ESL revealed the groups for the 24-player main event stage of IEM Katowice. One spot in each of the groups will be filled with a player from the play-in stage.
The format of the IEM Katowice 2021 main event is identical to that of past events, with the RO24 round-robin group stage (four groups of six players) followed by a 12-player single-elimination bracket.
IEM Katowice will be held from February 20th to February 28th, with $250,000 in total prize money on the line. Due to ongoing complications from the global pandemic, the competition will be held entirely online (more info here).
Seeding 20 of the spots and picking only 4 from the open bracket (as opposed to 12-12 in previous IEMs) has really made these groups more brutal than ever.
Group A looks so brutal and while Id put TY as a favorite I dont think anyone should feel safe there, a Clem Solar or Showtime playing at their best could easily make it out and even win the group, just waiting to get Byun in here from Ro36.
Group B looks like a Serral+Dark group with probably Innovation as well.
Group C Trap feels given at current standards, I expect Zest and Reynor to join him even tho Reynors perfomance after DH Fall finals have looked a bit lackluster (to Reynor standards that is). Heromarine or Astrea could cause an upset here.
Group D I find this group very hard to predict, my guess is that Stats and Cure is up there with the third spot very much up for grabs by anyone else in the group playing well.
On February 11 2021 04:42 Waxangel wrote: Seeding 20 of the spots and picking only 4 from the open bracket (as opposed to 12-12 in previous IEMs) has really made these groups more brutal than ever.
Also while being the highest seed usually means you have the advantage that the rest of your group becomes easier, group A has by far the highest EPT point total and Aligulac average if you remove the top seed of every group. Unusual to say the least to have a system that is the worst for the highest seeded player.
So I have to assume this was at least partially random draw because this arrangement doesn't seem like the result of any normal seeding system. I thought maybe they just went 1A, 2D, 3B, 4C for 5 rounds but that order doesn't hold up.
If this was full random draw (other than maybe player tiers like 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20) that's hilarious.
I quite like this format with 20 seeded spots and 4 from the round of 36. It would be exhilarating if someone from the round of 36 made it all the way to the grand finals.
Trap and Serral seem to be the 2 favorites and they both have a good group draw it seems. Group A may be the strongest because it doesn't have as much of a weak link.
Sucks for me as all 3 of my favorite players are all in Group A. RIPPPP
On February 11 2021 04:42 Waxangel wrote: Seeding 20 of the spots and picking only 4 from the open bracket (as opposed to 12-12 in previous IEMs) has really made these groups more brutal than ever.
Also while being the highest seed usually means you have the advantage that the rest of your group becomes easier, group A has by far the highest EPT point total and Aligulac average if you remove the top seed of every group. Unusual to say the least to have a system that is the worst for the highest seeded player.
So I have to assume this was at least partially random draw because this arrangement doesn't seem like the result of any normal seeding system. I thought maybe they just went 1A, 2D, 3B, 4C for 5 rounds but that order doesn't hold up.
If this was full random draw (other than maybe player tiers like 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20) that's hilarious.
Very odd indeed. Would be nice to hear from ESL on how they did this.
On February 11 2021 04:42 Waxangel wrote: Seeding 20 of the spots and picking only 4 from the open bracket (as opposed to 12-12 in previous IEMs) has really made these groups more brutal than ever.
Also while being the highest seed usually means you have the advantage that the rest of your group becomes easier, group A has by far the highest EPT point total and Aligulac average if you remove the top seed of every group. Unusual to say the least to have a system that is the worst for the highest seeded player.
So I have to assume this was at least partially random draw because this arrangement doesn't seem like the result of any normal seeding system. I thought maybe they just went 1A, 2D, 3B, 4C for 5 rounds but that order doesn't hold up.
If this was full random draw (other than maybe player tiers like 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20) that's hilarious.
Very odd indeed. Would be nice to hear from ESL on how they did this.
Given the results, it seems very likely they did use tiers: one player of each tier 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20 in each group. It's just quite unfortunate that the top players of the three first tiers (TY 1, Maru 5, Clem 9) ended in group A... Still, go go Clem!
I hope last player joinning group A will not be ByuN, as i cheer for the prophecy boy.. But at the same time i won't be able to handle the excitement such a death star group would bring
Trap won the last three events in a row but I still struggle to see him winning a big events like this. This is probably the best chance foreigners have at ever taking a Katowice.
Very nice, those are exciting groups. Serral group looks rather easy for him on the first glance, but Inno, Dark and Time all are players that gave Serral a hard time or even defeated him in the past. My bet would go to Rogue to show up once again and take it home, especially since the spotlight seems to lay on other players. Would be just that typical Rogue move to win it in the end.
Group A looks like the group of death to me. I'm hoping Maru comes back stronger than ever after his injury hiatus. The groups are all so good and can't wait to watch these games!
I think TY will top group 1 since his TvT is just a bit too big brain for the mechanical monsters in Maru and Clem. I don't think Solar or Showtime are favored against him either.
I'm hoping Serral will dominate group B, but Dark and Inno can always make a clean sweep. Still think Serral will top this group relatively easily though.
In group C at first glance I thought Reynor would take it down, but the way Trap has been performing recently is just insane. Zest has also been on fire the last few weeks, so I think depending on how well Reynor prepares for ZvP This group should go Trap>Zest>Reynor or Reynor>Trap>Zest. Excited to see how that plays out. Unfortunately I don't see Heromarine putting up much of a fight against all these Protoss and the American hero Astrea has a mountain to climb to get out of this group. We havn't seen much from him in a while so there is some potential for some excitement.
Stats should take group D with his consistent play. I'm expecting rogue to drop a series he's favored in, but still come out of the group in second.
Of course the seeded players may mix things up quite a bit, but that's where I'm at right now. What are your thoughts?
On February 12 2021 13:28 Light1082 wrote: Group A looks like the group of death to me. I'm hoping Maru comes back stronger than ever after his injury hiatus. The groups are all so good and can't wait to watch these games!
I think TY will top group 1 since his TvT is just a bit too big brain for the mechanical monsters in Maru and Clem. I don't think Solar or Showtime are favored against him either.
I'm hoping Serral will dominate group B, but Dark and Inno can always make a clean sweep. Still think Serral will top this group relatively easily though.
In group C at first glance I thought Reynor would take it down, but the way Trap has been performing recently is just insane. Zest has also been on fire the last few weeks, so I think depending on how well Reynor prepares for ZvP This group should go Trap>Zest>Reynor or Reynor>Trap>Zest. Excited to see how that plays out. Unfortunately I don't see Heromarine putting up much of a fight against all these Protoss and the American hero Astrea has a mountain to climb to get out of this group. We havn't seen much from him in a while so there is some potential for some excitement.
Stats should take group D with his consistent play. I'm expecting rogue to drop a series he's favored in, but still come out of the group in second.
Of course the seeded players may mix things up quite a bit, but that's where I'm at right now. What are your thoughts?
I pretty much agree with you.
but i think TY will have problems against Solar, cuz i think his TvZ is his weakness and Solar can performe on a very high lvl in TvZ.
In Group C i think Reynor will take 1. or 2. place. He will be prepared for Katowice, but maybe Trap oder Zest will win a bo3 against him.
In Group D i really hope the "online Cure" shows up. I think he could take Stats down, if he plays 100%. Im feeling Rogue, Cure and Parting coming out of the group. Parting will play some crazy PvPs and somehow beat Stats too.
I hope that Byun will end up in Group B or D...(if he will make it through the ro36).
On February 11 2021 04:42 Waxangel wrote: Seeding 20 of the spots and picking only 4 from the open bracket (as opposed to 12-12 in previous IEMs) has really made these groups more brutal than ever.
Also while being the highest seed usually means you have the advantage that the rest of your group becomes easier, group A has by far the highest EPT point total and Aligulac average if you remove the top seed of every group. Unusual to say the least to have a system that is the worst for the highest seeded player.
So I have to assume this was at least partially random draw because this arrangement doesn't seem like the result of any normal seeding system. I thought maybe they just went 1A, 2D, 3B, 4C for 5 rounds but that order doesn't hold up.
If this was full random draw (other than maybe player tiers like 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20) that's hilarious.
It's a bullshit draw.... like bracket rigging.... they still hate the Koreans...
On February 12 2021 13:28 Light1082 wrote: Group A looks like the group of death to me. I'm hoping Maru comes back stronger than ever after his injury hiatus. The groups are all so good and can't wait to watch these games!
I think TY will top group 1 since his TvT is just a bit too big brain for the mechanical monsters in Maru and Clem. I don't think Solar or Showtime are favored against him either.
I'm hoping Serral will dominate group B, but Dark and Inno can always make a clean sweep. Still think Serral will top this group relatively easily though.
In group C at first glance I thought Reynor would take it down, but the way Trap has been performing recently is just insane. Zest has also been on fire the last few weeks, so I think depending on how well Reynor prepares for ZvP This group should go Trap>Zest>Reynor or Reynor>Trap>Zest. Excited to see how that plays out. Unfortunately I don't see Heromarine putting up much of a fight against all these Protoss and the American hero Astrea has a mountain to climb to get out of this group. We havn't seen much from him in a while so there is some potential for some excitement.
Stats should take group D with his consistent play. I'm expecting rogue to drop a series he's favored in, but still come out of the group in second.
Of course the seeded players may mix things up quite a bit, but that's where I'm at right now. What are your thoughts?
I pretty much agree with you.
but i think TY will have problems against Solar, cuz i think his TvZ is his weakness and Solar can performe on a very high lvl in TvZ..
TY's biggest weakness is definitely TvP. I've seen him struggle against clearly weaker Protosses than Showtime recently.
On February 12 2021 22:42 deacon.frost wrote: To get this clear, group A has the top player of each row except Dark?
Also group A has total 10k EPT points while B, C and D have 8,8k, 9,3k and 9,2k? And the average is way off as well.
I would really love to know how this happened.
I have the scary feeling that ByuN will somehow end up in group A as well... Maybe they had no choice having a group with more EPT points than the rest with the row thing, and it ended up being this group. Of the top 3 players from EU, Clem will have the hardest time to shine: he better hopes Maru is still not at his top, because TY seems to have his number and Solar/ShoWTimE are no slouch. Reynor should qualify comfortably independently of the top protoss performances (Zest / Trap), because he is a bit above HeroMarine / Astrea. Serral will probably top his group or at worse be top 3 as well.
I'm surprised by the faith in Reynor, He performs poorly for quite some time now (for his standards), don't see him topping the group easily, maybe not even 1-3 place If he is not stepping it up.
On February 12 2021 22:42 deacon.frost wrote: To get this clear, group A has the top player of each row except Dark?
Also group A has total 10k EPT points while B, C and D have 8,8k, 9,3k and 9,2k? And the average is way off as well.
I would really love to know how this happened.
I have the scary feeling that ByuN will somehow end up in group A as well... Maybe they had no choice having a group with more EPT points than the rest with the row thing, and it ended up being this group. Of the top 3 players from EU, Clem will have the hardest time to shine: he better hopes Maru is still not at his top, because TY seems to have his number and Solar/ShoWTimE are no slouch. Reynor should qualify comfortably independently of the top protoss performances (Zest / Trap), because he is a bit above HeroMarine / Astrea. Serral will probably top his group or at worse be top 3 as well.
I have the same feeling. To the EPT point thingy - it wouldn't kill them to record the creation of the groups and place it on youtube. It doesn't have to be fancy or anything special.
On February 16 2021 16:07 Akio wrote: Name an international tournament where Serral and INnoVation aren't initially in the same group
The WESG that INno won (2018 but played in 2019). They met in the finals though! But indeed they meet often in groups, at IEM probably 2019 or 2020 already, and many other tournaments. TIME is also quite unlucky with Serral, meeting him at BlizzCon and probably other tournaments.
EPT
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/Katowice2021/katowicero24groups.jpg)
