ESL Reveal Final Participants of IEM XVI Katowice

ESL have revealed the complete line-up for their upcoming CS:GO event Intel Extreme Masters XVI – Katowice ¬¬¬¬– the final invites have been granted to Fnatic, Copenhagen Flames, ENCE, BIG, OG, Entropiq, and Extra Salt. These invites are based on the updated ESL World Rating.

These seven teams were invited to the Play-In stage, where they and another nine teams – NiP, Astralis, FaZe, GODSENT, MIBR, Renegades, TyLoo, MOUZ, Wosla Krakow – will compete in a double-elimination bracket. Then top eight teams will advance to the Group Stage.

There they will compete with the leaders of Road to Katowice – Natus Vincere, Gambit Esports, G2 Esports, Team Vitality, Heroic, Virtus.pro, FURIA Esports and Team Liquid – in two GSL groups. The event will culminate in the single-elimination playoffs stage, where the group leaders will start in the semifinals, while the teams placed 2nd and 3rd will begin in the quarterfinals.

IEM XVI – Katowice is a $1,000,000 event that will be held at Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland, from February 15th to 27th. It is expected that multiple participants of the event, such as Astralis, Vitality, G2, Liquid and others, will undergo significant roster changes before the event.