The Teams for the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship 2016 Are Revealed
After three weeks of professional League of Legends competition in 2016, we now know the eight teams that will compete at the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) World Championship. The annual event will take place from March 4 to 6 this year at the Spodek Arena and ICC Hall in Katowice, Poland. It will feature two League teams from four of the game’s biggest regions—Korea, China, North America, and Europe.
Participating Teams
The tournament will feature winners and runner-ups from the previous events— IEM Cologne and IEM San Jose. The teams include China’s Qiao Gu Reapers, Korea’s Ever, Europe’s Origen, and North America’s Counter Logic Gaming. Qiao Gu is the only team that hasn’t struggled in its professional league since the beginning of the year, with Ever not even competing in the League Champions Korea (LCK).
The remaining four teams were invited by ESL, the tournament organizer behind IEM. Unlike last year, there was no requirement for each team to be the first in their respective regions. The Korean invite went to 2013 and 2015 World Champions SK Telecom T1, who are currently fourth in their region after roster changes this offseason. The North American invite went to Team SoloMid, who are tied for third in their region after roster changes as well. The European invite went to Fnatic, who are tied for seventh after losing three members this offseason.
The final team is the only one invited that is on the top of their region: Chinese team Royal Never Give Up, who made big acquisitions in the offseason. They added three Koreans and one local superstar to their roster.
Missing Teams and Predictions
Some fans are questioning why top teams from other regions are missing from the tournament. Immortals from North America is undefeated and leading the pack, while Europe has a top-of-the-barrel tie between H2K Gaming and G2 Esports. Korea also has an undefeated powerhouse in ROX Tigers, who were the runner-up at the Riot Games World Championship last fall.
Regardless, we’ll see if IEM Katowice proves to be a worthwhile tournament in just over a month. For now, it seems likely that Qiao Gu and Royal Never Give Up have the advantage due to both being on top of China by a large margin, but that could change over the next month.
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