ESL reveals Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2025 invites

ESL has revealed the 24 Counter-Strike 2 esports teams invited to Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2025, including eight teams who received tickets for Stage 2 and 16 squads that got placed in Stage 1.

Scheduled to take place on January 29–February 9, 2025, IEM Katowice 2025 is the second S-Tier Counter-Strike tournament of the season, succeeding BLAST Bounty Spring 2025.

And like BLAST Bounty, IEM Katowice 2025 invites have been sent out according to the Valve Global Standings rather than the ESL World Rankings used in last year’s iteration of the Polish event.

ALL 24 TEAMS INVITED TO #IEM KATOWICE 2025 ⚔️

The Hall of Heroes awakens once again.

🟡Stage 2
🔵Stage 1 pic.twitter.com/L7tq1BS1TN

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) January 9, 2025

The top eight teams were invited straight into Stage 2 of the tournament. Those include G2 Esports, The MongolZ, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, MOUZ, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, and the defending champions, Team Spirit.

Many of the top contenders will travel to Katowice with different lineups than what they fielded in 2024, as Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač left G2 Esports to join Team Falcons, while FaZe Clan waved goodbye to Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool in a reported transfer to Team Vitality.

The remaining 16 teams were placed in Stage 1, which will feature six squads from the Americas region, including MiBR, FURIA Esports, Team Liquid, paiN Gaming, Wildcard, and Complexity Gaming.

Europe will be represented by nine teams, while Oceania will have a sole representative in FlyQuest.

Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2025 Stage 1 will feature a female Counter-Strike roster, Imperial Female, who won two ESL Impact League titles last season and climbed to the 23rd spot on Valve’s rankings.

Like last season, IEM Katowice 2025 will welcome 24 teams and have a US$1,000,000 prize pool; however, there are some adjustments to the format.

The first stage (formerly Play-In) is double-elimination with all matches being best-of-three (Bo3) series. The top eight teams will advance to the second stage.

The second stage (formerly the group stage) will divide the 16 teams into two groups of eight in a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three, with six teams (three from each group) proceeding to the playoffs.

The group stage winners will receive a direct bye to the semifinals, and runners-up will advance to the quarterfinals as high seeds. Third-placed teams will enter the quarterfinals as low seeds.

IEM Katowice 2025 playoffs will be single-elimination, with quarterfinals and semifinals played as best-of-three. The grand final is a best-of-five series.

IEM Katowice 2025 teams

Stage 1 (Play In)

Stage 2 (Group Stage)

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