IEM Katowice teams, format, schedule, prizes, talent

Here's everything you need to know about the year's first Big Event.

IEM Katowice, the first Big Event of 2024, is set to begin on January 31 with the 16-team Play-In stage before the ensuing group stage gets underway on February 3.

The eight advancing Play-in teams will be joined by eight directly invited rosters in the group stage, where they will fight for the six playoff spots up for grabs. The playoffs will be played in the Spodek Arena, with the action culminating in a best-of-five final. The victors will collect $400,000, secure a direct invite to IEM Cologne, and earn a Championship tournament notch for their Intel Grand Slam campaign.

The world's best teams will be present in Poland, with the attendee list sporting the entire top ten in the HLTV World Rankings. Vitality and FaZe come into the tournament as the favorites despite both rosters showing signs of rustiness in their first outing of the season, BLAST Spring Groups.

Vitality were defeated by the new Astralis roster in a three-map series, while FaZe suffered a bigger upset against GamerLegion, who beat Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company in the opening round. Both teams stabilized and qualified for the Spring Final, and have some additional time to prepare due to earning an invite directly to the group stage.

The event will also see the debut of the new ENCE roster and Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets' Big Event debut with Spirit after the young superstar missed out on BLAST Spring Groups alongside Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev due to visa issues.

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Participating teams and format

The event will begin with the 16-team Play-In stage, where the opening best-of-one matches will be followed by best-of-three matches all the way through. Eight teams will advance to the group stage, where eight invited squads await them.

The group stage will be played entirely in a best-of-three format, through which the group winners will earn a spot in the semi-finals, while the second and third-placed teams will qualify for the quarter-finals. The playoffs will once again be played out in a best-of-three format, with the best-of-five final the only exception.

Play-In

Group Stage

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Schedule

The 24-team event will take place over 12 days and kick off with the Play-In on January 31 before ending with the grand final in the Spodek Arena on February 11. The full schedule for the Play-In and the group-stage openers is as follows:

Play-In

January 31

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024 Play-in
31/01/2024	Eternal Fire 15:30 BetBoom	Match
31/01/2024	HEROIC 15:30 Astralis	Match
31/01/2024	ENCE 16:40 BIG	Match
31/01/2024	Cloud9 16:55 Rebels	Match
31/01/2024	Spirit 17:55 Apeks	Match
31/01/2024	GamerLegion 18:05 M80	Match
31/01/2024	FURIA 18:45 The MongolZ	Match
31/01/2024	Rooster 19:15 Virtus.pro	Match
31/01/2024	HEROIC 20:10 BIG	Match
31/01/2024	Eternal Fire 20:15 Rebels	Match

February 1

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024 Play-in
01/02/2024	Spirit 13:30 The MongolZ	Match
01/02/2024	GamerLegion 13:30 Virtus.pro	Match
01/02/2024	BetBoom 16:30 Cloud9	Match
01/02/2024	M80 16:50 Rooster	Match
01/02/2024	Apeks 19:30 FURIA	Match
01/02/2024	Astralis 20:40 ENCE	Match

February 2

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024 Play-in
02/02/2024	Virtus.pro 16:30 Cloud9	Match
02/02/2024	The MongolZ 16:30 ENCE	Match
02/02/2024	Rebels 19:35 M80	Match
02/02/2024	BIG 20:00 Apeks	Match

Group Stage

February 3

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
03/02/2024	Falcons 13:30 Eternal Fire	Match
03/02/2024	G2 13:30 HEROIC	Match
03/02/2024	FaZe 16:30 Rebels	Match
03/02/2024	Natus Vincere 17:25 Spirit	Match
03/02/2024	Complexity 19:30 Apeks	Match
03/02/2024	Vitality 20:50 ENCE	Match

February 4

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
04/02/2024	Monte 13:30 GamerLegion	Match
04/02/2024	MOUZ 13:30 Cloud9	Match
04/02/2024	Spirit 16:30 Complexity	Match
04/02/2024	Natus Vincere 17:30 Apeks	Match
04/02/2024	Falcons 19:30 Rebels	Match
04/02/2024	Eternal Fire 21:00 FaZe	Match

February 5

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
05/02/2024	HEROIC 13:30 Vitality	Match
05/02/2024	Monte 13:30 Cloud9	Match
05/02/2024	GamerLegion 16:30 MOUZ	Match
05/02/2024	G2 17:30 ENCE	Match
05/02/2024	Complexity 19:30 Falcons	Match
05/02/2024	Natus Vincere 19:45 Eternal Fire	Match

February 6

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
06/02/2024	HEROIC 13:30 GamerLegion	Match
06/02/2024	Monte 13:30 G2	Match
06/02/2024	Spirit 16:30 FaZe	Match
06/02/2024	Falcons 16:30 Natus Vincere	Match
06/02/2024	MOUZ 19:30 ENCE	Match
06/02/2024	HEROIC 19:30 G2	Match

Playoffs

February 9

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
09/02/2024	FaZe 16:15 G2	Match
09/02/2024	ENCE 19:30 Falcons	Match

February 10

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
10/02/2024	MOUZ 16:15 FaZe	Match
10/02/2024	Spirit 19:30 Falcons	Match

February 11

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
11/02/2024	FaZe 17:00 Spirit	Match

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Prizes

IEM Katowice 2024 will boast a $1,000,000 prize pool, the majority of which will be spread out amongst the 16 teams that reach the main portion of the event. The cash breakdown is as follows:

1. $400,000 + IEM Cologne invite
2. $180,000
3-4. $80,000
5-6. $40,000
7-8. $24,000
9-12. $16,000
13-16. $10,000
17-20. $4,500
21-24. $2,500

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Talent lineup

The talent lineup consists of 22 members, who will bring you the action throughout the different stages. Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen is set to make his first appearance as talent on an ESL broadcast, while Joshua "⁠steel⁠" Nissan will take on his first broadcast role since cs_summit 4 in 2019.

The full talent list is as follows:

Analysts

Casters

Hosts/Interviewers

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Fantasy

IEM Katowice will feature three Fantasy games, with the first featuring the Play-In matches. The game is already live, and you can make your teams here. Separate games for the group stage and playoffs will be opened as the tournament progresses.