15 teams have been announced to compete at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice between February 27-2022, 24. Sixteen of the teams will go through a preliminary phase that will allow them to progress to the group stage. The featured teams are as follows:
-Ninjas in Pajamas
-Astralis
-FaZe Clan
-GODSENT
-Extra Salt
-MIBR
-Renegades
-TYLOO
-BIG
-Entropyq
-MV
-Copenhagen Flames
- Fnatic
-ENCE
-MOUZ
-Wisła Krakow
The eight teams that will take part in the group stage are as follows:
-Natus Vincere
-Gambit Esports
-G2 Esports
-Team Vitality
-Heroic
-Virtus.pro
-FURIA Esports
-Team Liquid
Alongside Wisła Kraków, who won the Polish National Championship, the teams were invited to IEM Katowice based on their earned ESL Pro Tour circuit points. Natus Vincere sits first in the World Rankings by a wide margin of 2 points above the #750 Team Vitality.
The tournament begins with a double elimination play-in stage from February 15-16. The opening matches will be bo1 and the following matches will be bo3. The top eight teams will move on to the group stage, which will be held from February 17-20. Two double elimination groups will be formed, each consisting of eight teams. All matches are bo3 and the top three teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. Single qualifiers will be played from February 25-27.
With Tier 1 Counter-Strike's long absence until January and early February, IEM Katowice will mark a return to professional play for teams. Also, most of the teams at the event will have new rosters as organizations continue to change their rosters during the end-of-season transfer window.
IEM Katowice is an S-Tier Masters event kicking off the Intel Grand Slam. The winner of the tournament will receive $400.000 and 1800 EPT points.