Following the ESL One Cologne held in Europe, professional gamers will head to North America for the IEM Chicago. A CSGO tournament that will be held between the 18th till 21st July at the United Center in Chicago. The best eight units will be facing off each other in the hopes of winning the highest prize from for the total prize pool of $250K.
This year’s IEM Chicago is the second esports tournament organized in the same city by the Electronic Sports League. The CSGO major will be a fierce battle between the longest rivals of North America vs Europe. On top of this, it is not easy to predict who is the best as all units deserve to win – being among the top 10 world rankings. Get ready to set your eyes on the CSGO Clash at the IEM Chicago 2019.
What Happened at IEM Chicago 2018?
The first edition of the IEM Chicago 2018 was quite a success. All CSGO fans witnessed Astralis and Team Liquid reach the Grand Finals. An action-packed match that saw the Danes beat TL in three maps Mirage, Nuke and Inferno to seal the winning score with an unbeatable 3-0.
IEM Chicago Tournament Schedule
The CSGO Major will kick off with the Group stages that will take place over the 18th – 19th July. Two groups of four CS teams where matches will be a best-of-3 and will consist of two double eliminations. The top two units from each group will progress to the Playoffs.
The main event will feature the Playoffs that will take place on the 20th and 21st July. This stage will be a single-elimination bracket where the Semifinals will be a best-of-3 while the Grand Finals will be best-of-5. The winner of the IEM Chicago will take home the highest prize of $125K and the trophy.
European CSGO Teams invited to IEM Chicago 2019
Team Vitality
The French Vitality team is among the top four CS teams in the world, becoming a favourite in the CSGO scene. The most significant accomplishment this year has to be the premier Esports Championship Series Season 7 – Finals when Ence beat Furia 2-0 to take home a grand prize of $225K. Other notable CSGO Major wins include CS Summit 4 beating Team Liquid 2-0 and at Charleroi Esports 2019 defeating Sprout 2-0 in the finals. These results show that their gaming performance takes passion and dedication as well as the will to be among the top tier teams in the world. At this point, it is hard to predict how Team Vitality will fare even though they are favourites. To get an idea, you can follow the ESL One Cologne to make a better predict ahead of IEM Chicago.
Ence
The Finnish team of Ence Esports are competing for the European region at the IEM Chicago. The squad established itself in April 2013 and have strived to make a presence in the CSGO scene. Finally, after so much hard work, Ence made it, placing among the top three Counter-Strike teams in the world.
Looking at the results in 2019, Ence has reached the Grand Finals four times. The squad finished in second place at DreamHack Masters Dallas and the IEM Katowice. Some other high placings led the team to conclude in the Semi-finals at the CS Summit 4, and the Blast Pro Series Sao Paulo. The Blast Pro Series Madrid, Ence defeated the best CS team at the time Astralis, taking the CSGO Major title. This Finnish team have shown their gaming potential and have since become favourites at several esports tournaments.
North American Top CSGO Teams at IEM Chicago 2019
MIBR
Made in Brazil is currently the 10th top team in the CSGO scene, a favourite among the South American esports fans. Although they have great potential, they lag implementing the best winning strategies in the game. However, it is essential to note that MIBR, formerly known as SK Gaming that was the top CS team in the world between 2016 and 2017.
A lot can happen until the upcoming IEM Chicago takes place. The ESL One Cologne, a CSGO tournament to which MIBR received an invitation to attend. Statistically, a team like MIBR is likely to reach the Semi-Finals or perhaps if tables turn for the worse they may rank between 7th to 8th place.
Team Liquid
The current best CSGO team in the world is Team Liquid. They managed to surpass Astralis who stepped down to second place in the worlds CSGO rankings of HLTV.org. This year so far, Liquid has competed in six Grand Finals. Three competitions the squad managed to finish in second at CS_Summit 4, Blast Pro Series Miami 2019 and BPS Sao Paulo. Three other tournaments, Liquid won the iBuypower Masters IV to beat Astralis 2-1; at IEM Sydney 2019 outplaying Fnatic 3-2 and the latest DreamHack Masters Dallas to defeat Ence 2-1, taking home a grand cash prize of $100K.
If Liquid keeps up their outstanding Counter-Strike performances, they will be the top tier team for the next couple of months. However, there is also a risk that the European teams could catch up to the playoffs. For the moment, it is safe to say that June to July is the Liquid era.
