Format and participants list for IEM Cologne announced

ESL has revealed more details on the IEM Gamescom CS:GO tournament which will feature a $85,000 prize pool.

Two months ago ESL announced that Counter-Strike will make a return to Intel Extreme Masters series after being left out for three seasons. Today they have revealed more details including a whole new format and participants list.

The tournament type is set to invitational which means that all six teams will get a direct invites. These teams will then play in a whole new and unique format:

 

• Each team is granted four lives For every game lost, teams lose a life
• For every game won, teams will get to choose which two teams play each other next
• Map choices will be made via community participation
• The tournament continues until there is only one team with lives left

 

We are very proud of our Counter-Strike legacy, so it was a great pleasure to reintroduce this franchise to the Intel Extreme Masters. This showcase format will hopefully be a great one-time warmup for the rest of what’s to come this season.” - said Michal Blicharz, managing director of Pro gaming at ESL.

The six invited teams are:
Team Solomid
Renegades
Team EnVyUs
Counter Logic Gaming
mousesports
SK Gaming

Moreover, ESL has also announced that the future IEM events in San Jose and Katowice will also feature Counter-Strike:Global Offensive as one of the official titles.

Source: Link