CS:GO’s IEM Katowice 2019 Minor group stages announced

Only four teams will make it to the Major.

ESL has announced the group draw for the four Minor tournaments taking place in the lead up to the IEM Katowice 2019 Major.

The Europe and CIS Minors will take place between 16th-21st January, while the Americas and Asia Minors run between 22nd-26th January.

The eight participants in each Minor have been split into two groups of four in a double elimination format. Opening matches will be a best-of-one affair, with the following matches to be decided on a best-of-three basis.

The top two teams from each group will then advance to the New Challenges stage of the IEM Katowice 2019 Major. It’s here they’ll face off against the Returning Challengers from the FACEIT Major 2018 to earn a place in the group stage of the Major.

Those who place third in their groups won’t be eliminated instantly though. Instead, they will all progress to a separate Minors’ play-in, which represents a final chance to qualify for the Major.

All four teams will be placed in a double elimination bracket, with the Opening and Winners’ matches played as a best-of-one, and the Elimination and Decider matches being best-of-three affairs. The top two teams will qualify for the Challenger Stage of the Major.

Here’s a glance at all the pairings:

CIS (January 16-20)

Group A

• Gambit Esports vs. Syman Gaming
• Nemiga Gaming vs. Team Spirit

Group B

• AVANGAR vs. pro100
• RuntimeGG vs. Winstrike Team

Europe (January 16-20)

Group A

• mousesports vs. Valiance&CO
• Team Vitality vs. OpTic Gaming

Group B

• North vs. Windigo Gaming
• ex-Space Soldiers vs. ENCE eSports

Americas (22-26 January)

Group A

• NRG Esports vs. Imperial e-Sports
• Bravado Gaming vs. INTZ

Group B

• Team Envy vs. Team oNe E-Sports
• FURIA Esports vs. eUnited

Asia (22-26 January)

Group A

• Renegades vs. Aequus Club
• CyberZen vs. Grayhound Gaming

Group B

• ViCi Gaming vs. GOSU
• Beyond Esports vs. MVP PK