The Esports World Cup CS2 (Counter-Strike 2) tournament has kicked off with the first stage, named “Round of 16”.
Despite a star-studded lineup of participating teams, viewers are questioning the Esports World Cup CS2 format. Why is the tournament’s format so punishing, and how could this impact the competition?
100% Single Elimination Bracket format creates a brutal EWC environment
CS2 is the last tournament to arrive in Riyadh, taking place during Week 7 at EWC 2025.
The Esports World Cup CS2 format follows a Single Elimination Bracket format from start to finish, except for a third-place decider match. This means that one best-of-three slip-up sends a team home.
Day One of the tournament features all 12 out of the 16 competitors competing in 6 total matches. Arena tickets are not being sold to the public for the first day of competition.
The remaining two “Round of 16” games are played on August 21st, Day Two of the competition. This day has public tickets on sale. Interestingly, it is also the day that the popular Saudi Arabian organisation Team Falcons plays.
Despite their immense success in 2025 so far, both Team Vitality and Team Spirit’s first games in the tournament do not have an in-venue audience. This raises questions about whether specific teams are being favoured over others for audience viewership.
Overall, the format eliminates six teams before an audience can even watch the Esports World Cup CS2 tournament.
It also meant that half of the competing teams will leave the tournament after only playing one match.
All remaining Quarterfinal, Semifinal, Third-Place Decider, and Grand Final matches are played to a ticketed audience.
NAVI eliminated in their first Esports World Cup CS2 match
NAVI’s early elimination immediately demonstrated the consequences of such a brutal tournament format. In the second match of the entire tournament, and NAVI’s first, the team were eliminated 1-2 by 3DMAX.
Currently, NAVI are 5th in the VRS (Valve Regional Standings) Global Ranking. They are also the winners of last year’s EWC CS2 tournament.
The Ukrainian team is one of the most popular Counter-Strike teams in the game’s history. Competing since 2009, and the first team to win all Counter-Strike Majors in one calendar year in 2010, their early elimination will be a crushing blow to their many fans.
Losing such a popular team came down to one incredibly close 11-13 decider map, Nuke.
Due to the Esports World Cup CS2’s minuscule margin of error, two 1-minute 55-second rounds were enough to send a team home after only one game.
Which teams are likely to perform well at the Esports World Cup?
Team Vitality is still one of the favourites to win the Epsorts World Cup CS2 tournament on Counter-Strike betting sites. With more trophies this season than their players can hold, they will seek to continue dominating the competition.
However, IEM Cologne and BLAST Bounty Fall were both won by Team Spirit. As a result, the robust roster and one of the greatest riflers in Counter-Strike history, Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets, will also have favourable odds.
The Esports World Cup CS2 tournament ends on Sunday, August 24th, with the Third-Place Decider and Grand Final matches.
Now that NAVI have been eliminated, a new EWC champion will be crowned.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.
