IEM Shanghai details (format, qualifiers, dates)

For the fourth year running the Intel Extreme Masters will feature StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™ as one of our main titles. Our season will kick off in Shanghai, China on July 25-28, making history as the first World Championship Series Tier 1 event to take place in Asia.

Intel Extreme Masters Shanghai will also be the first major international StarCraft II event in China in 2013. Our last event in Guangzhou in 2011 was filled with nail-biting matches, culminating with American Zerg player Greg “IdrA” Fields overcoming his adversary Samuli “elfi” Sihvonen to take first at the event.

This season’s event will have $25,000 in prize money and 750 WCS ranking points for the players. As such, we've modified our tournament format to incorporate the global and regional WCS rankings.

The online qualifiers will take place in two stages: the first stage being an open sign up and the second stage with applicants from the WCS ranking seeded into the bracket. There will be three qualifiers with two players from Europe, two players from North and South America and four players from Asia and Oceania. The eight qualified players will receive a fully paid trip to Shanghai. Regional qualifiers will ensure we have a diverse spectrum of talent from all over the globe.

The main event will take place over three stages. The first stage will spotlight the local and international StarCraft II talent with two brackets of eight competing for four spots in the second stage. The top four of the first stage will join the eight players from the online qualifiers as well as the top four applicants from the WCS ranking. These 16 players will then play in a group stage, battling fiercely to advance to the 8 man playoffs.