Perfect World has unveiled the groups for the CS Asia Championships, alongside the opening matches for the event, which begins on May 20.
Key storylines for the CS Asia Championships 2026
The CS Asia Championships 2025 was officially a Tier 2 event, with only FaZe’s Wildcard invite breaking up the Tier 2 invites.
This time around, the event is a fully fledged Tier 1 event, with Falcons, The MongolZ, Parivision, and Mouz amongst the highest-ranked teams attending the event. Other big names attending include Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, 3DMAX, and 2025 CAC Champions, Legacy.
Therefore, the $1,000,000 is set to be a more competitive affair, notably acting as the last Tier 1 event before the IEM Cologne 2026 Major.
That is especially pertinent for teams like Falcons and MOUZ, who are still grappling with recent roster changes. MOUZ and Falcons are set to make their first showings since changes were announced at PGL Astana 2026.
For Falcons, it will be their second event with Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen, as they prepare an all-in play for the IEM Cologne Major. They have only a short time to get up to speed with the Danish IGL, so there will be a lot to look out for in terms of their teamwork and cohesion.
For MOUZ, the event will be their last with Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius, as they experiment with Dorian ‘xertioN’ Berman as IGL before Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin returns for the IEM Cologne 2026 Major due to roster restrictions at the event.
With that in mind, the event could have huge implications for what MOUZ feels they need in the offseason as they prepare to fill the spaces in the roster left by Brollan and Jimi ‘Jimpphat’ Salo’s benchings.
Most pressingly, their minds will likely be made up by the end of Shanghai about whether jL could be a solution to their problems, and whether xertioN is suitable for long-term IGLing.
CS Asia Championships 2026 groups and opening match-ups
The CS Asia Championship features two groups of eight teams in a double-elimination format, with six teams advancing to the playoffs. There will also be a Third/fourth-place decider.
The opening matchups see the protagonists of the PGL Stockholm 2021 Major Grand Final clash in the opening match, with Niko ‘NiKo’ Kovác and Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev duking it out as Falcons and BC.Game face each other.
Elsewhere, Liquid have a tough test against Parivision in Group B, with the roster still struggling to find its footing even after the addition of Mario ‘malbsMd’ Samayo.
The groups and opening matches for the CS Asia Championships 2026 are:
Group A:
- Legacy vs NRG
- MOUZ vs Tyloo
- Falcons vs BC.Game
- paiN vs M80
Group B:
- 3DMAX vs MIBR
- Parivision vs Liquid
- The MongolZ vs Lynn Vision
- B8 vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
You can discuss the CS Asia Championships on our Discord!
For more CS, see our IEM Atlanta 2026 Tournament Guide.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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