As per IEM's new standard format, Global Challenge Katowice kicks off with one full day of open brackets to see which eight players will join the sixteen already qualified for the group stage. Given the convenient location of the tournament, a few continental stars have been drawn into the competition as well, joining the local gosus who will have to try harder than ever to make a splash. Here's a brief rundown of the players in the open.

mouz.MaNa: Consecutive PvP losses to Grubby and HasuObs in the online qualifiers saw MaNa fail to earn a direct spot in the groups. But looking at his open bracket (bracket 4), you might wonder if IEM should have just given MaNa a direct seed anyway. With a first round bye in a five man group, it's hard to imagine a world where a top European like MaNa doesn't make at least top two. As he's going to be one of the biggest favorites of the live audience, it would be a shame of if he didn't.

d.Tefel, Mill.DieStar, Acer.ParanOid: After the golden duo of MaNa and Nerchio (already qualified for the group stage), these three are the next most notable Polish players in the tournament. Given their positions in the brackets (byes for Tefel and DieStar, and a ridiculous three-man group for Paranoid), it looks they'll be able to make Katowice one of the few IEMs with a significant host representation in the group stages.

Liquid`TLO, Liquid`Ret: TLO and Ret have signed up for the open bracket, hoping to join their new teammate Snute and make it a trio of Liquid Zergs in the group stages. While TLO was once overshadowed by Ret in terms of tournament performances, things have turned almost completely around in the last few months. TLO has looked better and better with each and every tournament, while on the other hand, Ret has inexplicably gone through one of the worst stretches in his professional career. In his current shape, TLO looks like a strong favorite makes it through his group. In Ret's case, you still have to favor him to make it out of his six man bracket (he has a first round bye at that!) despite his recent run of mediocre to poor performances, but there's plenty of room for doubt until he shows that he's back to his old form.

VERDI: Verdi might be in the relative bracket of death (bracket 1) in this tournament (one that contains a full six players, and with DieStar and TLO to compete against), but he's the biggest candidate to cause an upset in the open bracket. In fact, I'm sure there's some Russian fans who would argue he's hardly an underdog at all. He defeated SortOf and Sen en route to a third place finish at IeSF 2012, and he did well in online play for Karont3 as a "mercenary" in 2012's IPTL, with a 4 - 1 record overall.

ESC.Daisy The ex-Prime player was impressive at his last international tournament at MLG Dallas, where he proved he hadn't got soft in Europe, defeating SKT's soO and Acer's Scarlett in a tie-13th finish. Alright, so he might have been a wee bit reliant on the immortal-sentry all-in, but you have to give credit where credit's due. He's the strong favorite to win his group, and could be a big threat in the group stages as well.

Tarson: Always a fan favorite, Tarson is going to have a lot of trouble getting through against Daisy and Ret (bracket 2). But if the blessing of Mvp is upon him, there is hope yet.

Whoever's in bracket 3: BabyKnight tweeted that his passport was stolen, and that he cannot compete at IEM Katowice. This guarantees two Polish players will make it to the group stage. Well played, Carmac.

Everyone Else: Given the way IEM has seeded their open bracket, you would think that it's very tough to see any of the underdogs or unknowns making it into the group stages. The more skilled or famous players are given first round byes, and with the double elimination format on top of that, it would require a highly unlikely sequence of events for one of the underdogs to get through. However, things don't always go according to plan, and we HAVE seen some surprising upsets in previous IEM tournaments as the underdogs proved they were the better players on the day. Back at IEM Cologne, we saw Grubby overcome both Oz and AcE to advance from his bracket, while ReaL edged out a red hot YongHwa to make it as well. Maybe you shouldn't bet money on the non-seeded players, but don't count them out.