A total of 24 of the best CS:GO teams in the world will battle for a share of a $1 million prize pool at IEM Katowice, which starts on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
This will be the first big CS:GO event of the year organized by ESL and the first time since 2019 that the playoffs will be played in front of a live audience. Sixteen teams will kick off the competition in the Play-In stage and only half of them will advance to the main stage where Natus Vincere, Gambit, Vitality, G2, Virtus Pro, Heroic, FURIA, and Team Liquid await.
Here’s everything you need to know about IEM Katowice 2022.
Format
Sixteen teams begin the tournament in the Play-In stage, which will run from Feb. 15 to 16. These teams have been placed in a double-elimination bracket and all the matches will be best-of-three series, except for the best-of-one opening round.
The eight-best squads from the Play-In stage will join the main event where teams such as Na`Vi, Gambit, and Vitality await. All 16 teams will be placed in two double-elimination format groups. The group winners go straight to the semifinals, while the second and third-placed teams of each group advance to the quarterfinals. All group stage matches will be best-of-three series.
The playoffs will see the six teams compete in a single-elimination bracket, starting on Friday, Feb. 25, and ending on Sunday, Feb. 27. All the matches will be best-of-three series, except for the best-of-five grand final.
The main event of IEM Katowice 2022 is 안전놀이터 offering a $972,000 prize pool. The winner will earn $400,000, while the runners-up will grab $180,000. The semifinalists will take home $80,000 each.
Teams
Play-In
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Nicolas “Plopski” Zamora
Hampus Poser
Fredrik “REZ” Sterner
Patrick “es3tag” Hansen
Love “phzy” Smidebrant (stand-in for dev1ce)
Coach: Daniel “djL” Narancic
Astralis
Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
Philip “Lucky” Ewald
Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
Coach: Alexander “ave” Holdt
FaZe Clan
Håvard “rain” Nygaard
Helvijs “broky” Saukants
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
Finn “karrigan” Andersen
Justin “jks” Savage (temporary stand-in for ropz)
Robin “ropz” Kool (out until at least Feb. 19 due to COVID-19)
Coach: Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström
Entropiq
Aleksey “El1an” Gusev
Viktor “Lack1” Boldyrev
Alexey “NickelBack” Trofimov
Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko
Igor “forester” Bezotecheskiy
Coach: Dmitry “hooch” Bogdanov
BIG
Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz
Florian “syrsoN” Rische
Nils “k1to” Gruhne
Tizian Feldbusch
Josef “faveN” Baumann
Coach: Niclas “enkay J” Krumhorn
OG
Nemanja “nexa” Isaković
Valdemar “valde” Vangså
Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski
Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen
Shahar “flameZ” Shushan
Coach: Casper “ruggah” Due
GODSENT
Epitácio “TACO” de Melo
João “felps” Vasconcellos
Bruno “latto” Rebelatto
Bruno “b4rtiN” Câmara
Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer
Coach: Olavo “cky” Napoleão
Fnatic
Alex McMeekin
Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson
Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin
Owen “smooya” Butterfield
William “mezii” Merriman
Coach: Jamie “keita” Hall
Copenhagen Flames
Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen
Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen
Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjid
Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard
Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss
Coach: Daniel Vorborg
Sprout
Timo “Spiidi” Richter
Fritz “slaxz-” Dietrich
Rasmus “raalz” Steensborg
Victor Staehr
Max “Marix” Kugener
Coach: Danny “BERRY” Krüger
ENCE
Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer
Lotan “Spinx” Giladi
Paweł Dycha
Olek “hades” Miskiewicz
Pavle “Maden” Bošković
Coach: Eetu “sAw” Saha
Movistar Riders
Alejandro “mopoz” Fernández-Quejo Cano
Alejandro “ALEX” Masanet Candela
Raúl “DeathZz” Jordán Nieto
Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia
David “dav1g” Granado Bermudo
Coach: Galder “bladE” Barcena
MOUZ
David “frozen” Čerňanský
Christopher “dexter” Nong
Jon “JDC” de Castro (stand-in for Bymas)
Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt
Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás
Coach: Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen
MIBR
Breno “brnz4n” Poletto
Raphael “exit” Lacerda
Adriano “WOOD7” Cerato
Matheus “Tuurtle” Anhaia
Jhonatan “JOTA” Willian
Coach: Renato “nak” Nakano
Renegades
Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas
Simon “Sico” Williams
Joshua “INS” Potter
Jordan “Hatz” Bajic
Alistair “aliStair” Johnston
Coach: David “Kingfisher” Kingsford
Wisła Kraków
Michał “snatchie” Rudzki
Grzegorz “SZPERO” Dziamałek
Grzegorz “jedqr” Jędras
Krzysztof “Goofy” Górski
Kamil “Sobol” Sobolewski
Coach: Mariusz “Loord” Cybulski
Main event
Group A
Gambit
Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov
Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov
Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov
Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov
Timofey “interz” Yakushin
Coach: Konstantin “groove” Pikiner
Vitality
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Dan “apEX” Madesclaire
Kévin “misutaaa” Rabier
Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen
Emil “Magisk” Reif
Coach: Danny “zonic” Sørensen
Virtus Pro
Dzhami “Jame” Ali
Alexey “qikert” Golubev
Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis
Timur “buster” Tulepov
Evgeny “FL1T” Lebedev
Coach: Dastan Akbayev
Heroic
Casper “cadiaN” Møller
Martin “stavn” Lund
Ismail “refrezh” Ali
René “TeSeS” Madsen
Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
Coach: Richard “Xizt” Landström
Group B
Natus Vincere
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
Denis “electronic” Sharipov
Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
Valerii “B1T” Vakhovskyi
Coach: Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi
G2
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač
Audric “JaCkz” Jug
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen
Coach: Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam
Team Liquid
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
Keith “NAF” Markovic
Richard “shox” Papillon
Joshua “oSee” Ohm
Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella
Coach: Eric “adreN” Hoag
FURIA
Yuri “yuurih” Gomes
Andrei “arT” Piovezan
Rafael “saffee” Costa
Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato
André “drop” Abreu
Coach: Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira
Schedule
All times are CT and susceptible to delays.
Tuesday, Feb. 15
4am CT: NiP vs. Wisła Kraków
4am CT: CPH Flames vs. Fnatic
4am CT: GODSENT vs. MOUZ
5:15am CT: Sprout vs. FaZe
5:40am CT: OG vs. Renegades
5:40am CT: ENCE vs. Entropiq
6:30am CT: BIG vs. Movistar Riders
7:20am CT: Astralis vs. MIBR
7:45am CT: Upper bracket quarterfinal match one
9am CT: Upper bracket quarterfinal match two
9am CT: Lower bracket round one first match
11:15am CT: Upper bracket quarterfinal match four
12:45pm CT: Upper bracket quarterfinal match three
12:45pm CT: Lower bracket round one second match
Wednesday, Feb. 16
5:30am CT: Lower bracket round one third match
5:30am CT: Lower bracket round one fourth match
9am CT: Lower bracket round two first match
9am CT: Lower bracket round two second match
12:30pm CT: Lower bracket round two third match
12:30pm CT: Lower bracket round two fourth match
Streaming options
IEM Katowice will be broadcast on ESL’s three Twitch channels since the event will feature simultaneous matches during the Play-in stage. You won’t want to miss any of the action on the main broadcast, second channel, and third channel.
