New details of IEM World Championship 2018

Organizers of the CS:GO IEM World Championship have announced the dates of the qualifiers to the tournament.

Spodek Arena, that is situated in Katowice, Poland, will be a venue. The LAN final of the twelfth season of Intel Extreme Masters will be carried out on March 2-4. The first stage of the championship will be hosted from February 27 to March 1. The large prize pool in the sum of $500,000 will be up for grabs at the tournament. It is also worth to notice that this event belongs to the Intel Grand Slam series. The team that achieves four victories at Intel Grand Slam tournaments will earn a money bonus in the sum of $1,000,000.

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16 teams will compete in the championship. Eight of them will determine with a help of close qualifiers. The rest of teams will receive direct invitations.

The distribution of slots at IEM World Championship 2018:

8 invitations4 slots for the European qualification2 slots for the North American qualification1 slot for the Asian qualification1 slot for the qualification in Asia-Pacific region

Details of the qualification in the Asia-Pacific region:

Two open qualifiers with the unlimited number of participants will be run in a single elimination bracket with bo1 matches. The final will be played as a bo3 match.

Top two participants of the open qualifiers will go to the close qualifying round, there will be six slots: 4 invited teams and 2 best teams from the open qualifiers. The close qualifying stage will be hosted in a double elimination bracket with bo3 matches. The final battle will be in a bo5 format. The team that goes through the upper bracket to the final will automatically gain a victory on the first map.

The schedule:

Open qualifiers #1 - January 6-7Open qualifiers #2 - January 17-18Close qualifiers - January 20-25

Organizers have prepared one invitation to the LAN final for the Asia-Pacific division.

Details of the Asian qualification

Two open qualifiers with the unlimited number of participants will be run in a single elimination bracket with bo1 matches. The final will be played as a bo3 match.

Top two participants of the open qualifiers will go to the close qualifying round, there will be six slots: 4 invited teams and 2 best teams from the open qualifiers. The close qualifying stage will be hosted in a double elimination bracket with bo3 matches. The final battle will be in a bo5 format. The team that goes through the upper bracket to the final will automatically gain a victory on the first map.

The schedule:

Open qualifiers #1 - January 7-8Open qualifiers #2 - January 16-17Close qualifiers - January 19-12

Organizers have prepared one invitation to the LAN final for the Asian division.

Details of the North American qualification

Two open qualifiers with the unlimited number of participants will be run in a single elimination bracket with bo1 matches. The final will be played as a bo3 match.

Top two participants of the open qualifiers will go to the close qualifying round, there will be 8 slots: 6 invited teams and 2 best teams from the open qualifiers. The close qualifying stage will be hosted in a single elimination bracket with bo3 matches. The final battle will be in a bo5 format.

The schedule:

Open qualifiers #1 - January 20-21Open qualifiers #2 - January 25-26Close qualifiers - January 30

Organizers have prepared two invitations to the LAN final for the North American division.

Details of the European qualification

Two open qualifiers with the unlimited number of participants will be run in a single elimination bracket with bo1 matches. The final will be played as a bo3 match.

Top four participants of the open qualifiers will go to the close qualifying round, there will be 12 slots: 8 invited teams and 4 best teams from the open qualifiers. The close qualifying stage will be hosted in a double elimination bracket with bo3 matches.

The schedule:

Open qualifiers #1 - January 23-24Open qualifiers #2 - January 31 - February 1Close qualifiers - February 3-4

Organizers have prepared four invitations to the LAN final for the European division.