Ahead of the Season 8 World Championship in Katowice, Poland, Intel Extreme Masters stops off in Sao Paulo, Brazil to see how the best players in the region square off against some of the best StarCraft II players in the world. Competition kicks off on Wednesday as the Brazilians face off against one another, with Group Matches and Playoffs starting on Thursday.
The competition will certainly be tough for the Brazillians that make it through to the Group Stages. After yesterday's announcement that the IEM Grand Finals in Katowice, Poland will be a
Winner Takes All US$100,000 tournament with IEM winners earning themselves automatic all-expenses-paid ticket to the venue, the stakes for players at Sao Paulo have been raised.
Season 2 WCS 2013 Champion, Choi "Bomber" Ji Sung, (who finished 3rd/4th at the WCS 2013 Global Finals) will be in attendance and looking to make a splash, whilst IEM Singapore Champion, Kim "herO" Joon Ho, can relax somewhat knowing his ticket to Katowice has already been secured. - Although could he be the first IEM Champion to win back-to-back titles?
Raising a few eyebrows over in Europe is Irish national, Alex "ABomB" Thoms, who kicked out the likes of Grzegorz "MaNa" Komincz in the WCS Wildcard qualifiers, making it through to WCS whilst Koreans (Revenge, First and TAiLS) fell short. Could this Season's IEM Sao Paulo be a tale of the underdog?
Catch all the action live over at ESL TV when competition kicks off on Thursday 30th January. For now, take a look at the StarCraft II IEM Sao Paulo Schedule:
IEM Sao Paulo - StarCraft II Schedule
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Wednesday, 29/01/14
29.01.14 14:00 CET Open Bracket 1 - Winners Bracket Semi Finals
29.01.14 15:00 CET Open Bracket 1 - Losers Bracket Semi Finals
29.01.14 16:00 CET Open Bracket 1 - Winners Bracket Finals
29.01.14 18:00 CET Open Bracket 1 - Losers Bracket Finals
29.01.14 19:00 CET Open Bracket 2 - Winners Bracket Semi Finals
29.01.14 20:00 CET Open Bracket 2 - Losers Bracket Semi Finals
29.01.14 21:00 CET Open Bracket 2 - Winners Bracket Finals
29.01.14 23:00 CET Open Bracket 2 - Losers Bracket Finals
Thursday, 30/01/14
30.01.14 13:00 CET Group A - Jjakji vs. WM 
30.01.14 14:00 CET Group A - puCK vs. Bomber 
30.01.14 15:00 CET Group A - Jjakji vs. Bomber 
30.01.14 16:00 CET Group A - WM vs. puCK 
30.01.14 17:15 CET Group A - Jjakji vs. puCK 
30.01.14 18:15 CET Group B - TLO vs. Shakti 
30.01.14 19:15 CET Group B - hellokitty vs. MC 
30.01.14 20:30 CET Group B - TLO vs. MC 
30.01.14 21:35 CET Group B - Shakti vs. hellokitty 
30.01.14 23:00 CET Group B - Shakti vs. TLO 
Friday, 31/01/14
31.01.14 13:00 CET Group C - herO vs. Kelazhur 
31.01.14 13:00 CET Group C.__ - Polt vs. Tunico 
31.01.14 14:00 CET Group C - herO vs. Polt 
31.01.14 15:00 CET Group C - Kelazhur vs. Tunico 
31.01.14 16:00 CET Group C - herO vs. Kelazhur 
31.01.14 17:00 CET Group D - Bbyong vs. trOt
31.01.14 13:00 CET Group C.__ - MajOr vs. AbomB 
31.01.14 18:00 CET Group D - Bbyong vs. MajOr
31.01.14 19:00 CET Group D - AbomB vs. trOt 
31.01.14 20:00 CET Group D - AbomB vs. Bbyong 
31.01.14 21:00 CET Quarter Final #1: Jjakji vs. Polt 
31.01.14 22:00 CET Quarter Final #2: MC vs. ABomB 
Saturday, 01/02/14
01.02.14 13:00 CET Quarter Final #3: MajOr vs. herO 
01.02.14 14:25 CET Quarter Final #4: TLO vs. Bomber 
01.02.14 15:50 CET Semi Final #1: MC vs. Jjakji 
01.02.14 17:15 CET Semi Final #2: herO vs. TLO 
01.02.14 19:00 CET Grand Final: MC vs. herO  |
Led by ESL TV host Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner, the casters for the IEM Sao Paulo event will include WCS Europe regulars Shaun "Apollo" Clark and James "Kaelaris" Carrol. French professional Protoss player, Yoan "ToD" Merlo, will join the British duo in providing in-depth colour commentary, whilst Dutch commentator and ex-professional player, Kevin "RotterdaM" van der Kooi, returns for yet another IEM event.