The Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI is the 2nd premier International CS:GO event after the PGL Stockholm Major. The event will see participation by sevel strong teams including the likes of Astrails, Heroic, Gambit, FaZe and more.
The tournament will run between the 2nd and the 12th of December, and the full schedule can be seen here.
The tournament will feature two groups of eight, with only three qualifying for the playoffs. The sixteen teams include: Vitality, G2 Esports, Gambit, Heroic, NiP, Virtus.pro, FaZe Clan, Astralis, Team Liquid, ENCE, OG, BIG, MOUZ, Fnatic. GODSENT, and TYLOO.
The recent Major winners and BLAST Premier Champions, Na’Vi will be absent as Virtus.pro will be the sole CIS representative. Without the current first ranked team in the world present, there is plenty of opportunity for other teams to make their mark.
Astralis, FaZe, Gambit are favorites to have a deep run at the tournament. But with many changes to Team Liquid, it might also stand a good chance. BIG’s performance has been consistently good and with a player like TabseN consistently leading them, the German squad also has a lot of potential.
IEM Winter matches will be broadcast live on Twitch. But if you miss the live stream, you can also catch up on the VODs as ESL will be uploading them on YouTube daily.
