IEM Katowice Major New Legends Stage viewer's guide

With the IEM Katowice Major's New Challengers Stage behind us, it is now time to turn towards the main event, set to kick off on Wednesday with 16-teams sparring to become the next Major champion.

The International Congress Center (ICC) will host the New Legends Stage before the action moves to the iconic Spodek Arena for the playoffs, where the winner will claim its share of the $1 million prize pool and bragging rights as the next Major Champion.

Following the New Challengers Stage, which saw the likes of Ninjas in Pyjamas, Cloud9 and G2 secure final spots in round five, the 16-team New Legends Stage will be played out in a Swiss-style group stage (using ELO rating to determine matchups) that will see the final eight advance to the New Champions Stage.

Astralis look to defend their Major title

The New Champions Stage will commence on February 28 to March 3 after a three-day break following the end of the New Legends Stage. The final eight teams will compete in a BO3 single-elimination bracket at the vibrant Spodek Arena, where one team among all contenders will be crowned a Major champion.

The full team list for the New Legends Stage looks as follows:

Astralis
BIG
FaZe
HellRaisers
NRG
Vitality
ENCE
G2 Liquid
MIBR
Natus Vincere
Complexity
Renegades
AVANGAR
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Cloud9

All the teams taking part in the New Legends Stage have been asked to rank the other 15 teams in order to create a 1-16 ranking which was used to determine each team's seed and the first matchups.

The result of the "Player-Selected Seeding" is available below:

1. Astralis
2. Liquid
3. Natus Vincere
4. MIBR
5. FaZe
6. NRG
7. BIG
8. ENCE
9. Renegades
10. Vitality
11. Ninjas in Pyjamas
12. HellRaisers
13. Cloud9
14. G2
15. AVANGAR
16. Complexity

Starting tomorrow, eight Challengers and eight Legends will face each other to begin the final stages of the tournament. Below you can find the full schedule for the New Legends Stage:

Wednesday, February 20
13:00 - ENCE vs. Renegades | BO1
13:00 - BIG vs. Vitality | BO1
14:10 - Natus Vincere vs. G2 | BO1
14:10 - FaZe vs. HellRaisers | BO1
15:20 - NRG vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas | BO1
15:20 - Liquid vs. AVANGAR | BO1
16:30 - MIBR vs. Cloud9 | BO1
16:30 - Astralis vs. Complexity | BO1
18:05 - Round 2 match #1 | BO1
18:05 - Round 2 match #2 | BO1
19:15 - Round 2 match #3 | BO1
19:15 - Round 2 match #4 | BO1
20:25 - Round 2 match #5 | BO1
20:25 - Round 2 match #6 | BO1
21:35 - Round 2 match #7 | BO1
21:35 - Round 2 match #8 | BO1

Thursday, February 21
13:00 - Round 3 match #3 | BO1
13:00 - Round 3 match #4 | BO1
14:10 - Round 3 match #5 | BO1
14:10 - Round 3 match #6 | BO1
15:00 - Round 3 match #1 | BO3
15:00 - Round 3 match #7 | BO3
18:30 - Round 3 match #2 | BO3
18:30 - Round 3 match #8 | BO3

Friday, February 22
13:00 - Round 4 match #1 | BO3
16:00 - Round 4 match #2 | BO3
19:30 - Round 4 match #3 | BO3

Saturday, February 23
13:00 - Round 4 match #1 | BO3
16:00 - Round 4 match #2 | BO3
19:30 - Round 4 match #3 | BO3

Sunday, February 24
13:00 - Round 5 match #1 | BO3
16:00 - Round 5 match #2 | BO3
19:30 - Round 5 match #3 | BO3

The broadcast team will remain the same for the New Legends Stage, with O.J Borg as stage host and Tres "⁠stunna⁠" Saranthus & Alex "⁠Machine⁠" Richardson as desk hosts. Three analysts at the desk will be breaking down the action as two casting pairs will be providing the play-by-play throughout the event.

The on-air team for the Major is as follows:

O. J. Borg - Stage host

Tres "stunna"Saranthus - Desk host
Alex "Machine"Richardson - Desk host

Chad "SPUNJ"Burchill - Analyst
Jacob "Pimp"Winneche - Analyst
Sean "seang@res"Gares - Analyst

Henry "HenryG"Greer - Commentator
Matthew "Sadokist"Trivett - Commentator
Jason "moses"O'Toole - Commentator
Vince Hill - Commentator

Frankie Ward - Reporter

MIBR #11 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloJoão 'felps' Vasconcellos Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Cloud9 #7 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistFabien 'kioShiMa' FieyWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaJordan 'Zellsis' Montemurro Alex 'Machine' Richardson Age: 25 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.58 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Renegades #8 Justin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadSean 'Gratisfaction' KaiwaiJay 'Liazz' Tregillgas BIG #14 Fatih 'gob b' DayikJohannes 'tabseN' WodarzTizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschJohannes 'nex' MagetIsmailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş Natus Vincere #3 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov Complexity #41 Jordan 'n0thing' GilbertShahzeb 'ShahZaM' KhanRory 'dephh' JacksonPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzRicardo 'Rickeh' Mulholland AVANGAR #16 Bektiyar 'fitch' BahytovTimur 'buster' TulepovAidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' Ali Tres 'stunna' Saranthus Age: 29 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.64 Maps played: 4 KPR: 0.30 DPR: 0.54 Liquid #2 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Ninjas in Pyjamas #6 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner HellRaisers #21 Kirill 'ANGE1' KarasiowAbay 'HObbit' KhassenovÖzgür 'woxic' EkerBence 'DeadFox' BöröczIssa 'ISSAA' Murad Vitality #12 Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinMathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut FaZe #5 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevOlof 'olofmeister' KajbjerLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' Nygaard ENCE #9 Aleksi 'allu' JalliJani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenJere 'sergej' Salo NRG #4 Damian 'daps' SteeleJacob 'FugLy' MedinaVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov G2 #17 Audric 'JACKZ' JugRichard 'shox' PapillonKenny 'kennyS' SchrubAlexandre 'bodyy' PianaroLucas 'Lucky' Chastang