Intel Extreme Masters returns to Shanghai on July 28th to 31st for its first stop to kick off season 11 with a StarCraft® II tournament which will be a WCS 5000 Circuit Event. There will be two ways of qualifying into the event: passport qualifiers and open qualifiers. The remaining four slots will be filled by invited wildcards.

Passport qualifiers



In order to participate in one of these qualifiers, players must hold a passport of the respective region, with each player being limited to one region only. All of the qualified players will receive paid travel and accommodation.

Open Stages will be played in a single elimination best of three format, while the Final Stages being also best of three but double elimination, with the very final match being best of five. In the Grand Final of the double elimination bracket (day two of the Oceania, Latin America and Taiwan qualifiers), the player who advances through the lower bracket must defeat the player from the winner's bracket twice. This is to give the player from the winner's bracket an advantage due to going undefeated thus far. The first match they play will be a best of 3, the 2nd time they meet it will be a best of 5.

Europe, Africa, Middle East

21st of May, 14:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Open Stage: top eight players advance to the Final Stage

22nd of May, 14:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Final Stage: top eight players from the Open Stage and top eight players of this region's WCS ranking as of 16th of May 2016 23:59 PDT. Top two qualify for Shanghai

North America (USA and Canada)

21st of May, 22:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Open Stage: top eight players advance to the Final Stage

22nd of May, 22:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Final Stage: top eight players from the Open Stage and top eight players of this region's WCS ranking as of 16th of May 2016 23:59 PDT. Top two qualify for Shanghai

Oceania, Southeast Asia, Japan

21st of May, 06:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Open Stage: top four players advance to the Final Stage

22nd of May, 06:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Final Stage: top four players from the Open Stage and top four players of this region's WCS ranking as of 16th of May 2016 23:59 PDT. The winner qualifies for Shanghai

China

28th of May - [LINK TO QUALIFIER TBD] Open Stage: top four players advance to the Final Stage

29th of May - [LINK TO QUALIFIER TBD] Final Stage: top four players from the Open Stage and top four players of this region's WCS ranking as of 16th of May 2016 23:59 PDT. Top two qualify for Shanghai

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau

28th of May, 08:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Open Stage: top four players advance to the Final Stage

29th of May, 08:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Final Stage: top four players from the Open Stage and top four players of this region's WCS ranking as of 16th of May 2016 23:59 PDT. The winner qualifies for Shanghai

Latin America

3rd of June, 02:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Open Stage: top four players advance to the Final Stage

4th of June, 02:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] Final Stage: top four players from the Open Stage and top four players of this region's WCS ranking as of 16th of May 2016 23:59 PDT. The winner qualifies for Shanghai

Open qualifiers



These qualifiers are open to any competing WCS player. Each qualified player will receive paid travel and accommodation. The format will be single elimination best of three with the very final match being best of five.

Asia and Oceania (OCE server)

11th of June, 14:00 Chinese time - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] winner qualifies for Shanghai

Europe and Africa (EU server)

11th of June, 16:00 CEST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] winner qualifies for Shanghai

Americas (NA central server)

11th of June, 15:00 PST - [ LINK TO QUALIFIER] winner qualifies for Shanghai

Wildcards



Four players will be directly invited to the event based on their 2016 WCS points and will receive paid accommodation (but not travel).

Let the battle commence



We wish all of the participating players best of luck and cannot wait to see the very best at Intel Extreme Masters Shanghai! Keep your eyes peeled for more information regarding the qualifiers and the event itself - follow IEM on Twitter and Facebook.