The Asia CS2 season wraps in a big way this coming week in China with the Hero Esports Asia Champions League 2026 seeing the region's top squads battle for a huge prize pool and a slot at EWC 2026.
Our IEM Cologne Major reps in FlyQuest, TYLOO, and THUNDER dOWNUNDER will be eager to stretch their legs before the big show, but the rest of Asia will be out to stop them. Who will rise above all in Shanghai?
Here's everything you'll need to know about ACL 2026: Schedule, match updates, results, attending teams, and more!
Hero Esports ACL 2026 schedule, results, and standings
All match times are in AEST.
Monday, May 11
- 2pm (Group A):
- FlyQuest 1-2 JiJieHao
- Chinggis Warriors 2-1 NEXVOID
- 5:30pm (Group A):
- TYLOO 2-0 Ground Zero
- 5star 2-1 Rare Atom
- 8pm (Group B):
- Lynn Vision 2-0 Alter Ego
- Haunted House 2-0 THUNDER dOWNUNDER
- 10pm (Group B):
- SemperFi 2-1 Change The Game
- Last Bullet 1-2 Kaleido
Tuesday, May 12
- 1pm (Group A: Upper Bracket):
- JiJieHao 2-0 Chinggis Warriors
- TYLOO 2-0 5star
- 3pm (Group B: Upper Bracket):
- Kaleido Gaming 2-0 SemperFi
- Lynn Vision 2-1 Haunted House
- 5pm (Group A: Lower Bracket):
- FlyQuest 2-0 NEXVOID
- Ground Zero 2-0 Rare Atom
- 7pm (Group B: Lower Bracket):
- Alter Ego 0-2 THUNDER dOWNUNDER
- Last Bullet 1-2 Change The Game
Wednesday, May 13
- 1pm (Group A: Lower Bracket):
- 5star 2-1 FlyQuest
- Chinggis Warriors 2-0 Ground Zero
- 5pm (Group B: Lower Bracket):
- SemperFi 0-2 THUNDER dOWNUNDER
- Haunted House 2-0 Change The Game
- 7pm:
- TYLOO 0-2 JiJieHao (Group A: Upper Bracket Final)
- Lynn Vision 2-0 Kaleido Gaming (Group B: Upper Bracket Final)
- 9:15pm:
- 5star 2-0 Chinggis Warriors (Group A: Lower Bracket Semi-Final)
- Haunted House 1-2 THUNDER dOWNUNDER (Group B: Lower Bracket Semi-Final)
Thursday, May 14
- 6pm: TYLOO 2-0 5star (Group A: Lower Bracket Final)
- 8:30pm: Kaleido 1-2 THUNDER dOWNUNDER (Group B: Lower Bracket Final)
Saturday, May 16
- 6pm: JiJieHao 2-0 TYLOO (Group A: Group Final)
- 9pm: Lynn Vision 2-1 THUNDER dOWNUNDER (Group B: Group Final)
Sunday, May 17
- 6pm: JiJieHao 1-3 Lynn Vision (Grand Final, Bo5)
Hero Esports ACL 2026 format and teams
ACL 2026 sees 16 of Asia's finest take on one another over a week of competition at the LOOP Center in Shanghai, China. For the winner, the spoils; a bevy of LAN VRS points, a sweet $80,000 USD, and Asia's sole spot at the 2026 Esports World Cup.
These 16 teams have been split into two groups of eight where they'll play out a full double-elimination bracket. By Saturday night, we'll have our two group winners — they'll then go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all best-of-five final on Sunday.
Below are the participating teams at ACL 2026 and how they got to Shanghai:
- VRS Asia Invites (as per March 2026 ranking):
- TYLOO, FlyQuest, THUNDER dOWNUNDER, Lynn Vision, Rare Atom, SemperFi, Chinggis Warriors, NEXVOID, Ground Zero, Change The Game, Kaleido Gaming, Haunted House
- Closed Qualifier (top four):
- 5star, Alter Ego, JiJieHao, Last Bullet
Reigning ACL champs TYLOO, FlyQuest, and THUNDER dOWNUNDER enter as heavy favourites for a Sunday appearance. All three have had a quiet month with events drying up after GangKui Cup (and their qualification for the Cologne Major) in early April.
Lynn Vision, Rare Atom, Chinggis Warriors, and NEXVOID sit next in the pecking order, with the latter two opening their ACL 2026 accounts against one another in an all-Mongolian opener.
Beware the dark horses from the qualifiers too; Alter Ego have taken surprise wins in events and qualifiers of late, while JiJieHao have had the benefit of a busy March and April against European squads.
How to watch Hero Esports ACL 2026: All streams
ACL 2026 will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube. Spoiler-free VODs can be accessed after the conclusion of each match day.
Broadcasts in other languages may be available — check the event's Liquipedia page and each matchpage on HLTV for additional broadcasts.
