Global InformationIEM Katowice Major 2019 information
| 2019 | |
 The Intel Extreme Masters logo | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Location | Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland |
| Dates | February 13–March 3, 2019 |
| Administrator | Valve ESL |
Tournament format(s) | Two 16 team swiss-system group stages
8 team single-elimination playoff |
| Venue | ESL Arena Katowice MCK [pl] Spodek |
| Teams | 24 teams |
| Purse | $1,000,000 USD |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Astralis (3rd title) |
| 1st runners-up | ENCE |
| 2nd runners-up | MIBR Natus Vincere |
| MVP | Emil "Magisk" Reif |
The Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – Katowice Major 2019, also known as IEM Katowice Major 2019 or Katowice 2019, was the fourteenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and the world championship for the thirteenth season of the Intel Extreme Masters. It was held in Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland from February 13 – March 3, 2019.[1] Fourteen teams would qualify for the IEM Katowice Major 2019 based on their top fourteen placements from the last Major, the FACEIT Major: London 2018, while another ten teams would qualify from their respective regional qualifiers.[2] The top eight teams from the London Major ("Legends") received a bye to the second phase of the group stage while the other sixteen teams ("Challengers") had to go through the first and second group stages in order to reach the playoffs. It featured a US$1,000,000 prize pool, the seventh consecutive Major with that prize pool.[3][4] It was hosted by ESL, their first Major since 2016. This event was the start of the second season of the Intel Grand Slam.
Astralis, Team Liquid, MIBR, Natus Vincere, and FaZe Clan were incoming Legends who retained that status, while BIG, HellRaisers, and compLexity Gaming were knocked out in the New Legends stage. Renegades, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and ENCE advanced to the playoff stage to become Legends for the following Major.
The grand finals featured the world's number one team Astralis, which defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas and MIBR in the playoffs, and the underdog ENCE, which defeated the world's number two in Team Liquid and the world's number three in Natus Vincere. Astralis swept ENCE in two maps to take its third Major title and tie Fnatic for most Majors titles. In addition, Astralis became just the third team after Fnatic and the Brazilian roster of Luminosity Gaming and SK Gaming to win consecutive Majors.
- ^ "IEM Katowice 2019". www.intelextrememasters.com. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- ^ "ESL to host Major at IEM Katowice". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- ^ "Valve Grants ESL the First CS:GO Major of 2019 for IEM Katowice – The Esports Observer". The Esports Observer. 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- ^ "IEM Katowice 2019". Red Bull. Retrieved 2018-09-10.