The first two teams have been decided for the IEM Katowice closed qualifier, by winning in the EU open qualifier.
The open qualifier, which featured sixteen teams, took place on January 16th and 17th, granting the two top placing teams the opportunity to play in the closed qualifier, which till take place on February 4th and 5th.
The open qualifier kicked off with a best-of-one, single elimination group stage, where eight teams moved on to the quarter finals. The quarters continued with the same format as the group stage, but with four teams moving on when they were finished; after the quarters, the four teams in the semi-finals played in best-of-three matches, where the winners would move on to the closed qualifier.
The first of the semis was played out between GODSENT and MK, with the Swedes triumphing with two maps to one; the first two maps were close, but the final map was domination from GODSENT, taking it 16-1.
The second semi-final was played between Heroic and Outlaws, also ending with a two to one score line. The first map was a narrow victory for Outlaws, taking it 16-14, but the Danes came back, smashing the Bulgarians 16-5. However, the final map of the series came down to a full 30 rounds, in very similar fashion to the first map, except that Heroic took the victory, thus moving on to the closed qualifier in February.
GODSENT and Heroic are the first two teams to be confirmed for the closed European qualifier, where four will be invited and two more will qualify on February 1st and 2nd.
Headline image: IEM twitter
