IEM Chengdu Preview

IEM Chengdu is a $250.000 CS2 event scheduled to take place in China between April 8 – 14. It features 16 teams and will likely be fun to watch because many of the participants are formidable. The list includes G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, MOUZ, Cloud9, and Team Liquid.

For many of the participants, IEM Chengdu will be a great opportunity to test their strength against some of the best-performing PGL Major Copenhagen competitors. Astralis didn’t qualify for that tournament and everyone is eager to see if they managed to improve their game since the RMRs.

G2 Esports and FaZe Clan had excellent results but did not win the Major. However, in the absence of teams like Natus Vincere and Team Spirit, they have an excellent opportunity to win this competition.

IEM Chengdu Format

The format of IEM Chengdu is very simple. The 16 teams are divided into two groups of eight. Each group is played using the double-elimination format. The opening matches are best-of-one. The remaining matches are best-of-three. The winners advance to the semifinals. The next two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals.

The playoffs will be played using the single-elimination format. Every match is best-of-three.

Prizes

The prize pool of IEM Chengdu is $250.000. The winner gets $100.000. The runner-up gets $42.000. The bottom four teams receive $4.000. The differences are substantial, so there’s a high incentive to get a top placement.

Participants

The last time we were in Chengdu was in 2009 at the #IEM Global Challenge Chengdu 🇨🇳

Spot any familiar faces? 👶 pic.twitter.com/sng1u707BG

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 5, 2024

Here are the 16 teams that will compete in the tournament:

Group A

• G2 Esports
• 9z Team
• HEROIC
• Team Liquid
• FURIA Esports
• Lynn Vision
• MOUZ
• TYLOO

Group B

• FaZe Clan
• Nemiga Gaming
• Astralis
• Monte
• Cloud9
• FlyQuest
• Virtus.pro
• Wildcard Gaming

Both groups have a lot of strong teams. In group A, G2 Esports, MOUZ, Heroic, Liquid, and FURIA will compete against each other for just three playoffs spots. Two of them will be eliminated.

In group B, the main contenders are FaZe Clan, Cloud9, Virtus.pro, and Astralis. Almost for certain, three of these four teams will occupy the top three positions in the group. Astralis will have a hard time because the other three teams are very strong and come from Copenhagen with a lot of experience.

The first two teams competed in the playoffs of that tournament. FaZe Clan was in the Grand Final. VP, despite not qualifying for the playoffs, had a good run and finished 9^th – 11^th. Against such opposition, dev1ce and his crew will need to play the best CS they’re capable of if they want to succeed.

Header: ESL