Everything You Need to Know About IEM Katowice 2016

We're officially knee deep in competitive League of Legends again folks, and we couldn't be happier. It's time for the Intel Extreme Masters League of Legends World Championship!

Teams have battled their way through the start of 2016 largely on their own turf, and now have fully developed regional metas and strategies, all of which will be on display in the largest international competition so far this year.

Eight teams from five different regions will duke it out in Katowice, Poland, beginning on Friday, March 4. Origen and Counter Logic Gaming enter by way of their first and second finish at IEM San Jose respectively. ESC Ever took home the gold at IEM Cologne and Qiao Gu Reapers the silver, meaning they'll be there as well. Fnatic, TSM, Royal Never Give Up, and SK Telecom T1 are the recipients of the regional invites.

Strap in everyone, it's going to be an awesome weekend!

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Group A - Rosters

ESC Ever (Challengers KR)

• Top: Jae-hee "Crazy" Kim
• Jungle: Min-kwon "Ares" Kim | Jun-seok "Ryan" Lee
• Mid: Myung-gu "Tempt" Kang
• AD Carry: Dong-wook "LoKeN" Lee
• Support: Han-gi "KeY" Kim | Jong-seop "Totoro" Eun

Origen (EU LCS)

• Top: Paul "SoaZ" Boyer
• Jungle: Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider
• Mid: Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage
• AD Carry: Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen
• Support: Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez

Royal Never Give Up (LPL)

• Top: Jun-ze "LetMe" Yan | Hyeong-seok "Looper" Jang
• Jungle: Shi-yu "mlxg" Liu | In-seok "InSec" Choi
• Mid: Yuan-hao "xiaohu" Li | Xiang-yi "Sask" Zhou
• AD Carry: Wang "wuxx" Wang Cheng | Jia-wen "NaMei" Zhu
• Support: Le "Ley" Li | Se-hyoung "Mata" Cho

TSM (NA LCS)

• Top: Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell
• Jungle: Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen
• Mid: Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg
• AD Carry: Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng
• Support: Bora "Yellowstar" Kim

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Group B - Rosters

SK Telecom T1 (LCK)

• Top: Ho-seong "Duke" Lee
• Jungle: Seong-ung "Bengi" Bae | Sun-gu "Blank" Kang
• Mid: Sang-hyeok "Faker" Lee
• AD Carry: Jun-sik "Bang" Bae
• Support: Jae-wan "Wolf" Lee

Fnatic (EU LCS)

• Top: Yeong-jin "Gamsu" Noh
• Jungle: Da-yun "Spirit" Lee
• Mid: Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten
• AD Carry: Martin "Rekkles" Larsson
• Support: Johan "Klaj" Olsson

Qiao Gu Reapers (LPL)

• Top: Bao "V" Bo
• Jungle: Dae-hoon "Swift" Baek
• Mid: Tae-sang "DoinB" Kim | Yeong-hoon "Borisal" Kim
• AD Carry: Yu "Peco" Rui | Zihao "Uzi" Jian
• Support: Zhang "Mor" Hong-Wei

Counter Logic Gaming (NA LCS)

• Top: Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya
• Jungle: Jake "Xmithie" Puchero
• Mid: Jae-Hyun "Huhi" Choi
• AD Carry: Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes
• Support: Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black

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The Format

The show starts with a double elimination style group stage. The top two teams from each group will move onto the playoff round, starting with a Best of 3 Semi-finals and culminates with a Best of 5 Grand Finals to decide who will be the Intel Extreme Masters League of Legends World Champion. More information can be found at the official tournament page.

Teams will be competing on Patch 6.3.

Schedule

Friday, March 4 - Group A

• 12:00 PM CET / 3 AM PDT / 6 AM EST: Match #1 - ESC Ever vs TSM
• ~ 1:50 PM CET/ 4:50 AM PDT / 7:50 EST: Match #2 - Royal Never Give Up vs Origen
• ~ 3:10 PM CET / 6 AM PDT / 9 AM EST: Group A Winners Match
• ~ 4:30 PM CET / 7:30 AM PDT / 10:30 AM EST: Group A Elimination Match (Best of 3)
• ~ 7:50 PM CET / 10:50 AM PDT / 1:50 PM EST: Group A Decider (Best of 3)

Saturday, March 5 - Group B

• 12:00 PM CET / 3 AM PDT / 6 AM EST: Match #1 - SK Telecom T1 vs Counter Logic Gaming
• ~ 1:50 PM CET / 4:50 AM PDT / 7:50 AM EST: Match #2 - Qiao Gu Reapers vs Fnatic
• ~ 3:10 PM CET / 6 AM PDT / 9 AM EST: Group B Winners Match
• ~ 4:30 PM CET / 7:30 AM PDT / 10:30 AM EST: Group B Elimination Match (Best of 3)
• ~ 7:50 PM CET / 10:50 AM PDT / 1:50 PM EST: Group B Decider (Best of 3)

Sunday, March 6 - Playoffs

• 12:00 PM CET / 3 AM PDT / 6 AM EST: Semifinals #1 (Group B 1st vs Group A 2nd)
• 3:30 PM CET / 6:30 AM PDT / 9:30 AM EST: Semifinals #2 (Group A 1st vs Group B 2nd)
• 7:00 PM CET / 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EST: Grand Finals (Winner Semifinals #1 vs Winner Semifinals #2)

Which team are you most looking forward to watching? Which match ups are you dying to see? Who do you think will win the Grand Finals? Let us know in the comments and be sure to catch all the action live, right here on Lolesports!

Images courtesy of ESL