League of Legends Intel Extreme Masters World Championship will be another chance for the North American teams to prove themselves on the international stage. Having done poorly at Worlds and failing to win at IEM San Jose and Cologne, the North American scene is looking at Team SoloMid and Counter logic Gaming to take a stance in Katowice.

Team SoloMid

Team SoloMid are the reigning Intel Extreme Masters World Champions and are returning to Katowice to defend their title. The team underwent significant roster changes since their win on Polish soil. After 2015 Worlds and before the beginning of Summer 2016 Split, Dyrus, Santorin and Lustboy left the roster. They were replaced by Hauntzer, Svenskeren and kaSing respectively with kaSing having ultimately been replaced by the star support, Yellowstar. TSM’s ADC, WildTurtle, on the other hand has been replaced by CLG’s star player, Doublelift.

The team has been performing inconsistently in the NA LCS, orbiting around the middle of the standings, currently sitting at fourth place with 8 wins and 6 losses. Their first matchup in Katowice will be the South Korean wonder, ESC Ever who emerged victorious at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne.

Counter Logic Gaming

Counter Logic Gaming also underwent some significant roster changes, biggest one being the departure of Doublelift, the team’s AD Carry. He was replaced by Stixxay who was initially announced just for Intel Extreme Masters San Jose but earned a spot in the regular roster for 2016. The team’s second change was changing the starting midlaner from Pobelter to Huhi.

CLG has been doing well in the North American LCS, sitting at second place with ten wins and four losses. They won their last four matches, including their matchup against Immortals who have not lost a game until last Saturday. CLG is looking stronger than TSM however, they will have a very difficult start to the tournament as their first matchup will be against reigning World Champions, SKT T1.

The games begin this Friday!

The League of Legends Intel Extreme Masters World Championship action begins this Friday at 12:00 CET. Be sure to tune in online or join us at the IEM Expo in person - entry is free of charge.

For all important information about the event, including schedule and brackets, visit the Intel Extreme Masters official website, as well as follow IEM on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.