2023 is almost over, meaning that fans are focusing on the IEM Katowice 2024, the first CS2 tournament of 2024. Let’s learn more about the teams.
After waiting for the qualifiers to come to an end, we finally know the names of all teams that will take part in the IEM Katowice 2024. This will be the first big CS2 event of 2024, and it will take place near the end of January. Speaking of the new year, our 2024 wishlist contains a lot of things we hope to see, so definitely check it out if you are interested in seeing some of the potential changes we may have access to.
Aside from the new tournaments, 2024 will be very important because January 1 is when Valve will stop supporting CS:GO. In other words, people who want to play the previous version of their favorite game have to do that in the next couple of days. Players will be able to access it even after the date, but the devs won’t be working on anything, which means there is a good chance there will be issues.
With that out of the way, let’s focus on IEM Katowice 2024 and learn more about the teams that will take part in this competition.
IEM Katowice 2024 – Overview
THE HALL OF HEROES.
THE CATHEDRAL OF COUNTER-STRIKE.#IEM Katowice & #IEM Cologne are returning in 2024. pic.twitter.com/syLkx27GNI
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 21, 2023
What’s interesting about this tournament is that it will have a jaw-dropping reward of $1,000,000. IEM Katowice 2024 is organized by ESL and it will take place in Katowice, Poland. The event starts on January 31 and will end on February 11. During that time, we will see a total of 24 teams.
Naturally, the tournament will include the best in the world, so here is the name of every squad that will be a part of it:
- G2 Esports
- MOUZ
- FaZe Clan
- Team Vitality
- Complexity Gaming
- Natus Vincere
- Monte
- Team Falcons
- PALOMA
- Cloud9
- Virtus.Pro
- Heroic
- The MongolZ
- Rooster
- M80
- FURIA Esports
- BIG
- GamerLegion
- Astralis
- Apeks
- BetBoom Team
- ENCE
- Team Spirit
- Eternal Fire
The team that wins this tournament will receive a total of $400,000. Moreover, the squad will get a slot for IEM Cologne 2024, as well as the BLAST Premier World Final. These two tournaments will take place later in 2024.
Judging by the names that will play at IEM Katowice 2024, we can see that some of them have way bigger chances of winning than others. Since the CS2 betting sites will allow people to wager on this competition, a lot of them are interested in learning more about which names to focus on. So, let’s see some of the best options.
Team Vitality
If you take a look at our list of the top CS2 teams of 2023, you can see that Team Vitality came second. However, a lot of other people consider this the best team in the world right now, so it’s safe to say that it is the big favorite to win the IEM Katowice 2024.
Team Vitality is one of the CS2 squads capable of upsetting any enemy. We’ve seen it time and time again, the team knows how to play on every map and has unique strategies that others find hard to deal with. No wonder TV will be one of the favorites to win this competition if you take a look at the different online betting platforms.
FaZe Clan
Considering FaZe Clan’s amazing results and the fact that we think it was the best CS2 team of 2023, we also believe it is one of the big favorites to lift the trophy at IEM Katowice 2024.
Interestingly, FaZe Clan did not perform that well during IEM Katowice 2023. The team was unable to reach the final stage of the event after losing to Team Liquid. Thankfully, the team has improved a lot since then, so we think that it has a real chance of winning.
G2 Esports
Although the last couple of months have not been that good for G2 Esports, we can’t deny that it is one of the big favorites to win IEM Katowice 2024. The team’s last big victory was during IEM Cologne 2023, but what’s interesting was that G2 Esports won the 2023 version of IEM Katowice. In other words, it is the defending champion, and it will try to reclaim its throne.
Natus Vincere
The last CS2 team that we think has a fairly good chance to win IEM Katowice 2024 is Natus Vincere. Even though s1mple is no longer a part of the team and Na’Vi does not seem to be on the same level as the other big European teams, we believe it can lift the trophy in Katowice.
After watching the team in its last couple of matches, we can see a massive improvement. 2023 was one of the worst years for the Ukranian organization, but fans believe that 2024 will be one of the best yet, so it will be fascinating to see what’s going to happen.
Closing Thoughts
Regardless of who wins IEM Katowice 2024, one thing is certain – this tournament will be worth watching. It is one of the many awesome CS2 events we will have access to in 2024, so follow ESTNN for more information about them. Those if you who want to put their betting luck to the test can find some of the top-tier CS2 betting websites that will allow you to wager on this, as well as many other events.