The upcoming SC2 IEM Katowice 2020 event will host some of the biggest and most anticipated esports tournaments of the year. Each year, this exciting event attracts thousands of fans from across the world and has millions of viewers tuning in to watch the matches.
The Intel Extreme Masters is organized by ESL – a well-established e-sports organizer and production company that holds several huge esport tournaments all over the world.
At the upcoming IEM Katowice 2020 tournament in Poland, the main events are CS:GO and Starcraft 2. The event attracted 173, 000 fans last year and had whooping 232 million viewers tuning on to the iem katowice stream.
What is the Intel Extreme Masters?
Intel Extreme Masters is a series of esports tournaments hosted by ESL and sponsored by Intel. The series includes games like Starcraft II, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Quake Live, League of Legends and Hearthstone. This year marks the league’s eleventh season and the previous season finals were held in Katowice, Poland, too.
What you should know about ESL
ESL, formerly known as the Electronic Sports League, is the world’s largest and oldest esports company that’s still operational. Founded back in 2000, the company initially began as an online gaming league and gaming magazine. Since then, the company has branched out and become one of the world’s most prominent organizers of e-sports events.
The company had its headquarters in Cologne, Germany and eleven offices across the world. Today, ESL is the largest e-sports company to broadcast on Twitch, and in 2015 the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice became the world’s most-watched esports event. Since then, ESL has set more viewership records and become the first e-sports company to introduce anti-doping tests and policies.
Today, ESL hosts competitions all over the world, partnering with large companies such as Riot Entertainment, Riot Games, Valve, Microsoft and Wargaming, to name a few. Some of the company’s most well-known leagues are ESL Play, ESL Pro Leagues, ESL National Championships and, of course, the Intel Extreme Masters. Out of all these exciting events, Intel Extreme Masters is the world’s longest-running global e-sports tournament series.
The most anticipated sc2 tournament in 2020
With six consecutive tournament days, 16 participating teams and a staggering prize pool of $500, 000, sc2 iem katowice 2020 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated Starcraft 2 tournaments of the year. Here’s what you need to know about the event:
- Dates: 28th February to the 1st of March.
- Location: Spodek Arena, Katowice, Poland.
- Prize pool: $500, 000.
The SC2 tournament format
Leading up to the event, ESL has organized a series of offline qualifiers. Between the 24th and 25th of February, a maximum of 64 global competitors, selected via WCS ranking prioritization, will be divided into four double-elimination brackets. The top-three players in each group will advance to the Ro24 Group Stages.
Between the 27th of February and the 1st of March, the Ro24 competitors will go head-to-head for a coveted seat at the Ro12 play-offs. There are four groups with three selected players in each group. Each group then has room for three players that advance from the Ro76 competition.
From here, the top-three players in each group will advance to the Ro12 single-elimination playoff bracket. Here are the players that have been selected for the Ro24 competition:
Group A
- Dark
- Stats
- Parting
Group B
- Reynor
- Rogue
- Zest
Group C
- Maru
- Elazer
- Solar
Group D
- Serral
- Ty
- Cure
The Ro12 playoffs will consist of four best-of-five matches leading into four quarter-finals on the 29th of February. And the following day, this sc2 tournament will culminate in two semi-finals that’ll lead into the Grand Finals, where this year’s winner will be determined through a series of best-of-five matches.
You can see a detailed overview of the entire schedule at the Intel Extreme Masters Website. Here, you’ll also be able to follow the latest news and get in touch with the staff, should you need more specific information about the event.
How to watch the sc2 iem katowice 2020 event
If you wish to attend the event in person, there are still tickets up for grabs – you can purchase them directly from the Intel Extreme Masters website. However, the lower rank tickets, which offer better seating, and all VIP-packages have already been sold out, leaving only a few Upper-Rank tickets for Friday the 28th.
Luckily, you can do what millions of other fans do and follow the event through an iem katowice stream. During the Group stage, there will be three Starcraft 2 matches streamed simultaneously, while the play-offs only show one game at a time.
On the Intel Extreme Master website, you’ll find a detailed schedule showing the exact time for all the matches. The easiest way to tune in is to follow the event on ESL’s Twitch channel.
Watch the SC2 IEM Katowice 2020 stream on esportsguide.com
One of the best sites for watching the tournament. The perfect guide for users that are new or already into esports. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
