The IEM tournament gives our first peak at new Misfits and Rogue and is another opportunity at creating cross regions rivalries.
The Intel Extreme Masters Gyeonggi tournament is set to take place in Gyeonggi South Korea from the 16th-18th of December, and it is yet another $100k event that will close out this year.
The casting talent has been announced, which is more important than it would seem. Those who will be watching for the first time will need to have the right people explaining what is going on in this hectic fast paced game. For that reason it is imperative that the casters know what the teams are doing and can explain it in an easy to understand way. Or as Reddit would say: ELI5.
The bracket has also been announced, and we have some great matchups to look forward to. Two teams have gone through to the semi-finals via seeding whereas the other two will have to win their way there. Rogue and Afreeca Blue are guaranteed semi final berths, thanks to their earlier achievements in Asia. Misfits and Lunatic Hai will face off against each other, while LW Red battles Kongdoo Panthera to get into the second semi.
This tournament will give us the chance to see the new Rogue and Misfits line ups, since the massive trade that shook the Overwatch world. For more on the new Rogue and Misfits team check out our article on it. Unlike the MLG tournament in Vegas coming up, IEM Gyeonggi will feature a map pick and ban process. Taking a note out of the CS:GO book, it has outright banned certain maps (Volskaya, Eichenwalde, Numbani, and Nepal). All other maps can be banned out and/or picked.
The event will be streamed on the ESL Twitch and as news comes out about the event we will update our event page.
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