IEM Katowice CS:GO preview

The Intel Extreme Masters Season XI world championship in Katowice, Poland continues Wednesday with the start of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. Here’s what you need to know about the CS:GO event and the teams from around the world competing for the grand prize.

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WHO: Astralis, Fnatic, Heroic, Immortals, Natus Vincere, North, FaZe Clan, Cloud9, Ninjas in Pyjamas, OpTic Gaming, SK Gaming, Virtus.pro.

WHAT: Intel Extreme Masters Season 11 World Championship

WHERE: Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland

WHEN: March 1-5, 2017

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FORMAT

Two groups of six will compete in a round robin to determine the six-team playoffs. Each team will play the members of their group once.

The top two teams from each group will advance directly to the semifinals while the second and third place teams in each group will face off in the quarter-finals.

The quarters and semis will be best-of-three series while the finals will be a best-of-five.

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PRIZE POOL

* Teams are also awarded $1,000 for each group stage win.

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TEAMS

GROUP A: Immortals, Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, FaZe Clan, OpTic Gaming and Astralis

GROUP B: Heroic, Natus Vincere, North, Virtus.pro, SK Gaming and Cloud9

Astralis (EU): The defending and inaugural ELEAGUE Major winners were two wins away from their second title of the year at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas last week, but the third-fourth finish shouldn't slow down the momentum that began in the second half of 2016. After adding Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander at the end of October, the Danish club went on to finish third-fourth at IEM Oakland, second in ELEAGUE Season 2, first at the ECS Season 2 finals and then kicked off 2017 with the win in Atlanta. They've kicked off the ESL Pro League Season 5 with four wins in six matches and are a serious contender for the IEM crown.

Fnatic (EU): The IEM Katowice Season X champions went through a few makeovers in 2016 - see "The Swedish Shuffle" - but one of the most recognizable rosters in CS:GO history is back together and ready to defend their crown. Fnatic turned heads at the ELEAGUE Major with an unlikely run to the semfinals but they have struggled to find their footing since reacquiring Jesper "JW" Wecksell and Robin "flusha" Ronnquist from GODSENT. The restored roster finished 1-2, outside of the elimination round at DreamHack Masters Vegas, and is 1-2 in the ESL Pro League Season 5.

Heroic (EU): The Danish club suffered a franchise-altering loss when gla1ve left for Astralis. One of the premier CS:GO players in the world left to win a major championship, which he did, while the rest of the team slugged their way through the second half of the year with only a few positives to lean on. While gla1ve was still around, they won Power-LAN 2016 in August and finished third at Northern Arena in Toronto in September. It's been a polarizing run since gla1ve's departure, with 3-4th finishes at Northern Arena in Montreal and DreamHack Leipzig sandwiching a 9-10th finish at IEM Oakland and failing to qualify for DreamHack Masters Las Vegas. They'll be swimming in deep water at IEM Katowice in search for their identity.

Immortals (NA): If any team has a perfect mixture of skill and bravado, it's Immortals. The group of Brazilians, anchored by brothers Henrique "HEN1" Teles and Lucas "LUCAS1" Teles wear their hearts on their sleeves and have the best war cries in all of CS:GO. However, they will be missing a stabilizing force at IEM Katowice without former player and coach Wilton "zews" Prado. Zews, who led the team to a victory at Northern Arena in Toronto in September, left to coach fellow North American club Team Liquid at the beginning of November. His departure left a big whole in the foundation of the team, but the guys have found their stride on a few occasions, winning the iBUYPOWER Masters and Americas Minor Championship at the end of 2016. The skill and bravado will be on full display in Poland. You'll know it when you hear it.

Natus Vincere (EU): You don't have to go back too far to find a time when Natus Vincere was one of the most feared names in professional CS:GO. Once a tough out on the big stage, Na'Vi has been a shadow of its formal self in international competition, save for a win at ESL One New York in October. They've been in the thick of the action at recent major events with quarter-finals appearance at DeamHack Masters Las Vegas and the ELEAGUE Major, but they've also been out of the mix a little too early as well with a 9-10th finish at IEM Oakland and a 9-12th finish the ELEAGUE Season 2. The rest of the world has caught up with Na'Vi and they seem all too content to let it pass them by.

North (EU): The former Team Dignitas roster isn't feeling any lingering effects from their breakup and rebranding, and it shows with their first two major tournament appearances. North kicked off 2017 with an impressive run to the quarter-finals at the ELEAGUE Major. Despite opening the tournament with consecutive losses, North won three straight over HellRaisers, G2 Esports and GODSENT to earn a spot in the elimination round. They fell in a tight 2-1 series to eventual finalists Virtus.pro. They followed that showing with an appearance in the semifinals at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas. A 2-0 loss to SK Gaming in the final four at DreamHack Vegas extended on a theme that will surely follow them into IEM Katowice - to be the best, you've got to beat the best, and North isn't quite there yet.

FaZe Clan (EU): Barely a year into its foray into CS:GO, FaZe is still trying to find its footing amongst the elite teams in the world. The team started out on the right foot by recruiting legend Robert "Robban" Dahlstrom to coach and they continue to build slowly after a promising 2016 with the acquisition of Nikola "NiKo" Kovac from mouseesports at the end of February. FaZe has three wins and nine points in six SL Pro League Season 5 to sit in a tie for fourth through the opening two weeks. The team is coming off a disappointing 9th-12th finish at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas in February, but they did take steps forward with a quarter-finals appearance at the ELEAGUE Major in January. It might not be major leaps forward for FaZe at IEM Katowice, but they have to make sure it isn’t too many steps back.

Cloud9 (NA): One of North America’s premier CS:GO teams has struggled since winning the ESL Pro League Season 4 finals in October. They finished 7th-8th at IEM Oakland, 5th-6th at DreamHack Winter, failed to qualify for the ELEAGUE Major and stumbled to a 9th-12th result at DreamHack Masters Vegas. Despite the struggles over the last few months, the team has bounced back to kick off ESL Pro League Season 5 and sits tied atop the North America standings with a perfect 6-0 record. They are one of North America’s best hopes to bring home a world title, but that might not be saying much.

Ninjas in Pyjamas (EU): Buried at the bottom of the ESL Pro League Season 5 with four consecutive losses, NiP has not been great since their win at IEM Oakland in November. The struggles haven’t lasted too long in the grand scheme of things, but with the ESL Pro League start, failing to qualify for the ELEAGUE Major and a 5th-8th finish at DreamHack Masters Vegas, an opportunity to re-establish themselves on the international stage could not come at a better time. - especially at a tournament of this magnitude. It wasn’t too long ago that NiP was one of the most feared lineups in all of CS:GO. They question is: how far can the team turn back the clock?

OpTic Gaming (NA): OpTic went from ELEAGUE Season 2 champions and the top North American team heading into the ELEAGUE Major, to all but forgotten on the international stage after two performance at major events that really couldn’t have gone worse. OpTic lost two straight to open the ELEAGUE Major, putting their tournament on the brink of extinction, but stayed alive with a narrow victory over FlipSid3 Tactics. With the opportunity to get rolling, OpTic sank in a tournament-ending loss to GODSENT. It was an opposite story at DreamHack Masters as OpTic beat North to get off on the right foot. They collapsed in their next two matches with consecutive losses to Astralis and North to miss out on the playoff round. The ELEAGUE Season 2 title feels like a one-off and the road only gets rougher from here.

SK Gaming (NA): One of the most consistent teams in the world is poised for a tournament victory. They’ve been buzzing in the top four of nearly every event they played in the second half 2016 and it feels like the powder keg is about to explode. They finished second at DreamHack Masters and 3rd-4th at the ELEAGUE Major, falling to the same team in both events - Virtus.pro. Before that, 3rd-4th runs at the ECS Season 2 finals and ELEAGUE Season 2 were also ended by the same club - Astralis. It appears there are two major hurdles standing in the way of Gabriel "Fallen" Toledo and SK Gaming. I’m guessing they’ll need a deep run in Katowice in order to get a shot at exorcizing those demons.

Virtus.pro (EU): From third at the World Electronic Sports Games, to second at the ELEAGUE Major, to a victory at DreamHack Masters Vegas, Virtus.pro has trended in the right direction to kick off 2017 and they likely aren’t done. The Polish squad has bested the top teams in the world over the last two months and will have home-field advantage to give them a little extra motivation. With their players signed to long-term contracts through 2020, VP has gotten off to a perfect start. But who knew stability and comfort could turn in some favourable results? Keep an eye on these guys now and for the next three years.

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ONE BIG PREDICTION

The top three teams in the world - Astralis, Virtus.pro and SK Gaming - will welcome defending IEM Katowice champions and reunited roster Fnatic into the final four. In the end, it feels like SK’s time to take home a major title.