Because it is a Major, IEM Katowice 2019 takes place in 3 separate stages: The New Challengers Stage, The New Legends Stage and The New Champions Stage.

The format of the first two stages will be the usual one: Swiss with Bo3 series for eliminatory and advancement matches. Every other match is a Bo1. Each day, every team plays one match against another team with an identical record. After 3 defeats, teams are eliminated. After 3 victories, they advance to the next stage and no longer play. A total of 8 teams advance after each of the first two stages. The current legends, namely the teams that finished in the top 8 at the last Major, only have to play starting with the second stage. So in total, stage 1 will have 16 participants, stage 2 another 16 and stage 3 just 8.

The New Champions Stage will be played in a single elimination bracket format: Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Grand Final. IEM Katowice 2019 is guaranteed to provide a lot of hyped matches in this way.