'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Background
As the 14th CSGO Major nears us, we head back to one of CSGO's oldest homes. Polish city Katowice is a historic city in Esports. The city has hosted Esports events for over 13 years. This tradition continued into CSGO as the city hosted 2 of the first 5 CSGO Majors. The latter of these 2 Majors was the 2014 IEM Katowice Major which would be the last Major held at the city for 5 years. As announced during the London Major, IEM Katowice 2019 will be the return of CSGO Majors to Katowice.
24 teams from all over the world will converge at Katowice to fight for their share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. 8 Teams will return as 'Legends' from the London Major, while 6 more will return as 'Returning Challengers'. The other 10 teams will appear as 'Minor Challengers' after they participated and qualified for the tournament via regional Minor tournaments.
For the first time ever, The Challengers Stage will also be played in front of a live crowd instead of a Studio. Also for the first time ever in any CSGO tournament, the event will take place in 3 separate Arenas. The ESL Arena will host the Challengers Stage. The International Congress Centre will host the Legends Stage and the Spodek Arena will host the Champions Stage.
Format
The tournament will have 3 primary stages: The Challengers Stage, The Legends Stage, and The Champions Stage.
The Challengers Stage will see the 10 Minor Challengers and the 6 Returning Challengers compete for 8 advancing spots. The teams will battle each other in a 16-team Swiss System. All the teams will be first seeded using the Player-Selected Seeding format. In this format, all the teams will rank themselves and the other 15 teams as they seem fit. If any bias is found the entry will be rejected. All 16 entries from 16 teams will be taken and the seeding will be done according to this rankings.
After the first round matches, every team will be matched against other teams with the same record. So every team that lost their first match will face each other and the teams that won will face each other as well. These matches will be decided using an Advanced Elo system which will keep changing as the tournament proceeds. Teams who win 3 matches will advance to the next stage and teams who lose 3 games will be eliminated. Every match will be played as a Best of 1 except elimination and advancement matches (i.e. teams with an x-2 record) which will be played as Best of 3 games.
The Legends Stage will have the 8 qualified teams from The Challengers Stage and the 8 returning Legends. The format of this stage will be exactly similar to that of the Challengers Stage. The bottom 8 teams who lose 3 games will be eliminated while the top 8 teams who win 3 games will qualify for the Champions Stage. Out of the bottom 8 teams who are eliminated, 6 will earn Challenger status for the next Major while the bottom 2 teams won't.
The Champions Stage is essentially the playoffs. The 8 teams are drawn against each other in a single elimination bracket. All matches are Best of 3. All teams that qualify for The Champions Stage will earn 'Legend Status' and will go to the next Major as Legends.
The Challengers Stage of the Major will begin on 13th February and run till 17th February. The Legends Stage will begin on 20th February and end on 24th. Finally, the Champions Stage will take commence on 28th February with the Grand Finals on 3rd March.
Participating Teams
IEM Katowice will have 24 teams participating from all over the world. The tournament will have 120 players representing 24 countries all over the world. Players from New Zealand, Mongolia, Bulgaria, and Hong Kong will be represented for the first time ever in CSGO Majors. The teams will be primarily divided into 3 categories: Legends, Returning Challengers and Minor Challengers.
Legends:
World Rank #1. Astralis - The Danish team has set up a dynasty for themselves in the past 6 months. They have not only won the previous Major but did so in a dominating fashion never seen before. Between the two Majors, Astralis has failed to win only 2 tournaments, finishing second in both cases. They also won the very first iteration of the Intel Grand Slam Championship winning $1 Million in the process.
Line-up: Device, Dupreeh, Glaive, Xyp9x and Magisk. Coach - Zonic
World Rank #2. Team Liquid - In Astralis' dominating reign of terror, Team Liquid is the only team who have been able to keep up with them. But in doing so, Liquid has managed to lose 5 consecutive Grand Finals to Astralis. They finally won a final over Astralis in the first tournament of 2019.
Line-up: Naf, Twistzz, Nitro, Stewie2k and Elige. Coach - Adren
World Rank #3. Natus Vincere - Ukranian team Na'Vi boasts the best player in the world S1mple. But over the past 6 months, they have played second fiddle to Astralis managing to win just 1 tournament over them even finishing 2nd in the last Major. They are also a CSGO powerhouse who have never won a Major.
Line-up: S1mple, Electronic, Zeus, Edward and Flamie. Coach - Kane
World Rank #5. Faze Clan - At this time last year, Faze clan was the best team in the world. But they fell from their grace throughout 2018. They recently underwent a roster change as they kicked their in-game leader Karrigan. They will play with their new line-up in the Major.
Line-up: Niko, Rain, Adren, Olofmeister and Guardian. Coach - YNK
World Rank #6. Made in Brazil - MiBR were the best team in the world throughout 2016 and 2017. But they fell off into mediocrity in 2018. Several roster changes later, MiBR will be participating in the Major while debuting a completely new lineup.
Line-up: Fallen, Fer, Coldzera, Taco and Felps. Coach - Zews
World Rank #13. BIG - The German team had a rough time after the last Major. They managed to break into the top 5 of the World Rankings but currently sit at 13th. They recently added a new player in their team and will play with a new line-up.
Line-up: Tabsen, Tizian, GobB, Smooya and Xantares. Coach - nex
World Rank #16. HellRaisers - HellRaisers surprised everyone by finishing in the top 8 of the last Major. But their Major run didn't resonate in their performances from then on. They also signed a new player into their line-up and will be making their debut at the Major.
Line-up: Ange1, DeadFox, Woxic, Issaa and Hobbit. Coach - Ami
World Rank #32. Complexity Gaming - The biggest surprise of the last Major was Complexity. They finished in the top 8 but soon made it clear that it was a fluke. They have fallen off spectacularly and will go into the major with a couple of new players as well.
Line-up: Dephh, Stanislaw, Shahzam, N0thing and Rickeh. Coach - Warden
Returning Challengers:
World Rank #7. Ninjas in Pyjamas - CSGO's biggest legends NiP missed a few majors in heartbreaking fashion. But they bounced back in the London Major and have secured a challenger spot for themselves. This is their highest ranking in over a year.
Line-up: F0rest, Get_Right, Rez, Lekro and Dennis. Coach - pita
World Rank #8. Fnatic - Fnatic is another of the CSGO World's biggest names. They are a record 3 time Major winners and are for the first time ever, not Legends. They made some roster changes to their squad and will be debuting their lineup at the Major.
Line-up: JW, Krimz, Xizt, Twist, Brollan. Coach - Jumpy
World Rank #14. Cloud9 - The only North American team to ever win a Major have undergone a multitude of roster changes throughout 2018. Thus, their performances have suffered. They seem to have found a stable line-up finally and will play the Major with that.
Line-up: Autimatic, Rush, Kioshima, Flusha and Golden. Coach - Zellsis
World Rank #18. G2 Esports - The French team used to be one of the best teams in the world. But they fell off sharply. They managed to get a Challengers spot for the Major and underwent a couple of roster moves and will debut their new roster at the Major.
Line-up: Shox, Bodyy, KennyS, Jackz and Lucky. Coach - Malek
World Rank #29. Tyloo Gaming - Chinese team Tyloo managed to grasp a Challengers spot for the first time ever in the last Major. They became the first Asian team to do so. They underwent a couple of roster moves as well and will make their debut in the Major too.
Line-up: BnTet, Somebody, Xcurate, Summer and Attacker. Coach - Johnta
World Rank #36. Vega Squadron - CIS Team Vega Squadron always seem to find their way into Majors. They remain silent throughout the year but somehow qualify for the Majors. They finally managed a Challenger spot at last year's Major and will participate as such.
Line-up: Chopper, Hutji, JR, Crush and Tonyblack. Coach - Fierce
Minor Challengers:
World Rank #9. NRG Esports - NRG Esports will play their first Major at Katowice. The team qualified for their first ever major after having a breakthrough season in the latter half of 2018. They won the Americas Minor to qualify for the tournament.
Line-up: Fugly, Daps, Brehze, Cerq and NahtE. Coach - ImaPet.
World Rank #10. Ence Esports - Ence had been the breakout team of 2018. Their all Finnish roster took strides ahead throughout the year and managed to qualify for their first ever Major. 4 of their players will make their Major debut at Katowice.
Line-up: Allu, Sergej, AleksiB, Xseven and Aerial.
World Rank #12. Renegades - Australian outfit Renegades are usually the primary Asian representative in the Majors. Although Tyloo got a Challenger spot, Renegades won the Asia Minor again to reach the Major despite losing their best player between Majors.
Line-up: Azr, Jks, Jkaem, Gratisfaction and Liazz. Coach - Kassad.
World Rank #17. Avangar - The Kazakh team won the CIS Minor to qualify for the Major. The team will play their second ever Major in their existence.
Line-up: Buster, Qikert, Krizzen, Jame and Fitch. Coach - Dastan.
World Rank #19. Team Vitality - Vitality were formed in the latter half of 2018 and are basically 6 months old. They managed to put up some great performances in this short period and qualified for the Major as well.
Line-up: NBK, Rpk, Zywoo, Alex and Apex. Coach - XTQZZZ
World Rank #23. Team Spirit - Second placed team of the CIS Minor Team Spirit qualified for their second Major ever. They played in the last Major but finished at the very bottom.
Line-up: Coldyy1, Sotf1k, Davcost, Dima and Somedieyoung. Coach - Certus
World Rank #35. WInstrike - The Russian organization became the first ever team to qualify via Minor Play-ins. This will be the org's second Major in a row.
Line-up: WayLander, Boombl4, Kvik, N0rb3r7 and WorldEdit. Coach - Iksou
World Rank #43. Grayhound - This Australian team will be playing their first ever Major at Katowice. They qualified by finishing second in the Asian Minor and will make their debut.
Line-up: erkaSt, Dexter, Malta, Sterling and DickStacy. Coach - Sonic
World Rank #44. Furia - Furia is the second Brazilian line-up who will play in the Major. This will also be their first ever Major with all 5 players making their debut.
Line-up: Yuurih, arT, Vini, AbleJ and Kscerato. Coach - Guerri
World Rank #70. Vici Gaming - Shocking the whole world by defeating World #11 North, Vici Gaming are the last team in the Major. The Chinese org will make their debut.
Line-up: Zhoking, Auman, Kaze, Freeman and Advent.
Predictions
The Majors are CSGO's biggest events in a calendar year. Although CSGO doesn't have the exorbitant prize pool of Dota 2, the hype behind the Majors matches that of the International. The most-watched Esport event in history was the IEM Katowice 2018 tournament which had over 30 million unique viewers who watched the stream peaking at over 1 million concurrent viewers. Considering Katowice 2018 wasn't a Major, this year there is a good chance that record might be broken.
Favorites to win the tournament.
Over the 2nd half of the last year, CSGO followed a certain pattern. Every team will scratch and claw their way to the grand finals and then lose to Astralis. The Danish roster went on a tear in the last 5 months of the year winning the London Major and following it up with 5 more tournament wins. Their run of terror somewhat stalled after they lost to Liquid in 2019's first tournament, IBP Masters, but the #1 favorite to win the tournament is still Astralis.
Other contenders are Team Liquid, whom I mentioned above, and Natus Vincere. In the last Calendar year, Astralis won 10 tournaments. In the grand finals of these 10 tournaments, they beat Liquid 5 times and Na'Vi 3 times. Although teams like Faze Clan and Mousesports showed potential, they didn't quite reach the level of these 3 teams. While Liquid boasts of having, perhaps, the best North American line-up ever, Na'Vi has the best player in the world, S1mple. It is on S1mple to carry his team to victory if Na'Vi is to win the Major.
Dark Horses
Out of 24 teams in the tournament, quite a few have the potential to win the Major. Most of these teams have the talent required to match the likes of Astralis and they just need to find the winning way. Out of these 'Dark Horses,' the most prominent one is Faze Clan, one of 2018's best teams the team spiraled down after the London Major. They replaced their in-game leader Karrigan with Adren and made Niko their new IGL. They won the E-League invitational in January and might repeat the feat at the Major.
The only other team who look capable of winning the Major, on paper, is Made in Brazil. MiBr recently removed Stewie2k and Tarik from their roster and replaced them with Taco and Felps. Thus the team returned to having an all-Brazilian line-up for the first time since early 2018. We haven't seen this new team play even once and they might not be the old team we remember but considering what this exact line-up accomplished when they were together, our hopes for MiBr are as high as ever.
The Challengers Stage
There will be 16 teams in the Challengers Stage which will be the first phase of the Major. Out of those 16 teams, only 8 will make it to the Legends Stage. The 16 teams are NiP, Fnatic, Vega Squadron, G2, Cloud9, Tyloo, Ence, Vitality, NRG, Furia, Avangar, Team Spirit, Renegades, Grayhound, Winstrike, and Vici.
The 8 teams I pick from these to qualify to the Legends Stage are Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, Cloud9, G2, NRG, Ence, Vitality, and Renegades.
The Legends Stage
Said 8 teams from above will join the 8 legends from the London Major to fight for the play-off spots. The above predicted 8 teams will join Astralis, Na'Vi, Liquid, MiBr, Faze Clan, Hellraisers, Complexity, and BIG.
The 8 teams I pick to make it to the Champions Stage are Astralis, Na'Vi, Liquid, MiBr, Faze Clan, Cloud9, NiP, and Ence.
The IEM Katowice 2019 Major will be streamed live on Twitch for free on ESL's channel. Anybody who plays CSGO, which is free on Steam can also watch the Major in game.
