IEM Katowice is the most anticipated tournament of early 2021 for Counter Strike Global Offensive fans. The event begins on February 16 and concludes two weeks later, while bringing together the best 24 CS:GO teams. They will be competing for a massive prize pool of $1 million, so there’s plenty to fight for in this year’s Intel Extreme Masters. We have prepared IEM Katowice betting tips to help you make the most of this opportunity and in-depth predictions and match analysis.
IEM Katowice Betting Tips, Format and Prizes
The 24 teams will compete in a double elimination bracket, initially in best of one series. After the opening matches are over, all the remaining games will be played in a best-of-three format. The top eight teams will move forward to the group stage, where they will join 8 directly qualified CS:GO squads. Each group will send three teams to the playoffs, with winners playing straight in the semi finals. All playoff matches are best-of-three series, with the grand final deciding winners at the end of a Bo5.
The IEM Katowice odds for the outright winners are already available, as well as the odds for the play-in stage. The tournament winner will walk away with $400,000, while the runner-up will have to settle for $180,000. Finishing on the podium will result in a paycheck of €80,000, amount that will go to teams in the third and fourth places. Even the teams who don’t qualify for the group stage and suffer an untimely elimination in the playoffs will be financially compensated.
IEM Katowice Betting Tips – Outright Winner
The IEM Katowice odds for winner of the Intel Extreme Masters are available at top esports betting sites. Astralis are the main favorites to win the event and GG.bet offers the best odds on them to win at 3.80. This is an immensely experienced team, capable of winning back-to-back series and keeping its cool in the finals. Team Vitality is the most likely team to beat Astralis according to IEM Katowice predictions and they’re priced at 4.00.
Heroic and Natus Vincere come next, with IEM Katowice odds of 5.00 and 6.00. We are quite impressed with the team from the CIS region and like it a lot as the dark horse. Odds of 6.00 for Natus Vincere to win the Intel Extreme Masters are simply too good to turn down. This is a seasoned CS:GO team with stellar results in major tournaments and well capable of winning the IEM.
Complexity Gaming Face First IEM Katowice Hurdle
The first truly competitive match of the Intel Extreme Masters pits Complexity Gaming against Ninjas in Pyjamas. This is a battle between two of the best European teams that have to go through the play-in stage. Complexity are only narrow favorites with odds of 1.75, as opposed to 2.15 for Ninjas in Pyjamas. Bear in mind that this is a Bo1 match, so there’s a lot of uncertainty when making IEM Katowice predictions. We trust Complexity and risk-averse punters can settle for the odds offered by GG.bet on the outright victory. A more lucrative bet is on them to cover the -4.5 kill spread at odds of 2.80.
OG and Fnatic Play the IEM European Derby
European CS:GO fans will be interested in the IEM Katowice betting tips for the second to last match of the day. OG and Fnatic are according to IEM Katowice odds, the most likely teams from the play-in stage to win the tournament. The direct match will help punters get a better sense of what to expect from these two contenders. OG have a slight edge in the head to head series, but Fnatic won the only match played in 2021. With OG priced at 2.30 by GG.bet and this being a best of one series, we advise backing them to kickstart the tournament with a victory.
MIBR vs Team Liquid – Battle of the Americas
Furia Esports and Evil Geniuses are the safest bets for American fans rooting for a local team at the Intel Extreme Masters. Before revealing the IEM Katowice betting tips for their group stage matches, we’ll look at MIBR vs Team Liquid. The latter have dominated the head to head series, but both teams are in poor form and have little time to rebound for a Bo1. MIBR lost three games in a row but against some of the best CS:GO teams in the world. We like the fact that they were able to win one map in each of those series. Our boldest IEM Katowice predictions for this stage of the event is MIBR to win at odds of 3.00.
