Industry leading esports event operator, ESL, have recently announced the teams invited for IEM Sydney 2023. The tournament is scheduled in October of 2023 where there are still several qualifiers to take place to determine the final teams that will be participating at the event.
It has recently been confirmed that IEM Sydney 2023 is going to be played on the recently released CS2. It is going to be one of the first Counter-Strike 2 LAN’s taking place which will make it a big deal to the whole community to see who comes out on top. In addition to this, anyone who is an avid Counter-Strike bettor is going to need this information to shape their strategy!
IEM Sydney Schedule
Dates:
- October 16th to 22nd
This event taking place late in the year will make it one of the last sizable Counter-Strike tournaments in 2023.
Invited Teams
8 teams of the 11 total invites will be from the top 10 ESL world rankings. They will be among the privileged few to make it to the first international CSGO or CS2 event hosted in Australia since 2019. There is also one invite reserved for local favourites.
See the full list of invited teams and reasons below:
- Team Vitality (ESL Partner Team)
- ENCE (ESL Partner Team)
- FaZe Clan (ESL Partner Team)
- G2 Esports (ESL Partner Team)
- Natus Vincere (ESL Partner Team)
- MOUZ (ESL Partner Team)
- Cloud9 (ESL World Ranking)
- GamerLegion (ESL World Ranking)
- Monte (ESL World Ranking)
- Fnatic (ESL World Ranking)
- Grayhound Gaming (Local Hero Invite)
- Apeks (European Qualifer)
- BetBoom Team (European Qualifier)
- Complexity Gaming (North American Qualifer)
- Lynn Vision Gaming (Asian Qualifier)
- VERTEX Esports Club (Oceanic Qualifier)
Some news that comes as a bit of a shock is that two of the leading Danish teams – Heroic (ranked 1st globally) and Astralis (ranked 6th) have decided not to attend the event. Although despite this the recent victors like IEM Cologne’s G2 Esports, BLAST.tv Paris Major’s Team Vitality, and ESL Pro League Season 17’s FaZe Clan have all confirmed their participation.
As you can see at the bottom of the list too, any time who has missed out on an invite has a chance to qualify through the regional qualifiers.
IEM Sydney Prize Pool
Intel Extreme Masters Sydney will boast a $250,000, the same as it had in 2019. See a full breakdown below.
- Total Prize Pool: $250,000
- 1st: $100,000 & IEM Katowice 2024 Invite
- 2nd: $42,000
- 3rd-4th: $20,000
- 5th-6th: $10,000
- 7th-8th: $6,000
- 9th-12th: $5,000
- 13th-16th: $4,000
IEM Sydney Event Format
There will be 2 phases to IEM Sydney 2023. A combination of Double Elimination Groups and Single Elimination.
Phase 1 – Groups Format
The 16 confirmed teams will be split into 2 groups of 8. Each group will play a double elimination system with the top 3 of each group making it to the Playoffs.
Group A
One of the early surprises of group A was seeing BetBoom Team taking the win against Team Vitality. This eventually led to Vitality also losing against FaZe Clan in the lower bracket, ending their long run of top 8 finishes at LAN events. Of course with Na’Vi missing s1mple at IEM Sydney, it was expected to see them get knocked out eventually. They did well to get a win versus Apeks and a map from MOUZ. Eventually they got taken down by FaZe Clan in the lower bracket, but certainly went down with a fight.
The teams from group A to make it to the playoffs are:
- MOUZ (direct to semifinals)
- BetBoom Team
- FaZe Clan
Group B
Unfortunately the home-town-heroes Grayhound got eliminated early in the competition. They had a good performance versus G2 Esports and Monte, but over all was not enough to get a match victory. Certainly fewer surprises in group B compared to group A. If anything was a surprise it was probably seeing Cloud9 get punished quite early on by Complexity.
The teams from group B qualifying to the playoffs are:
- G2 Esports (direct to semifinals)
- ENCE
- Complexity
Phase 2 – Playoffs
The winners of Group A and B will make it directly to the semi finals while the next 2 teams of each group will play a quarter final match. It will pay to win your group to guarantee a top 4 place at Intel Extreme Masters Sydney!
There are some exciting matches remaining in IEM Sydney 2023. BetBoom Team versus Complexity is already quite a surprising matchup at this stage of the tournament. Both teams have been under scrutiny. But, one of these teams has a guaranteed top 4 finishes where they would play against G2 Esports for a chance at the grand final. On the other side of the bracket there are some heavy hitters with ENCE going against FaZe Clan. This match is definitely very close to call. MOUZ have looked great so far in CS2.
The teams looking to strongest to take victory are certainly G2 and MOUZ. However, a lot has to be said for the momentum of FaZe Clan and BetBoom Team. Matches begin again on the 20th October, don’t miss it!
Where to Watch
You will be able to watch IEM Sydney on ESL’s Twitch channel.
- English Stream – Twitch
Despite missing 2 highly ranked global teams, IEM Sydney is already set to be an enormously exciting event.
If you’re an esports betting enthusiast and a Counter-Strike fan then this will be a great tournament to get involved in. It promises to have some excellent prematch and in-play offerings. If you’re unsure yet where to place your bets then make sure to examine the best esports betting sites to find what works best for you. If you’re looking for a new platform to bet on then it’s definitely worth checking out what welcome bonuses are available too.
Remember, if you plan on placing bets on IEM Sydney – make sure you only bet with what you can afford to lose.
