With the qualifiers done and dusted, we now know the final five teams who’ll be completing the eight-team lineup for the Intel Challenge Katowice 2016. This is the second year in a row that Intel and ESL have hosted the Intel Challenge as part of Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, and this year a US$30,000 prize pool is on the line for these top women’s CS:GO teams – let’s meet them!
Qualified teams
The following teams qualified for the Intel Challenge Katowice 2016:
• EXERTUS (Europe) – A long-standing team whose lineup includes several players from CM Storm, who took second place at the 2015 Intel Challenge
• Millenium (Europe) – Relative newcomers to the scene, the Millenium lineup picked up some wins last year while playing under Melty eSports Club
• Team Karma (North America) – A veteran American team who achieved high placements in global women’s tournaments during 2015
• Santos.Dexterity (Latin America) – Promising newcomers who are hoping to bring the title home to Brazil
• Elysium (Asia) – A strong team from China who are eager to prove themselves on an international stage
Invited teams
The above teams will be joining the following invitees at the competition in Katowice:
• WRTP (Europe) – WRTP, formerly Games4U, has three Intel Challenge Katowice 2015 champions from Bad Monkey Gaming as part of its lineup, and is led by captain Julia “Juliano” Kiran
• Team ACER (Europe) – Headed up by Laura “NSTY” Déjou, Team ACER has been a staple of the scene for some time now and were also the 2014 World Champions
• CLG Red (North America) – CS:GO veterans and former World Champions led by Christine “Potter” Chi who previously played under the UBINITED banner
Get ready for the main event!
The Intel Challenge Katowice 2016 will see eight top CS:GO teams from around the world compete for a US$30,000 prize pool from 4th to the 6th of March. The group stage matches will be played onsite, while the playoffs will take place on the IEM Expo Stage on Sunday the 6th of March as well as being streamed live on Twitch.
For all the latest updates about the event, make sure to check out the official Intel Extreme Masters website and follow IEM on Facebook and Twitter.