The second iteration of XinSai Esports' GangKui Cup is here, with eight of Asia's best touching down in Shanghai, China for the week-long CS2 tournament.
There's plenty more at stake than the event's $15,000 USD prize pool. GangKui Cup Season 2 is one of the region's last LAN events before the major invite cutoff — meaning we're in for some intense CS as teams scramble for valuable VRS points.
Here's everything you need to know about the GangKui Cup Season 2: full schedule, team list, standings, and where you can watch live.
GangKui Cup Season 2 format and teams
Season 2 of XSE GangKui Cup comes right as the cutoff for the IEM Cologne Major invites approaches, meaning it's one of just a few last chances for Asian teams to secure their tickets to Germany.
FlyQuest is looking to halt a VRS freefall after point decay, plus a missed opportunity at the CAC qualifiers in March, leaves their spot in the top five up for grabs.
TYLOO has left it late into the season to make their run for Cologne. But, after nabbing a big win over FaZe at BLAST Rotterdam and with more local LANs in the chamber, they're storming into Cologne contention.
SemperFi missed two big opportunities at the DFRAG Wildcard LAN and ANZC Brisbane last fortnight, but their chances to qualifying for the major remain alive. They must avoid losses against fellow contenders The Huns and Chinggis Warriors if they want to keep their Cologne window open.
Rare Atom need to go flawless to keep their very slim chances alive, while XDM and Unsettled Resentment will want to delight home fans on the main stage and play spoilers.
Four teams survived the closed qualifier, joining the four high-seed sign-ups. The full team list for GangKui Cup Season 2 is:
- High-Seed Sign-Ups
- FlyQuest, The Huns, Rare Atom, TYLOO
- Closed Qualifiers
- SemperFi, Chinggis Warriors, TEAM XDM, Unsettled Resentment
The eight teams have been seeded into a double-elimination bracket with all matches best-of-three.
How to watch GangKui Cup Season 2: All streams
GangKui Cup Season 2 will be streamed live across two streams with simultaneous matches running, with broadcasts available on Huya, Douyin, and YouTube.
Links for these streams will be posted below closer to the event start on Wednesday, April 1.
GangKui Cup Season 2 schedule, results, and standings
All match times are in AEDT.
Wednesday, April 1
- 2pm: FlyQuest vs. Unsettled Resentment
- 2pm: Rare Atom vs. Chinggis Warriors
- 5pm: SemperFi vs. TYLOO
- 5pm: XDM vs. The Huns
Thursdaay, April 2
- 2pm: Upper Bracket Semi-Final 1
- 2pm: Lower Bracket Round 1
- 5pm: Upper Bracket Semi-Final 2
- 5pm: Lower Bracket Round 1
Saturday, April 4
- 2pm: Lower Bracket Round 2
- 2pm: Lower Bracket Round 2
- 5pm: Upper Bracket Final
- 5pm: Lower Bracket Semi-Final
Sunday, April 5
- 2pm: Lower Bracket Final
- 5pm: Grand Final
Below you'll find the full standings for GangKui Cup Season 2:
- 1st: $7,500 USD | TBD
- 2nd: $3,750 USD | TBD
- 3rd: $2,250 USD | TBD
- 4th: $1,500 USD | TBD
- 5th-6th | TBD, TBD
- 7th-8th | TBD, TBD
