This year’s Intel Extreme Master World Championship in Katowice is promising to be an amazing event. Sixteen world-class StarCraft II players will assemble at the Spodek arena from March the 12th to the 15th and the round of 16 is completely stacked with talent. You can read up on all the vital information, schedule and the players below in preparation for the four-day StarCraft II extravaganza!
Key information
Here’s a summary of all the essential information.
- Where? The Spodek Arena, Katowice
- When? March the 12th to the 15th 2015
- Homepage: http://intelextrememasters.com/season9/worldchampionship/
- Schedule: http://intelextrememasters.com/worldchampionship/Schedule
- Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/esl_sc2
- The world’s best 16 StarCraft II players clash at the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship in Katowice on their hunt for the prestigious World Championship trophy and their share of a US$116,707 prize pool
Participating players
The Intel Extreme Masters tournament winners from Season 9 are ready to add to their collection. Facing them are their respective finals opponents as well as eight talented players who came up through the open qualifier. Who can take it all?
Race: Protoss | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM San Jose winner
Race: Terran | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM Shenzhen winner
Race: Terran | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM Toronto winner
Race: Zerg | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM Taipei winner
- Zest
Race: Protoss | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM Toronto 2nd place
Race: Protoss | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM San Jose 2nd place
- Maru
Race: Terran | | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM Taipei 2nd place
Race: Zerg | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: IEM Shenzhen 2nd place
- BByong
Race: Terran | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
Race: Protoss | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
Race: Terran | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
Race: Zerg | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
Race: Terran | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
- Trap
Race: Protoss | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
Race: Zerg | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
- Cure
Race: Terran | Nationality: Korean | Qualifier: Online qualifiers
You can find the bracket overview here.
Talent lineup
Once again we have assembled the most knowledgeable and exciting StarCraft II hosts, commentators and analysts to cover the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship live from Katowice.
Your talent lineup is as follows:
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- Host: Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner
- Commentator: Shaun “Apollo” Clark
- Commentator: James “Kaelaris” Carrol
- Commentator: Yoan “ToD” Merlo
- Commentator: Leigh “Maynarde” Mandalov
- Analyst: Dan “Frodan” Chou
- Analyst: Geoff “Incontrol” Robinson
- Analyst: Kevin “Rotterdam” van der Kooi
- Translator: Susie “Lilsusie” Kim
- Observer: Alexandre “Funka” Verrier
Full schedule
Four days of non-stop StarCraft II action are almost upon us. Here’s the full World Championship schedule:
Round of 16 (Thursday and Friday, March 12th to 13th 2015)
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- 13:00 to 20:00 CET each day: Round of 16 matches
Quarterfinals and semifinals (Saturday, March 14th 2015)
- 13:00 to 19:00 CET: Quarterfinal matches
- 19:00 to 22:00 CET: Semifinal matches
Grand finals (Sunday, March 15th 2015)
- Starting at 16:00 CET: Grand finals
Check out the detailed schedule here.
Prize pool distribution
A lot of money is a stake in Katowice this year thanks to a record-setting US$116,707 prize pool. The prize distribution is handled as follows:
| 1st | US$67,707 |
| 2nd | US$15,000 |
| 3rd-4th | US$7,000 |
| 5th-8th | US$3,000 |
| 9th-16th | US$1,000 |
ESL Fantasy
While the players compete, you can as well! Join the official ESL Fantasy league for your chance to win awesome prizes or open a private league to square off against your friends and colleagues. Our ESL Fantasy overview has everything you need to know about our StarCraft II fantasy leagues.
Build your ESL Fantasy team right here!
Social media
The fastest way to get information and stay up to date is via social media, and we’ve got you covered!
- Official Intel Extreme Masters Facebook page
- Official Intel Extreme Masters Twitter account
- Official ESL Facebook page
- Official ESL Twitter account
- Official Intel Extreme Masters Katowice hashtag: #IEM
You can also find all the players’ Twitter accounts in the player section above.
Tune in from March the 12th at 13:00 CET!
Stay tuned for our League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive survival guides, which will be being released in the coming days!
