Along with ESL’s announcement regarding the remainder of the 2021 tournament calendar, it was announced that IEM Winter 2021, which was originally scheduled to take place in Asia, will now take place in Europe.
IEM Winter 2021, an ESL Pro Tour Masters level tournament, slated to take place on December 2-12, will feature a total of sixteen teams, of which one will earn their spot through the Asian qualifiers.
The road to IEM Winter for Asian teams begins with one open qualifier from September 30 to October 1, with two teams qualifying to the closed qualifier. These open qualifier teams will join two invited teams in the closed qualifier, scheduled for October 3-4, and will determine Asia’s sole representative at IEM Winter.
All matches in the open qualifier will be played in a single-elimination best-of-one (BO1) bracket, with the qualification matches to be played in a best-of-three (BO3) settings. All closed qualifier matches will be held in a double-elimination best-of-three (BO3) settings.
IEM Winter 2021 will be the last ESL Pro Tour circuit of 2021. While IEM Winter has been moved to Europe, Asia — to be precise, China — is confirmed to host ‘IEM China’ in late 2021. The following year’s ESL Pro Tour Challengers schedule includes a stop in Australia on September 2-4. ESL has revealed no further information.
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The schedule for IEM Winter 2021 Asia Qualifiers is as follows:
- Open Qualifier: September 30 – October 1 | Signup
- Closed Qualifier: October 3-4
Wings Up, Renewal, and NKT are among the teams confirmed to compete in the open qualifier so far. ESL is expected to reveal the identities of the two closed qualifier invitees in the coming weeks.
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Cover photo courtesy of Helena Kristiansson/ESL
