Will the 2019 CS:GO esports scene outpace CS:GO’s performance in 2018? Well, knowing the exponential growth of the esports industry as a whole, chances are 2019 will be much bigger than last year.

CS:GO is certainly getting off on the right foot with the first Major of 2019 just around the corner. In this IEM Katowice Major 2019 Preview, I’d like to capture your attention and give you a glimpse into the most important tournament in CS:GO.

CS:GO Majors are not only the most prestigious and well-recognized events in its esports scene, but they’re the most lucrative ones too. Massive prize pools, a cumbersome qualifying process, and roughly 20 days of thrilling CS:GO matches – that’s the Katowice Major in its full glory!

There’s plenty of things to share in this IEM Katowice Major 2019 Preview! From interesting facts, tournament format, and prize pool distribution, to match schedule, and even a short overview on the top Katowice Major teams.

Let’s cut to the chase!

IEM Katowice Major 2019 Preview | Interesting Facts

Usually, CS:GO Majors have special in-game items and features, further expanding the craze that is the Major tournament itself! Stickers, Souvenir Cases, and Pick’em Challenge should be expected for Katowice too, although we couldn’t find any info on whether they’ll actually make an appearance.

IEM Katowice Major 2019 is the 14th Valve-sponsored CS:GO Major event. It is also the first tournament in 2019. The last Major (FACEIT Major London) was held in September 2018. After FACEIT’s debut Major, ESL is returning to host their first Major since 2016’s ESL One Cologne.

Fnatic is still the most decorated CS:GO team as far as Major titles are concerned. However, if Astralis takes Katowice, they’ll tie Fnatic, and both teams will have three titles each. Another fun fact – Virtus.pro is the team with the most medals at CS:GO Majors – 1 gold, 1 silver, and 5 bronze.

As far as nationalities go, Sweden is by far the most successful with 15 medals in total. A big part of this goes to the well-known Fnatic 2015 and NiP 2014 rosters. They were the two most dominant sides back then, and the stats are proud to show it.

Lastly – IEM Katowice Major 2019 marks the start of the new Intel Grand Slam Season 2. Astralis took the IGS Season 1 title during the ESL Pro League S8 Finals, granting them a whopping $1,000,000 on top of the original ESL Pro League’s prize pool.

Prize Pool Distribution

CS:GO Majors are Valve-sponsored tournaments, all parts of Valve’s CS:GO Major Championship system. We are talking about prestigious, thrilling, and highly lucrative esports festivals, featuring $1,000,000 prize pools. Yup, that’s right – for those of you who aren’t yet familiar with the CS:GO esports scene, IEM Katowice Major 2019 will feature a million dollar prize pool!

It’s a whopping number, to say the least! However, only the best teams will enjoy hefty prizes. Of the 24 teams, only the first 16 teams will receive a chunk of the prize pool. In other words, teams eliminated in the Challengers Stage are going home empty-handed.

As mentioned in the Tournament Format section, the first 14 teams automatically qualify for the next Major. Some will start from the Legends, others from the Challengers Stage.

Here’s how the official prize pool distribution looks:

Place	Prize Money	Next Major Seed
1st	$500,000	New Legend
2nd	$150,000	New Legend
3rd – 4th	$70,000	New Legend
5th – 8th	$35,000	New Legend
9th – 11th	8,750	New Challenger
12th – 14th	$8,750	New Challenger
15th – 16th	$8,750	–

As you can see, the grand finalists definitely have a lot of money on the line, not to mention the first check-mark for the Intel Grand Slam Season 2.

Tournament Format

Let’s continue with this IEM Katowice Major 2019 Preview and say a few words about the tournament format. Usually, CS:GO tournaments are played in two phases. Typically group stage and playoffs. CS:GO Majors, on the other hand, have three distinctive phases with a total of 24 teams competing.

The Challengers Stage

• Each CS:GO Major kicks off with the Challengers Stage. There, teams from the Minors and teams from previous Major battle it out until half of them are defeated.
• 16 teams participate in this Swiss System stage, but only 8 go through to the Legends Stage.

The Legends Stage

• Teams bearing the Legend status from the previous Major go up against those who qualified via the Challengers Stage.
• Again, 16 teams participate in a Swiss System format, and only 8 go through to the final stage.
• All teams participating in this stage will get a share of the prize pool.
• According to the new rules, the two bottom teams from this stage don’t automatically qualify for the next Major.

The Champions Stage

• The final stage of IEM Katowice Major 2019 will see the 8 best teams competing in a single-elimination bracket.
• All matches at this point are played as best-of-three series, and the winner takes home a whopping $500,000 in prize money. They also have to win at least three of the next nine Majors to win IGS Season 2 and an extra $1,000,000.

IEM Katowice Major 2019 Teams Overview

How should I even start the teams’ section of this IEM Katowice Major 2019 preview? There are just so many wicked teams that’ll be participating in Katowice. And it’s nothing surprising – after all, this is a CS:GO Major we’re talking about here!

But which team has the best chances of winning? What teams could be the direct competitors? Are there any other teams that could pose as dark horses cometh the Legends Stage? Well, let’s take this one thing at a time!

First off, the heavy favorites to win IEM Katowice Major 2019 are the great Danes. Astralis has been at the top of the CS:GO world for quite a while already. Their quality is undeniable, and their thirst for trophies is unending. Dev1ce, dupreeh, and the clutch-master himself, Xyp9x, are still forming the basis of this Astralis team and they will surely be looking to take this one home.

But it won’t be an easy task, not even for them. There are many competitors peeking through the curtains. Team Liquid, at least for the moment, seems like the biggest threat to the Danish side. They’ve acquired Stewie2K and installed AdreN as their new team coach.

This proved to be a huge success as they finally managed to overcome Astralis in a grand finals match (iBUYPOWER Masters IV). Other notable contestants are MIBR, FaZe, and NaVi. All three of them have different stories but share a single goal – winning the Major!

Wrap Up

With those conclusive words about the heaviest favorites, I think we’re all done with this IEM Katowice Major 2019 preview. Actually, there is one more thing left to be explained. You might want to get your calendar apps ready to write down the important Katowice Major dates.

IEM Katowice Major 2019 Preview | Tournament Schedule

As stated in the Tournament Format section above, the IEM Katowice Major 2019 will feature three phases. While we know the exact dates of each phase, we have no information regarding any of the matches from the first two stages. The last, Champions Stage, will kick off on Thursday, February 28th and will feature a total of seven matches, with Sunday, March 3rd being the Grand Finals date.

The Challengers Stage	The Legends Stage	The Champions Stage
Feb 13th – Feb 17th	Feb 20th – Feb 24th	Feb 28th – Mar 3rd