Intel Extreme Masters is back as the Hall of Heroes reopens its doors to challengers, new and old on January 31! Twenty-four of the world's best Counter-Strike 2 teams will return to the Spodek Arena for 11 days of action-packed matches, ending on February 11.

Thousands of fans will experience an electrifying atmosphere and witness history in the making in the all-important Playoffs, where the winner gets an automatic invitation to IEM Cologne 2024 and the BLAST Premier World Final. If that's not enough, they also get the lion's share of the $1 million overall prize pool!

Read on for all the latest information on IEM Katowice 2024, including the tournament format, complete schedule, all teams, and the current standings. 

IEM Katowice 2024: Format

IEM Katowice 2024 will feature three main phases: the Play-In, Group Stage, and Playoffs. While 24 teams are competing altogether, 16 will participate in the Play-In to secure one of the eight slots in the Group Stage. Eight teams have already been directly qualified for the Group Stage.

Take a look below for the complete IEM Katowice 2024 format.

Play-In Stage

• 16 teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket.
• Opening matches are Bo1. All following matches are Bo3.
• The top eight teams advance to the Group Stage, while the remaining eight are eliminated.

Group Stage

• The sixteen teams (eight from Play-In, eight directly qualified) are split into two (GSL) double-elimination groups.
• All matches are Bo3.
• The top three teams from each group (six in total) advance to the Playoffs. The Group Stages winners advance to the Semifinals, the runners-up are seeded into the Upper Bracket, and third-place are seeded into the Lower Bracket.

Playoffs

• The six remaining teams battle it out in a single-elimination bracket.
• The Quarterfinals and Semifinals are Bo3.
• The Grand Final is Bo5.

IEM Katowice 2024: Teams

The 24 teams competing in IEM Katowice are mostly cherry-picked based on their performances last year, some based on their standings in the ESL World Ranking. 

Take a look below to see all the teams competing in IEM Katowice 2024, including how they qualified and the stage they're first competing in.

Play-In Teams

• Rebels Gaming (Mistrzostwa Polski)
• Cloud9 (ESL World Ranking EU)
• Virtus.pro (ESL World Ranking EU)
• Heroic (ESL World Ranking EY)
• FURIA Esports (ESL World Ranking SA)
• M80 (ESL World Ranking NA)
• Rooster (ESL World Ranking OCE)
• The MongolZ (ESL World Ranking AS)
• BIG (ESL World Ranking)
• GamerLegion (ESL World Ranking)
• Apeks (ESL World Ranking)
• Astralis (ESL World Ranking)
• Eternal Fire (ESL World Ranking)
• BetBoom Team (ESL World Ranking)
• ENCE (ESL World Ranking)
• Team Spirit (ESL World Ranking)

Directly-Qualified Teams

• G2 Esports (IEM Cologne 2023)
• MOUZ (ESL Pro League Season 18)
• FaZe Clan (IEM Sydney 2023)
• Complexity Gaming (ESL World Ranking)
• Team Vitality (ESL World Ranking)
• Monte (ESL World Ranking)
• Natus Vincere (ESL World Ranking)
• Team Falcons (ESL World Ranking)

IEM Katowice 2024: Complete Schedule

IEM Katowice 2024 kicks off on January 31 and ends on February 11 for an action-packed 11 days of top-tier Counter-Strike 2 gameplay.

All match times listed below will be in GMT, and match winners will be in bold. We will add the schedule for the Playoffs at a later date, so watch this space so you don't miss it!

IEM Katowice 2024: Playoffs

Quarterfinals - February 9

• 3:15 PM: FaZe Clan vs. G2 Esports
• 6:30 PM: ENCE vs. Team Falcons

Semifinals - February 10

• 3:15 PM: MOUZ vs. FaZe Clan
• 6:30 PM: Team Spirit vs. Team Falcons

Grand Final - February 11

• 4:00 PM: FaZe Clan vs. Team Spirit

IEM Katowice 2024: Venue and Streams

The IEM Katowice 2024 matches will initially be hosted online for the first two stages, with the Playoffs taking place at the Spodek Arena, with a seating capacity of 11,000. Grab your tickets while you can from the ESL Pro Tour website, as the cheapest event ticket has already sold out.

For all the games simultaneously, there will be two channels titled ESLCS and ESLCSb, respectively, live-streaming all the games. For your convenience, the main ESL Counter-Strike YouTube channel is also embedded below as the main hot spot for the later Playoff matches.

Final Thoughts

That was all our information on the IEM Katowice 2024 tournament - will G2 Esports be crowned the Katowice Kings once again? Only time will tell. Bookmark this page to stay up-to-date with all current IEM Katowice news, including standings updates and upcoming matches.

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