurora 2-0 Party Astronauts
- Aurora win 13-3 on Inferno.
- Aurora win 13-11 on Overpass.
- Group A decider match. Aurora proceeds to playoffs, Party Asronauts is eliminated.
Playoffs
Saturday, April 28
- 11pm: Apeks 1-2 MIBR
- Apeks wins 13-9 on Ancient.
- MIBR wins 16-12 on Nuke.
- MIBR wins 13-0 on Anubis.
- Semifinal. MIBR proceeds to grand final, Apeks is eliminated.
Sunday, April 29
- 1:15am: Aurora 2-0 Rebels
- Aurora wins 13-9 on Mirage.
- Aurora wins 13-6 on Ancient.
- Semifinal. Aurora proceeds to grand final, Rebels is eliminated.
- 4:30am: MIBR 2-0 Aurora
- MIBR win 13-11 on Mirage.
- MIBR win 13-7 on Anubis.
- Grand final.
