IEM Beijing 2026: Full CS2 Preview, Group Picks & Champion Pick

Intel Extreme Masters returns to China's capital for the first time since 2019. IEM Beijing 2026 runs from November 2 to November 8, 2026 at the Bloomage Biotech Biohyalux ECM Arena (Wukesong Arena), and 16 teams are playing for a $1,250,000 prize pool on a 360-degree stage. Two of the year's dominant teams aren't coming. Team Spirit turned down its invite because of a busy calendar, and Team Vitality declined because two of its players are on paternity leave. With both of them out, there's no clear favourite. MOUZ have reached three big finals since late July. FURIA have just won a trophy, and Team Falcons are the reigning Major champions but have been slumping. Group A is the tougher of the two groups, and it's packed with recent trophy winners.

Here's the short version of our IEM Beijing 2026 picks. The reasoning for each one is further down.

Outright favourite: MOUZ, the most consistent team in the field over the last 120 days
Most likely Grand Final: MOUZ vs FURIA on Sunday, November 8
Group winners: FURIA in Group A, MOUZ in Group B
Biggest upset threat: Legacy, who have won three big trophies in China since 2025
Best home-region pick: TYLOO, the only Chinese team in the field, to win at least one lower-bracket series
Most likely early exit: Natus Vincere, who open against Falcons in a slump and are in the hardest group
Best sleeper: BetBoom Team, who reached the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 final in October

Event Snapshot

Name: Intel Extreme Masters Beijing 2026 (IEM Beijing 2026)
Game: Counter-Strike 2 (CS2)
Organizer: ESL (ESL FACEIT Group)
Dates: November 2–8, 2026
Venue: Bloomage Biotech Biohyalux ECM Arena (Wukesong), Haidian District, Beijing, China
Prize Pool: $1,250,000
Tier: S-Tier, and a stop in the ESL Grand Slam race
Teams: 16 (13 invited through the Valve Regional Standings, 3 from closed qualifiers)
Format: Two eight-team double-elimination (GSL-style) groups, all Bo3. The top three in each group reach a six-team single-elimination playoff, with a Bo5 grand final.

Prize Distribution

1st: $360,000
2nd: $210,000
3rd: $160,000
4th: $120,000
5th–6th: $87,500 each
7th–8th: $54,500 each
9th–12th: $25,000 each
13th–16th: $4,000 each

These figures are from Liquipedia's breakdown, which adds up to the full $1,250,000. ESL's own page quotes $125,000 for first place, which matches the player share of the winner's $360,000.

Schedule

Monday, November 2 to Wednesday, November 4: Group stage. Matches start at 10:00, 12:30, 15:00 and 17:30 China Standard Time.
Thursday, November 5: Rest day with no matches (fan signing sessions)
Friday, November 6: Quarterfinals. QF1 at 14:30 CST (Group B 2nd vs Group A 3rd) and QF2 at 17:45 CST (Group A 2nd vs Group B 3rd).
Saturday, November 7: Semifinals. SF1 at 14:30 CST (Group A winner vs QF1 winner) and SF2 at 17:45 CST (Group B winner vs QF2 winner).
Sunday, November 8: Third-place decider at 12:00 CST (Bo3), then the Grand Final at 15:30 CST (Bo5)

Groups

Group A

Team Falcons
Natus Vincere
FURIA
FaZe Clan
Legacy
The MongolZ
HEROIC
B8

Group B

MOUZ
TYLOO
9z Team
BetBoom Team
Aurora Gaming
Team Liquid
PARIVISION
G2 Esports

The opening round is set. In Group A it's Legacy vs The MongolZ, HEROIC vs B8, FURIA vs FaZe and Natus Vincere vs Team Falcons. In Group B it's MOUZ vs TYLOO, 9z vs BetBoom, Aurora vs Liquid and PARIVISION vs G2. Group A looks far harder. It has the reigning Major champions, the Thunderpick champions, the team that just won FISSURE Playground #3, and NAVI and FaZe, two big names who are looking for form. Group B is MOUZ's to lose. The fight for second and third there is very open.

Recent Form (Last 120 Days)

Per-match win-loss counts couldn't be checked reliably for every team, so each team below is summed up by its verified placings at big events since late June 2026.

MOUZ: Won BLAST Bounty Summer, 2nd at BLAST Open Fall, 2nd at ESL Pro League Season 24, 5th–8th at the Esports World Cup
FURIA: Won the Thunderpick World Championship, 4th at the Esports World Cup, quarterfinal exits at BLAST Open Fall, FISSURE Playground #3 and EPL Season 24
Aurora Gaming: 2nd at StarSeries Fall, semifinalist at EPL Season 24, 3rd at the Thunderpick World Championship
Team Falcons: Won the IEM Cologne Major on June 21. Since then: 5th–8th at the EWC, 3rd–4th at BLAST Open Fall, 5th–8th at EPL Season 24, 4th at Thunderpick.
Legacy: Won FISSURE Playground #3, 3rd at the Esports World Cup, missed the playoffs at EPL Season 24, out in the Thunderpick group stage
BetBoom Team: 2nd at the Thunderpick World Championship, semifinalist at FISSURE Playground #3
G2 Esports: 2nd at FISSURE Playground #3, 5th–6th at BLAST Open Fall, missed the playoffs at EPL Season 24
PARIVISION: Quarterfinalist at EPL Season 24, out in the Thunderpick group stage
Natus Vincere: Round-of-16 exit at the EWC, knocked out by G2 at BLAST Open Fall, 7th–8th at StarSeries Fall, missed the playoffs at EPL Season 24
FaZe Clan: Knocked out by Vitality at the Esports World Cup playoffs, after missing the Cologne Major
The MongolZ: Round-of-16 exit at the EWC, then a full rebuild. The new lineup made its debut in October.
Team Liquid: Few top-tier LAN results. Knocked out of the EWC open qualifier by 1WIN in August.
9z Team: Beat Aurora at the Thunderpick World Championship but went out in the group stage
TYLOO: Won the Asian closed qualifier (FlyQuest forfeited the final) and beat DEPO 2–1 in the PGL Masters Bucharest Asian qualifier
HEROIC: Came through the lower bracket of the Global closed qualifier, beating Nuclear TigeRES 2–0 in the deciding series
B8: Won the Global closed qualifier unbeaten in series, dropping one map in four matches

MOUZ are the standout here. They have reached three big finals since late July, more than any other team in Beijing. FURIA have just won a trophy and Aurora keep making semifinals. Falcons are still the Major champions, but they haven't reached a final since Cologne.

Context: Thunderpick, EPL Season 24, StarSeries, FISSURE, BLAST and the EWC

Thunderpick World Championship 2026 (Malta, October 14–18)

Champion: FURIA beat BetBoom Team 3–2 in the final. KSCERATO was named MVP.
Semifinals: FURIA 2–0 Aurora, BetBoom 2–1 Falcons
Third place: Aurora 2–1 Falcons
Group stage: Legacy, PARIVISION and 9z were knocked out

ESL Pro League Season 24 (Katowice, October 3–11)

Champion: Vitality swept MOUZ 3–0 in the final
Semifinals: MOUZ 2–1 Spirit, Vitality 2–1 Aurora
Quarterfinals: MOUZ 2–0 FURIA, Spirit 2–0 Falcons, Vitality 2–0 PARIVISION, Aurora 2–0 1win
Swiss stage: PARIVISION beat NAVI 2–1 in a deciding match, which knocked NAVI out

StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 (Barcelona, September 17–20)

Champion: Vitality beat Aurora in the final
Notable: MOUZ knocked NAVI out, and NAVI finished 7th–8th

FISSURE Playground #3 (Suzhou, September 8–13)

Champion: Legacy swept G2 3–0 in the final. latto had a 1.67 rating across the three maps.
Semifinals: Legacy 2–1 MIBR, G2 2–1 BetBoom
Quarterfinals: G2 2–0 FURIA

BLAST Open Fall 2026 (Copenhagen and Porto, August 26 – September 6)

Champion: Spirit beat MOUZ 3–1 in the final
Semifinals: Spirit 2–0 Falcons, MOUZ 2–0 Vitality
Quarterfinals: Falcons 2–0 G2, Vitality 2–1 FURIA

Esports World Cup 2026 (Paris, August 12–23)

Champion: Spirit beat FUT Esports 3–1 in the final
Third place: Legacy 2–1 FURIA
Quarterfinals: Legacy 2–0 Falcons, FUT 2–0 MOUZ
Round of 16: Legacy 2–0 NAVI. The MongolZ were also knocked out in this round.

BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 (Malta, July 30 – August 2)

Champion: MOUZ beat Spirit 3–1 in the final. Spinx went 78–38 in kills to deaths.

Roster Notes

Team Falcons signed karrigan in April 2026 and benched kyxsan. That lineup (NiKo, m0NESY, TeSeS, kyousuke, karrigan) won the IEM Cologne Major in June, with m0NESY named MVP.
Aurora Gaming rebuilt in July around XANTARES, woxic and Wicadia. They added Jimpphat from MOUZ, and kyxsan now completes the lineup.
MOUZ replaced Jimpphat with PR in July.
Team Liquid brought in Jorko (replacing ultimate) and JT (replacing siuhy) in July.
Legacy added try in place of saadzin in July.
FaZe Clan brought in JBOEN for broky in late June and signed Neityu permanently in August, after a stand-in spell that began when karrigan left.
PARIVISION promoted HObbit to the starting lineup on September 17 and benched slaxejezzz.
The MongolZ benched tikuak and DarkMeister on September 15. On October 5 they signed nin9 and brought cobrazera back, so their Beijing lineup is barely a month old.
HEROIC made Snappi head coach on October 1, after doto stepped away.
G2 Esports picked up r1nkle over the summer after parting ways with SunPayus.

Group A Breakdown & Predictions

FURIA
Legacy
Team Falcons
Natus Vincere
FaZe Clan
The MongolZ
HEROIC
B8

Why FURIA tops the group:

They come in as Thunderpick champions and won a five-map final against BetBoom from behind
They won the last ESL event held in China, IEM Chengdu 2025, by beating Vitality in the final
Their opener is FaZe, a team that has been inconsistent all year
The NAVI vs Falcons opener means one of their biggest rivals drops into the lower bracket straight away

Predicted finishing order: FURIA 1st, Legacy 2nd, Falcons 3rd. NAVI, FaZe, The MongolZ, HEROIC and B8 are eliminated.

Group A has some of the most dangerous Bo3s of the week. Legacy are our pick for second. They won CS Asia Championships in 2025 and 2026 and FISSURE Playground #3 in Suzhou, so few teams are as comfortable playing in China. They also beat Falcons 2–0 at the EWC. Falcons still have the most raw talent in the group, but they haven't reached a final at any of their four events since Cologne. We see them coming through the lower bracket in third. NAVI vs Falcons is the opener to watch, and the loser faces a hard lower-bracket run.

Group B Breakdown & Predictions

MOUZ
Aurora Gaming
BetBoom Team
G2 Esports
PARIVISION
Team Liquid
TYLOO
9z Team

Why MOUZ top the group:

They have reached three big finals since late July and won BLAST Bounty Summer
They beat FURIA, Vitality and Spirit in playoff series in September and October
Spirit and Vitality, the two teams that beat them in their recent finals, aren't in Beijing
PR has settled into the lineup, and Spinx led the way in the BLAST Bounty Summer final

Predicted finishing order: MOUZ 1st, Aurora 2nd, BetBoom 3rd. G2, PARIVISION, Liquid, TYLOO and 9z are eliminated.

Aurora's last three events were a final, a semifinal and a third place, and they beat Falcons in Malta. That's enough for second. Third place is close. BetBoom and G2 have both played a recent final and met in the FISSURE semifinal, where G2 won 2–1. We lean BetBoom because their final is more recent. The home crowd will be behind TYLOO, who beat MOUZ in a Bo1 at the CS Asia Championships in May. MOUZ vs TYLOO opens Group B, so watch that one closely.

Head-to-Head Records (Last 18 Months)

MOUZ vs FURIA: MOUZ won 2–0 in the EPL Season 24 quarterfinals (October 2026)
FURIA vs Aurora: FURIA won 2–0 in the Thunderpick semifinals (October 2026)
FURIA vs BetBoom: FURIA won 2–0 in the Thunderpick group stage and 3–2 in the final (October 2026)
Falcons vs FURIA: Falcons won 3–0 in the IEM Cologne Major final (June 2026)
Legacy vs Falcons: Legacy won 2–0 in the EWC quarterfinals (August 2026)
Legacy vs FURIA: Legacy won 2–1 in the EWC third-place match (August 2026)
Legacy vs G2: Legacy won 3–0 in the FISSURE Playground #3 final (September 2026)
Legacy vs The MongolZ: Legacy won 2–1 at the CS Asia Championships (May 2026)
NAVI vs Falcons: NAVI won 2–1 at BLAST Open Spring (March 2026). Falcons won 2–1 at the Cologne Major (June 2026) and 2–1 at EPL Season 24 (October 2026).
Aurora vs Falcons: Aurora won 2–1 in the Thunderpick third-place match (October 2026)
BetBoom vs Falcons: BetBoom won 2–1 in the Thunderpick semifinals (October 2026)
G2 vs BetBoom: G2 won 2–1 in the FISSURE Playground #3 semifinals (September 2026)
PARIVISION vs G2: PARIVISION won 2–1 at PGL Cluj-Napoca (February 2026). G2 won 2–1 at PGL Astana (May 2026).
TYLOO vs MOUZ: TYLOO won a Bo1 at the CS Asia Championships (May 2026)
FaZe vs FURIA: FaZe won 2–1 at BLAST Rivals Spring (spring 2026)

Two patterns stand out. Legacy have beaten several of the teams they could meet in Beijing, including Falcons, FURIA, G2 and The MongolZ. And since August, Falcons have lost series to three teams in this field: Legacy, BetBoom and Aurora.

Predicted Top 4

1st – MOUZ: They're the most consistent team in Beijing, they beat FURIA in their last meeting, and the two teams that stopped them in recent finals aren't here.
2nd – FURIA: They have just won a trophy, they won IEM Chengdu 2025, and they came from behind to win a Bo5 final in October.
3rd – Legacy: They play well in China and have beaten most of the top half of this field this year.
4th – Aurora Gaming: They keep reaching the last four but haven't converted those runs into trophies yet.

Projected Playoff Bracket

QF1 (November 6): Aurora (B2) beat Team Falcons (A3)
QF2 (November 6): Legacy (A2) beat BetBoom Team (B3)
SF1 (November 7): FURIA (A1) beat Aurora
SF2 (November 7): MOUZ (B1) beat Legacy
Third place (November 8): Legacy beat Aurora
Grand Final (November 8): MOUZ beat FURIA in a Bo5. Champion pick: MOUZ.

Best Picks & Sleeper Picks

Best value pick: Legacy to reach the semifinals. They have a strong record in China and beat Falcons at the EWC.
Upset to watch: TYLOO vs MOUZ in the Group B opener. TYLOO have beaten MOUZ once this year and will have the home crowd behind them.
Sleeper: BetBoom Team. They reached the Thunderpick final by beating PARIVISION, Legacy and Falcons.
Group-stage upset: 9z over BetBoom in the opener. 9z beat Aurora at the Thunderpick World Championship in October, so they can catch a top team cold.
Who to avoid: Natus Vincere. They haven't gone past the round of 16 at a big event since June, and they open against the Major champions.

Make Your IEM Beijing 2026 Predictions on Pickr

You can put these IEM Beijing 2026 predictions to the test on Pickr. Predict every IEM Beijing CS2 series, from the first Group A and Group B matches on November 2 to the Bo5 Grand Final on November 8, and earn coins for every correct pick. Your points count toward the IEM Beijing 2026 tournament leaderboard, so you can compare your CS2 bracket against the rest of the Pickr community. You can also collect the exclusive IEM Beijing 2026 event sticker pack and play for the limited Champion, Finalist and Semi-Finalist title cosmetics. Make your free esports predictions on Pickr before the first map goes live.

IEM Beijing 2026 FAQ

When does IEM Beijing 2026 start?

The group stage starts on Monday, November 2, 2026. The playoffs run from November 6 to 8, with the Grand Final on Sunday, November 8.

Where is IEM Beijing 2026 being played?

At the Bloomage Biotech Biohyalux ECM Arena, also known as Wukesong Arena, in Haidian District, Beijing. Fans can attend every day of the event.

What is the IEM Beijing 2026 prize pool?

$1,250,000. The champion gets $360,000, the runner-up $210,000, third place $160,000 and fourth place $120,000.

Which teams are in each IEM Beijing 2026 group?

Group A is Team Falcons, Natus Vincere, FURIA, FaZe Clan, Legacy, The MongolZ, HEROIC and B8. Group B is MOUZ, TYLOO, 9z Team, BetBoom Team, Aurora Gaming, Team Liquid, PARIVISION and G2 Esports.

What is the IEM Beijing 2026 format?

There are two eight-team double-elimination groups, with every match a Bo3. Group winners go straight to the semifinals, and the second- and third-placed teams play in the quarterfinals. The playoffs are single elimination, and the Grand Final is a Bo5.

Who are the favourites to win IEM Beijing 2026?

MOUZ are our favourites after reaching three big finals since late July. FURIA, Aurora Gaming and Team Falcons are the main challengers, and Legacy are the dark horse.

Are Vitality and Spirit playing at IEM Beijing 2026?

No. Team Spirit declined because of a busy calendar, and Team Vitality declined because two of their players are on paternity leave. PARIVISION and FaZe Clan took their places.

Who won the most recent CS2 events before IEM Beijing?

FURIA won the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 against BetBoom. Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 24 and StarSeries Fall 2026. Legacy won FISSURE Playground #3, and Spirit won BLAST Open Fall and the Esports World Cup 2026.

Is there a Chinese team at IEM Beijing 2026?

Yes. TYLOO qualified through the Asian closed qualifier and open Group B against MOUZ.

Where can I predict IEM Beijing 2026 matches?

On Pickr. You can predict every series, earn coins, climb the IEM Beijing 2026 leaderboard and unlock the event's sticker pack and title cosmetics.