IEM Katowice viewer's guide

With IEM Katowice set to kick off on Monday, we have prepared a comprehensive viewer's guide for the Polish event.

The $500,000 tournament featuring 16 teams will run from February 24 to March 1, with the action reaching its climax during the playoff stage which will be played in front of a live crowd at the prestigious Spodek arena in the final three days.

The group stage will have two double-elimination, best-of-three groups, each consisting of eight teams and seeded according to the ESL World Rankings. The group winners will advance straight to the semi-finals, while the runners-up and third-placed teams will progress to the quarter-finals as the high and low seeds, respectively.

Vitality will kick off the action in Katowice versus NiP

A best-of-three format will also be used throughout the playoffs except for the grand final, which will determine a champion with a best-of-five series.

The tournament features a stacked list of teams - primarily hailing from the top 15 - with Group A notably consisting of an Astralis side looking to bounce back from a disappointing BLAST Premier Spring Series campaign and a FaZe squad on a rapid upward trajectory. Meanwhile, Group B contains a MOUZ side in phenomenal form having secured four out of five titles from their last five tournaments played.

The groups for the tournament are:

Group A
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Vitality
Astralis
Cloud9
Natus Vincere
FaZe
Renegades
fnatic

Group B
100 Thieves
G2
MOUZ
TYLOO
Liquid
Virtus.pro
MAD Lions
Evil Geniuses

The complete schedule for the event is below:

Monday, February 24
12:00 - Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Vitality | BO3
12:00 - Astralis vs. Cloud9 | BO3
15:30 - Natus Vincere vs. FaZe | BO3
15:30 - Renegades vs. fnatic | BO3
19:00 - 100 Thieves vs. G2 | BO3
19:00 - MOUZ vs. TYLOO | BO3

Tuesday, February 25
12:00 - Liquid vs. Virtus.pro | BO3
12:00 - MAD Lions vs. Evil Geniuses | BO3
15:30 - Group A upper bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
15:30 - Group A lower bracket round 1 #1 | BO3
19:00 - Group A upper bracket semi-final #2 | BO3
19:00 - Group A lower bracket round 1 #2 | BO3

Wednesday, February 26
12:00 - Group B lower bracket round 1 #1 | BO3
12:00 - Group B lower bracket round 1 #2 | BO3
15:30 - Group B upper bracket semi-final #1 | BO3
15:30 - Group B lower bracket round 2 #1 | BO3
19:00 - Group B upper bracket semi-final #2 | BO3
19:00 - Group A lower bracket round 2 #2 | BO3

Thursday, February 27
12:00 - Group B lower bracket round 2 #1 | BO3
12:00 - Group B lower bracket round 2 #2 | BO3
15:30 - Group A upper bracket final | BO3
15:30 - Group A lower bracket final | BO3
19:00 - Group B upper bracket final | BO3
19:00 - Group B lower bracket final | BO3

Friday, February 28
15:00 - Quarter-final #1 | BO3
18:55 - Quarter final #2 | BO3

Saturday, February 29
15:00 - Semi-final #1 | BO3
18:55 - Semi-final #2 | BO3

Sunday, March 1
17:00 - Grand Final | BO5

The broadcast team will feature the likes of Tres "⁠stunna⁠" Saranthus on the desk with the trio of Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill, Jacob "⁠Pimp⁠" Winneche and Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez as analysts, while eight commentators will be split across two streams, with Henry "⁠HenryG⁠" Greer & Alex "⁠Machine⁠" Richardson and Anders "⁠Anders⁠" Blume & Jason "⁠moses⁠" O'Toole bringing the action live from the main stream.

The full on-air talent lineup for the tournament is:

OJ Borg - Stage Host
Frankie Ward - Sideline Reporter

Tres "stunna" Saranthus - Desk Host
Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill - Analyst
Jacob "Pimp" Winneche - Analyst
Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez - Analyst

Henry "HenryG" Greer - Commentator
Alex "Machine" Richardson - Commentator
Anders Blume - Commentator
Jason "moses" O'Toole - Commentator
Jason Kaplan - Commentator
Tom "Tombizz" Bissmire - Commentator
Vince Hill - Commentator
Jack "wolfy6679" Saunders - Commentator

Half of the $500,000 prize pool will be awarded to the victors in Katowice, with the whole distribution available below:

1. $250,000
2. $100,000
3-4. $40,000
5-6. $15,000
7-8. $7,000
9-12. $4,000
13-16. $2,500