The Good, Bad, and Ugly: IEM Dallas 2025

The prelude to the BLAST Austin Major is done, with teams given one last chance to prove they're ready via IEM Dallas 2025 last week. Between the return of a superstar, a less-than-exciting grand final, and the rise of new faces to the peak of CS, there's much to contemplate about heading into the major.

We're wrapping up IEM Dallas with the best and the worst of the week in the Texan city.

Vitality setting a Bo3 streak record and kicking off the new ESL Grand Slam with a win is all well and good, but I know what you're here for. How good was s1mple in his FaZe debut?

We don't want to get too excited; after all, FaZe did crash out with a single win over BC.Game, and in the 2-1 elimination loss against HEROIC — when it mattered most — we didn't see much out of the Ukrainian superstar.

But there were glimpses of the s1mple of old this week. It's a bit much to ask a player for peak performance after such a limited amount of time and playing with a team already missing key rifler Håvard "rain" Nygaard.

The community were (rightfully) excited too, with FaZe's group stage matches out-rating even the grand final for viewership. It's tough to see FaZe make it through the Austin Major right now, but if they do, it'll be off the back of s1mple back on form — and it'll make for some amazing viewing!

Getting over Vitality is proving a monumental task, but for a moment it really felt like MOUZ's big opportunity came and went in IEM Dallas.

Individually, MOUZ hit their peaks at the Texan event, even exiting championship Sunday as the highest-rated team in attendance, above their finalist peers. Falcons, hot on their heels for the number two spot, were handedly dispatched by MOUZ in the group stage final.

It took a little extra, but they overcame a battling MongolZ outfit in the semifinal and entered the grand final with relative ease — yet once again Vitality proved to be the team's kryptonite.

It took a ZywOo masterclass for the MVP to overtake all three MOUZ players for the event, and the 3-0 defeat was arguably one of the team's worst against Vitality of late — especially after narrow losses in Lisbon and at BLAST Rivals.

This can't be the legacy of this MOUZ roster, yet that's what they face when they head to Austin in June. Can they finally overcome the final hurdle and claim Vitality's streak?

It's not like G2's fall from grace wasn't on the cards. There's no replacing m0NESY and NiKo in the aggregate, and visa issues that saw coach TaZ in and out of the squad and the temporary addition of hades meant there's just no stability at G2 where solid results can be expected.

HeavyGod gave it a fair crack in Dallas; the former was one of the highest-rated players in the tournament. Unfortunately, no-one could keep up with him. The rest of G2's individuals (apart from the troughs of Snax) had their highs but a lack of consistency saw them miss the playoffs to a young GamerLegion.

This lack of consistency has them losing a lot more if they exit Austin early, with many pundits already believing G2 has slid into irrelevance. Changes are coming but it's a darn shame G2's legacy may be remembered for their mistakes — both front- and back-of-house.

The worst of the weekend goes to those in the scene who felt obliged to attack members of our ESL Impact community in what was supposed to be a celebration of women and marginalized genders in Counter-Strike.

A new Impact champion was crowned for the first time in the league's history on May 25 following FURIA Female's narrow win over Supernova Comets. Bruna "bizinha" Marvila (49-33, 1.23 rating) topped the server and got the South American squad over the line.

A day earlier, FURIA fe took down juggernauts Imperial Female, who were aiming to win their eighth title in a row. We now have a new champion in ESL Impact with FURIA fe holding off Supernova Comets' Lucy "empathy" Verkaik (56-43, 103 ADR, 1.43 rating) who shone after an astounding 35-kill, 2.65-rated performance on Ancient.

The hype of the final and FURIA fe's win was unfortunately overshadowed by a sizeable group of the CS2 community attacking several transgender competitors both live in the arena and online.

It prompted an emotional post from empathy who stated "the community has been the most horrible thing I've ever experienced," with part of her wishing she never started playing.

"I'm so tired of seeing all the hate everyday, I just want to be left alone and treated like a human being doing what I love but I guess that will never happen," empathy said.

It was a shameful display from the CS2 and wider community, some of whom were exposed to ESL Impact for the first time at IEM Dallas. No esports scene deserves the sort of vitriol surrounding an event or team finding success, and it's hoped those who sprout such vile comments leave the scene for it.

Such hope might be too much to ask for.

That's all for now. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more CS2 news and coverage.