Now that the first round of ESL Pro League Season 9 has given us the first Finals’ contestants, it’s time to wrap our heads around the next Premier CS:GO tournament. If you want to be in the know, this concise IEM XIV Sydney Preview is the place to be.

Throughout the next few sections, we’ll be going through the most important things regarding this event. Not just the usual stuff like interesting facts, prize pool, format, and schedule, but comprehensive team overviews that’ll help you shape up the form of the most prominent teams.

As the event title implies, Sydney is the host city for this event. Qudos Bank Arena is the venue, and all sixteen competing teams are already preparing themselves. And rightfully so, since the prize money amounts to $250,000. Not half bad, right?

With all that in mind, let’s jump straight to the first part of our IEM XIV Sydney Preview and talk a bit about the most interesting facts.

IEM XIV Sydney Preview | Interesting Facts

• Astralis declined the IEM XIV Sydney invitation in favor of two BLAST Pro Series tournaments organized by their parent company RFRSH Entertainment. This led to a community outrage with claims of conflict of interest.
• In other words, the world’s best CS:GO team won’t be competing in this tournament meaning the likes of FaZe Clan, Team Liquid and MIBR will want to snatch a trophy with “easier” competition onboard.
• IEM XIV Sydney broadcast talent is looking strong. The likes of stunna, SPUNJ, moses, and Frankie are in charge of entertaining the crowd and covering the action so we’re bound to have a great tournament in The Land Down Under.
• Renegades, Grayhound Gaming, and Chiefs Esports Club are Australia-based teams. The majority of their starting rosters are entirely  Australian players so they’ll definitely have the home turf advantage in the gorgeous Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Astralis Conflict of Interest Allegations

During these last few days, there’s an ongoing Twitter debate regarding Astralis’ and the potential conflict of interest with their parent company RFRSH Entertainment. While this is not a classic example of COI, it can still be portrayed as one, and here’s why.

RFRSH Entertainment is in charge of organizing BLAST Pro Series events and running the best CS:GO team in the world, Astralis. Over the last few months, Astralis declined invitations from several premium CS:GO tournaments (including IEM XIV Sydney and StarSeries S7) in favor of RFRSH Entertainment’s BLAST Pro Series events. The Danish side competed in both BLAST Pro Series events in 2019, which made Thorin think there might be a conflict of interest going on. After all, we’re talking about the best team in the world, and them competing at BLAST Pro Series events means more lucrative sponsorship offers and a better all-around viewership and competitiveness.

Zonic, Astralis’ coach, fiercely denied the allegations and pointed out the tight schedule and tournament length. Apparently, Astralis favored BLAST Pro Series events because they last two days instead of SS and IEM Sydney which stretch out for roughly a week. Whether or not that’s actually true, we’ll leave for you to decide…

Prize Pool Distribution

As stated in the introductory paragraph of this IEM XIV Sydney Preview, the total prize pool amounts to hefty $250,000. As for the official distribution, here’s what all the teams are fighting for:

Place	Prize Money
1st	$100,000
2nd	$42,000
3rd to 4th	$20,000
5th to 6th	$10,000
7th to 8th	$6,000
9th to 12th	$5,000
13th to 16th	$4,000

Tournament Format

IEM XIV Sydney retains the standard tournament outline, group stage plus playoffs. The group stage starts on the last day of April and lasts till 2nd May. It will feature two double-elimination groups, each containing eight teams. As usual, the group stage is seeded according to the ESL CS:GO World Rankings with the initial matches being Bo1 and all remaining ones Bo3.

Only six teams advance to the second stage of IEM XIV Sydney, the playoffs. Three teams from each group, to be exact. Group winners advance straight to the semifinals with the second and third place teams having to battle it out against each other from the quarterfinals.

We’re looking at single-elimination bracket here. Both quarterfinals and semifinals matches are Bo3 while the grand finals match is scheduled for a proper best of five sensation. There’s a lot of money on the line, not to mention a bunch of top-quality teams, so a and highly competitive atmosphere is guaranteed.

Intel Extreme Masters Season XIV Sydney 2019 Teams Overview

In this part of our IEM XIV Sydney Preview we’ll be talking about the favorites to come out on top. With Astralis out of the question, there are several contestants that will be fighting for the main prize. That said, let’s take a closer look at their forms, most prominent players and recent matches. This will give us a better picture of what to expect from their IEM XIV Sydney adventure.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid is coming into this tournament after a solid performance in Miami which ended in a huge heartbreak. A quick reminder, Team Liquid lost 2-0 against FaZe clan in the grand finals, failing to close out yet another tournament.

However, Twistzz and company will be looking to redeem themselves in Australia. Their BLAST Pro Series Miami group stage was outright perfect. Going five and 0 against the likes of Astralis, NaVi, and FaZe is no easy feat. Despite that, the heartbreak of the grand finals must’ve left a sour taste in their mouth, one that they’ll likely want to wash off by winning IEM XIV Sydney.

Most recently, Team Liquid had a solid run on the ESL Pro League S9 Americas, managing to qualify straight from the first round. Ghost, compLexity, and Lazarus weren’t causing too much trouble, despite the fact compLexity took the first map in the second group stage round.

Overall, Team Liquid is still looking strong even though their BLAST Pro Series Miami endeavor finished off with a major choke. Depending on the group seeds, I expect Team Liquid to either qualify straight to the semifinals or battle it out from the quarters. Either way, they’ll be a tough team to face in the late stages, one that many will want to avoid at all costs.

FaZe Clan

When everyone thought FaZe Clan would start disbanding their superstar roster… When everyone thought their slump was only getting worse… NiKo, GuardiaN, and the boys reclaimed their throne and finally lifted a proper trophy. By defeating Team Liquid in the BPS Miami grand finals, not only have they proven themselves capable, but they’ve also jumped up on the world rankings. Right back to the fourth place behind NaVi, Team Liquid, and the almighty Astralis. Furthermore, that win also granted them 10 BPS points, placing them at the third place on the BPS World Championship table.

Overall, FaZe seems to be in great form. They’ve already qualified for the upcoming ESL Pro League S9 Finals by winning group B. Need I remind you, FaZe played against devils.one, Heroic and NiP, with the Swedish team surprisingly getting knocked out of the tournament right off the bat.

During those three matches, NiKo and the boys looked convincingly dominant across the board. T-side pushes, CT side holds, clean rotations and all-around team cohesion were at admirable levels. Similar to what we’ve previously seen in their BPS Miami matches against Astralis and Team Liquid. With that in mind, I expect FaZe Clan to give us more of the same come the IEM XIV Sydney.

MIBR

Perhaps not in the best of form, but this MIBR roster still can’t be taken for granted. With the likes of fer, TACO, and coldzera, this Brazilian team is looking quite strong. Plus, their victory over Astralis is what kickstarted their BPS Miami demise.

When it comes to ESL Pro League S9 Americas, MIBR’s performance was somewhat of a disappointment. Sure, they weren’t eliminated (Envy made sure of that), but they failed to defeat Luminosity and qualify for the Finals right away. Now, they’ll have to venture into the second round which has the two remaining Finals’ tickets. However, with the likes of Renegades, eUnited, Ghost, Complexity and Cloud9, that task won’t be an easy one for the Brazilians.

Coming into this tournament, MIBR will be looking to go past the group stage, at the very least. They are well are of the fact they’re not in the greatest form, but I believe that’s something they’ll want to improve upon before their Australian adventure. If they start off on the right foot, they might even head straight through to the semifinals here. It’s a long shot, but one that fer and the company are capable of.

Renegades

Currently ranked 7th in the world, the IEM Katowice sensation, Renegades, will be hoping to make a great result in their home country. Fantastic performance in Poland, a great one in Shanghai, and almost perfect one in Burbank means jkaem, jks, and the boys aren’t messing around anymore.

With a diverse map pool, great team play, and refined execution, Renegades often look like an unbeatable team. With an Australian roster base combined with a pinch of Scandinavian excellence, Renegades seems like the ideal CS:GO roster. Not to mention the fact Kassad has been doing brilliantly as their coach.

Overall, Renegades will come in guns blazing. They rarely get a chance to play matches against the world’s best in their home country, so I’m sure they’ll make it count. Don’t get me wrong, I doubt Renegades will go all the way and manage to lift the trophy, but a solid quarterfinals or semifinals finish wouldn’t surprise me at all.

NRG

And finally, let’s say a few words about NRG. This is a team that already managed to qualify for both ESL Pro League S9 and ECS S7 Finals. Their domestic track record is superb, but they’re still having issues with transitioning it to the international stage. Don’t get me wrong, their StarSeries S7 performance was pretty solid, clinching semifinals without too much hassle.

However, coming into this tournament, I somehow doubt they’ll be able to improve their track record. Brehze and Ethan are still in top form, but unless they can push themselves the extra mile, I reckon NRG will have problems with coming out of the group stage. Even if they do, their track record against the likes of Team Liquid, Fnatic, FaZe and similar top-tier teams isn’t the greatest. That said, I can’t see NRG going anywhere beyond the group stage, or quarterfinals at best.

IEM Sydney 2019 Schedule

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this IEM XIV Sydney Preview, the official group stage seeding hasn’t been announced yet. However, we can expect it to be announced in a few days, right after the final round one ESL Pro League matches come to an end.