IEM Katowice Group Stage matchups are making headlines

The group stage pairings for the first round of IEM Katowice have been made public by ESL. The two double-elimination groups including the eight teams that advanced from the Play-In round will eventually face off against the teams that received direct invitations to the main event.

The only opening-round matchup between two teams presently ranked in the top 10 is MOUZ vs. Cloud9. However, Natus Vincere and Spirit is the match that is anticipated to generate the most interest. After Danil "donk" Kryshkovets and Boris "magixx" Vorobiev missed the BLAST tournament, many are interested to see how the revamped Spirit team will perform against more formidable opponents. A best-of-three format will be used for all group stage matches. The clubs in second and third place will proceed to the first round of the playoffs, while the winners of the group will move directly to the semi-finals.