IEM Winter 2021 viewer’s guide
Following the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2021 which was just completed over the weekend, there’s another big tournament for CS:GO esports fans to enjoy. We are talking about the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Winter 2021 event, another offline LAN affair for fans to sink their teeth into. Here’s what you need to know about IEM Winer 2021.
IEM Winter 2021 details
From Thursday, 2 December until Sunday, 12 December 2021, IEM Winter 2021, organized by ESL, will take place. There’s a whole lot of CS:GO esports action to be had, with 16 teams (invited or qualified) will fight for the $250,000 prize pool. At the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that’s roughly R4 million.
The tournament kicks off with the group stage, featuring a double-elimination format (GSL-style) format. There will be two groups of eight teams each. Opening matches are best-of-one, while all following matches are best-of-three.
The winners of each group will advance to the semifinals of IEM Winter 2021, while the runners-up advance to the quarterfinals as the high seeds, and the 3rd place teams advance to the quarterfinals as the low seeds, while the rest are eliminated.
Group A teams:
- OG
- Team Liquid
- Tyloo
- G2 Esports
- NIP
- Astralis
- Vitality
- Mouz
Group B teams:
- Fnatic
- Gambit
- Godsent
- Heroic
- ENCE
- Virtus.pro
- BIG
- FaZe Clan
The playoffs will feature a single-elimination bracket, with the quarterfinals and semifinals matches being best-of-three. The grand final of IEM Winter 2021 is a best-of-five affair.
The action is scheduled to begin each day at roughly 14:10 SAST. You can catch all the CS:GO esports action via the official ESL CS:GO Twitch channel.
Header image via ESL.
