The full 24-team field for the $1 million Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event was confirmed on Monday.
IEM Cologne runs from July 26 to Aug. 6 in Cologne, Germany, with a top prize of $400,000.
Four top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams qualified directly to the group stage: G2 Esports (IEM Katowice winner), FaZe Clan (EPL Season 17 winner), ENCE (IEM Dallas winner) and Team Vitality (IEM Rio winner).
Four others qualified for the group stage based on their ESL World Ranking: HEROIC, Cloud9, Natus Vincere and GamerLegion.
The other 16 teams will start off in the play-in stage: MOUZ, Apeks, 9INE, FURIA Esports, Team Liquid, Imperial Sportsbet, The MongolZ, GRAYHOUND, fnatic, paiN Gaming, Monte, Ninjas in Pyjamas, FORZE, Astralis, Into The Breach and BIG Academy.
The July 25-26 play-in stage features a double-elimination bracket. Opening matches are best-of-one and the remaining matches are best-of-three. The top eight teams advance to the group stage.
The July 27-30 group stage will have two double-elimination groups of eight teams each. All matches are best-of-three and the top three teams from each group advance to the playoffs.
The Aug. 4-6 playoff bracket is a single-elimination format. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final. In addition to the $400,000 prize, the winner also receives 3,000 BLAST Premier points and directly qualifies for IEM Katowice 2024.
–Field Level Media