The IEM Chicago 2018 is where all the Counter-Strike action takes place marking another North American CS: GO event. The tournament will kick off on the 6th November with the Group Stages and then to the playoffs from the 9th until 11th November 2018. The gaming tournament will feature 16 esports teams going head to head to compete for a grand prize pool of $250K.
The IEM Chicago is a part of the Intel Grand Slam that gives opportunity to top esports teams to work and train for the upcoming tournaments. The more victories the units achieve of winning the esports titles the greater chance of scooping a whopping $1 million cash prize. At the moment Faze Clan are on top with three wins while Astralis are second runner-ups.
Travelling to the esports tournament, IEM Chicago gives you the opportunity to see the beautiful place of Chicago. A few things worth seeing are the lovely gardens of the Millenium Park and the John Hancock Center for the spectacular views of the Chicago skyline of skyscrapers.
You have the possibility to watch your favourite esports teams compete their best fighting tactics at IEM Chicago on our tournament page or one of our partner sites that offer live streaming. The coverage can also be handy to guide you into making your informed decisions to bet on CS: GO teams. The Intel Extreme Masters event in Chicago marks the 73rd IEM esports event, a celebration of all that is competitive gaming at the Wintrust Arena.
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament will start off with the Group Stages where two groups will have eight teams. The games in the groups will be played in a two double elimination format, where the winners will progress to the Semifinals while the runner-ups and third placed units will also advance to the Playoffs of the IEM Chicago.
The main event of the Intel Extreme Masters Chicago will commence on the 9th November in a Single elimination bracket where the top six Counter-Strike teams will compete for their chance to win the first cash prize of $100k.
The top ten Counter-Strike teams that received a direct invitation from ESL include Astralis, BIG, Faze Clan, Fnatic, MIBR, Mousesports, Natus Vincere, Renegades, NRG Esports and Team Liquid. Five units went through the regional qualifying matches, these include Avangar, North, eUnited, MVP PK and Luminosity Gaming. The sixth CS squad Team LDLC.com were the winners of the GG.Bet Shuffle, beating Optic in the Grand Final to acquire their spot at the IEM Chicago.
Some Top Contenders at IEM Chicago 2018
Team Liquid
After Epitacio ‘Taco’ De Melo joined Team Liquid, they dropped from the top 5 world rankings back in April. They gradually built up their strength to make it towards four Grand Finals to finish in second place at ESL One New York 2018, Eleague CSGO Premier 2018, ECS Season 5 Finals and ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals. Over the past few months, Liquid have struggled to win esports tournaments, closing the final matches to finish in second place. Going into IEM Chicago Team Liquid hope to break the curse and finally win a CSGO premier.
BIG
The German Counter-Strike team, Berlin International Gaming have had a hit and miss in several esports tournaments. The unit managed to achieve second place at ESL One Cologne 2018 and from then on BIG became a top team to follow with winning potential. However, at the FACEIT Major London and Starseries & i-League CSGO Season 6 they returned to their usual form finishing between 5-8th place. Recently, BIG finished in third at the CS Summit 3 and so gaming fans started to see hope. Will they continue to break new records at IEM Chicago?
Fnatic
In the recent CSGO match ESL One New York 2018, Fnatic did not do so great due to the change of players. In fact, results at the FACEIT Major, DreamHack Stockholm, Eleague CSGO Premier and ESL One Cologne 2018 seem like FNC are on a losing streak. Despite this there have been a few occasions where the unit came out the winners at the WESG 2017 and Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2018, a surprise for all CSGO fans. Competing in IEM Chicago, will Fnatic improve their gameplays and break the curse?
North
The Danish Counter-Strike team North are among the top ten in the worlds CSGO rankings. The squad have accomplished a few great wins some of which include DreamHack Masters Stockholm beating the top team Astralis and at DreamHack Valencia the unit outplayed Luminosity. North have shown their might in tournaments and have the potential to upset their opponents at IEM Chicago?
