Draw for IEM Katowice 2023 announced
ESL has announced the seeding for the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023. The organisers have revealed the seeding for the group stage and the first pairs for the Play-In stage.
The tournament will begin on 31 January with the Play-In stage, where 16 teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket for eight places in the next stage of the tournament. The first matches of the play-in phase will be played in a best-of-1 format, while all other matches are best-of-3. The kick-off times for the matches in the Play-In stage have not yet been announced.
The first matches of the Play-Ins:
- FURIA Esports vs Permitta Esports
- BIG vs Complexity Gaming
- Fnatic vs Evil Geniuses
- Sprout vs OG
- Team Spirit vs Grayhound Gaming
- MIBR vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
- ENCE vs paiN Gaming
- Cloud9 vs IHC Esports
The group stage will take place from 2-5 February with 8 invited clubs and 8 Play-In teams. Participants are divided into 2 GSL groups with all matches played on a best-of-3 basis. The winners of each group will advance to the semi-finals of the play-offs, with the runners-up and third-placed teams moving on to the quarterfinals.
Group stage seeding:
- Team Liquid
- Natus Vincere
- G2 Esports
- FaZe Clan
- Heroic
- MOUZ
- Team Vitality
- Outsiders