IEM Katowice 2020 is on the horizon and we couldn’t be more excited. Here you will find an analytical IEM Katowice 2020 Preview,
IEM Katowice 2020 Preview of the event
The Intel Extreme Masters is a series of international esports tournaments held in countries around the world. This year it will be hosted in Poland in the Spokek Arena, between the 24th of February till the 1st of March. The prize pool for the tournament is $500,000 and there will be 16 teams in all. 10 of the 16 teams participating are in the top 10 teams in the world, so it will definitely be an event worth watching.
Teams participating in order of ranking:
- #1 Astralis
- #2 Mousesports
- #3 Liquid
- #4 Fnatic
- #5 Evil Geniuses
- #6 Natus Vincere
- #7 Vitality
- #8 G2 Esports
- #9 FaZe
- #10 100 Thieves
- #12 MAD Lions
- #14 NiP
- #18 Virtus.pro
- #20 Cloud9
- #22 Renegades
- #28 Tyloo
Tournament format:
- Group stage: Double Elimination Best of 3
- Playoffs: Single Elimination Best of 3, Grand final Best of 5
Day 1 will start with the following matchups:
- Astralis vs. Cloud9
- NiP vs. Vitality
- Natus Vincere vs. FaZe
- Renegades vs. Fnatic
- Mousesports vs. Tyloo
- 100 Thieves vs. G2
Team News and performance (Top 10 ranking)
Astralis
Astralis had a great finish to the end of 2019 by winning Blast Pro Series Global Final 2019. But recent results have been terrible at Blast Premier Spring Series 2020, against Complexity and Natus Vincere. But even with their recent performance, we still cannot cut Astralis out of the winning picture. Everyone knows that they have been an unstoppable team all throughout 2018 and 2019, who says they’re not here for more trophies in 2020?
Mousesports
Mousesports started 2019 by bringing in fresh blood and they have been unstoppable recently. They remain undefeated in 2020, by winning ICE Challenge 2020 and they are definitely eyeing their 2nd victory this year by winning IEM Katowice 2020.
Liquid
Liquid had a decent start to the year by winning a series versus MiBR and NiP but then losing two series versus FaZe. We cannot assume that Liquid will have a disappointing showing at Katowice, as FaZe has had excellent performances so far this year.
Fnatic
Fnatic occupied Robin “flusha” Rönnquist and Maikil “Golden” Selim on the 16th of September and ever since the roster change they have been a very strong team. They have not played a single match in 2020 yet, but they ended 2019 in a dominant fashion, grabbing 2nd place at ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals.
Evil Geniuses
Formerly known as NRG, had a very strong run last year, especially during the Starladder Berlin Major 2019. They have shown that they’ve got what it takes, but unfortunately, they haven’t done so consistently. They lost twice to OG during Blast Premier Spring Series 2020 but managed to win a series versus 100 thieves. All their matches have been quite close and tense, so we will just have to wait and see how they perform against MAD Lions to see if they’re able to take the trophy home.
Natus Vincere
NV reacquired Ladislav “Guardian” Kovács back in September of 2019, but after a lot of disappointing results, they have decided to bench him and bring in some fresh blood by adding Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy to the active squad. They have already shown really good results by grabbing the 2nd place at ICE Challenge 2020 and topping Group B at Blast Premier Spring Series 2020. Group B was arguably the toughest group with teams like Astralis and Vitality in the mix, but Na’Vi managed to pull it through and defeat every single team in the group and progress to the Spring 2020 Finals.
Vitality
Vitality have only played at one event so far this year, that being Blast Premier Spring Series 2020 and it surely wasn’t their best showing, winning only one match out of three. The disappointing start to the year does not overshadow their potential to win Katowice, but it does make us doubt whether they have what it takes to beat teams like Astralis, Mousesports and FaZe.
G2
G2 have been pretty much unbeatable the past 2 months. They have won 9 out of 13 maps this year already and they’re looking to win more, especially with an opponent like 100 Thieves on day 1. The two teams have already played against each other on the 14th of February during Blast Premier Spring Series and even though both maps were close, G2 was dominant throughout the whole series versus the Aussies.
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan kicked off their year exceptionally well by grabbing a 1st/2nd place spot in the IEM Katowice 2020 European Closed qualifier, and remaining undefeated during Blast Premier Spring Series 2020 versus teams like Liquid and NiP. On the 25th and 26th of September, FaZe Clan announced that the Brazilian superstar Marcelo “Coldzera” David and the Latvian rookie Helvijs “broky” Saukants will be joining the roster and even though people doubted this roster at first they have clearly shown some pretty promising results as of late. They will definitely be a team worth watching during Katowice and through the rest of 2020.
100 Thieves
100 Thievesjoined CS:GO back in October by acquiring the Aussie squad, formerly known as Renegades. They had some pretty solid results last year, but have been pretty inconsistent as of late. They have yet to be victorious in 2020, but they will definitely be giving G2 one hell of a match.
Predictions
Based on this IEM Katowice 2020 Preview favorites are indubitably Astralis, Mousesports and FaZe Clan. Astralis have shown that when they’re at their best, no one can topple the Danish core. As mentioned above, Mousesports remain undefeated, and they have been on a winning streak for a while, and who’s to say that their streak is to end any time soon? As for FaZe they have had a pretty dominant start in 2020, and everyone’s starting to see that their new project is working out, so they will definitely not disappoint.
