ESL reveal new details regarding IEM Katowice 2018
We got the first information about the upcoming IEM Katowice 2018 tournament about a week ago, and then on December 23, we revealed details of some of the qualifiers for Asia and Oceania.
ESL have revealed the group stage and playoffs format for IEM Katowice 2018 which will see 16 teams in play from February 27-March 4.
Following the change of the number of teams participating at IEM Katowice from 12 to 16, ESL came up with a new format for their first tournament of 2018. The organizers also aim to run 16-team events “whenever it is feasible” in the future.
The group stage, scheduled for February 27-March 1, will be played in a different GSL format than we’re used to in CS:GO, as this time there will be two groups of eight. The winner of each group will advance directly to semi-finals, while the other group’s finalist and the top side from the lower bracket will earn tickets to quarter-finals. Only the first round of the group stage will feature best-of-one matches.
A single-elimination playoffs bracket, played from March 2-4, will then follow as usual, with the two quarter-finals and semi-finals played in best-of-three series, while the grand final will feature a best-of-five series (which remains the same as at recent IEM stops).
IEM Katowice runs from February 27-March 4 and will have $500,000 on offer (a $200,000 increase from the last IEM stop in Oakland).
