SkinLords CS2 Esports Every Upcoming October CS2 Tournament

Every Upcoming October CS2 Tournament

The end of the year is fast approaching, but Counter-Strike’s biggest tournaments are yet to come. With millions of dollars in collective prize pool money to be earned, here is a comprehensive list of every upcoming CS2 tournament for the month of October.

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CS2 Esports

ESL Pro League Season 22 Main Event

While it’s true that ESL Pro League Season 22’s first stage has already started, there’s still a whole lot more competition to tune into for October. From October 4 to 12, a total of 16 teams will compete in the main draw of ESL Pro League, which will be held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Notable teams that have already qualified for this event are the undisputed World #1, The MongolZ, HLTV World #2 Vitality, and ESL Pro League Season 21 runners-up MOUZ. There are still eight spots up for grabs through Stage 1, where teams such as G2, Astralis, and HEROIC are all trying to progress further into the tournament.

The group stage of ESL Pro League Season 22 will play out just like the traditional Swiss format, with best-of-three matches. The top eight teams that will make the cut advance to a single-elimination bracket, where each match will also be a best-of-three, with the exception of the BO5 grand final.

The total base prize pool for the tournament is $400,000, and it increases to $1,000,000 when club shares are factored in. The money distribution is as follows:

1st place: $100,000 + $150,000 club share
2nd place: $50,000 + $75,000 club share
3rd place: $28,000 + $60,000 club share
4th place: $22,000 + $50,000 club share
5-8th place: $18,500 + $40,000 club share
9-11th place: $13,500 + $25,000 club share
12-14th place: $10,500 + $10,000 club share
15-16th place: $8,500

PGL Masters Bucharest 2025

PGL Masters Bucharest (previously known as PGL Belgrade 2025) transitioned from an international LAN event held in an arena setting to the PGL Studio in Romania due to unforeseen logistical difficulties. Still, the S-Tier event will proceed and is expected to host the world’s top teams, accompanied by a substantial prize pool.

All 16 teams that will be participating in the tournament earned their spots through the Valve Ranking System (VRS). Only two of the top ten teams based on Valve’s rankings, Aurora and Astralis, will attend the event after the rest opted to skip out in favor of preparation for IEM Chengdu.

With this, more spots opened to those ranked from 12-36, as teams like Liquid, HEROIC, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and fnatic will also make their way to the PGL Studio at the end of the month.

The first part of PGL Masters Bucharest will be a Swiss format group stage. Similar to EPL, the top eight teams that will make the cut advance to a single elimination bracket, where each match will also be a best-of-three, with the exception of the BO5 Grand Final.

The total base prize pool for the tournament is $625,000, and grows to $1.250,000 when club shares are taken into consideration. The money distribution is as follows:

1st place: $200,000 + $200,000 club share
2nd place: $93,750 + $93,750 club share
3rd place: $75,000 + $75,000 club share
4th place: $43,750 + $43,750 club share
5-8th place: $31,250 + $31,250 club share
9-11th place: $15,625 + $15,625 club share
12-14th place: $9,375 + $9,375 club share
15-16th place: $6,250 + $6,250 club share

CS Asia Championships 2025

While not expected to be the biggest tournament on the calendar, Perfect World’s CS Asia Championships for 2025 are yet another step in the right direction towards the goal of further growing the game in Asia.

Participating teams earned their slots through invites based on the Valve Ranking System or regional qualification. FaZe is an exception to this, as they received an invite to this year’s CS Asia Championships as a wildcard team, given that they have won this event before.

Of the 16 participants, there’s no doubt that TYLOO, Lynn Vision, and The Huns will be put in the spotlight as they are the only three purely-Asian representatives in the entire competition. TYLOO are the highest-ranked of the bunch and, in turn, have the most expectations placed on their shoulders.

The 2025 CA Asia Championships will begin with a double-elimination format group stage. The winners of each group will advance directly to the semi-finals of the playoff bracket, while the second and third-placers of both Group A and Group B will get seeded against each other in the quarter-finals. Every match, except for the best-of-five grand final, will be a best-of-three.

The total base prize pool for the tournament is $400,000, and grows to $1,000,000 when club shares are taken into consideration. The money distribution is as follows:

1st place: $150,000 + $250,000 club share
2nd place: $70,000 + $100,000 club share
3rd place: $60,000 + $70,000 club share
4th place: $40,000 + $50,000 club share
5-6th place: $20,000 + $25,000 club share
7-8th place: $10,000 + $20,000 club share
9-12th place: $4,000 + $6,000 club share
13-16th place: $1,000 + $4,000 club share

Thunderpick World Championship 2025

The 2025 iteration of the Thunderpick World Championship is definitely the smallest top-tier event that will take place in October, but given the teams participating, it’s impossible to overlook this one.

The MongolZ, who are now ranked #1 on both the HLTV and VRS rankings, will be the highest-ranked squad attending the eight-team competition in Malta. The three other organizations that received spots in the event based on VRS are FURIA, Aurora, and Natus Vincere.

The Thunderpick World Championship will follow a best-of-three GSL format for the group stage, with only the top two per group advancing to the main playoffs. The playoff bracket will be single elimination, with a third-place match taking place.

The total base prize pool for the tournament is $340,000, and grows to $850,000 when club shares are taken into consideration. The money distribution is as follows:

1st place: $200,000 + $300,000 club share
2nd place: $60,000 + $90,000 club share
3rd place: $28,000 + $42,000 club share
4th place: $20,000 + $30,000 club share
5-8th place: $8,000 + $12,000 club share

Tier 2 and 3 Counter-Strike Tournaments in October

While far from the million-dollar prize pools that Tier 1 tournaments offer, it’s still important for the game as a whole to have competitions that cater to every kind of professional. Here are the Tier 2 and Tier 3 tournaments happening for the rest of the month: