The Counter-Strike 2 circuit has again made its customary stop Down Under, with ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 seeing eight star squads battle it out for a shot at joining the CS2 big dogs for Season 20 of ESL Pro League.
The three-day event was just one part of DreamHack Melbourne, Australia’s biggest gaming festival, and was 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 converged on Margaret Court Arena and battled 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, and more.
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 format
ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 was an eight-team event featuring squads from domestic competitions in Australia and international invites and qualifiers.
Three teams received 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 were unable to attend, with Oceanic qualifier runner-ups KZG promoted in their place.
The eight teams were seeded into two groups of four, with each group playing through a double-elimination “GSL” style bracket. The top two from each group progressed to the playoffs, with the final four playing out a single-elimination bracket to determine the champion.
The winners at Margaret Court Arena walked 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 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.
