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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.
