Intel Extreme Masters will be back to hold its annual edition in Katowice this year. It will certainly be full of headlines following on from the cs_summit, ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 and StarSeries Season 4 early this year.

North and Ninjas in Pyjamas are going to test out their new rosters for the first time in a premier LAN. Virtus.Pro and Fnatic will try to recover from StarSeries. And to conclude a star is looking to rise again. Let’s take a look at some headlines for this event:

North countdown has been started

After being bought over by F.C. Copenhagen and branded as ‘NORTH’, Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen roster has seen some major changes. In fact, he is the only player remaining from the squad that won EPICENTER 2016.

After not being able to produce any result in 2017, getting eliminated from ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 without a single win was the last straw. The organization behind North made it clear – they want the big trophies.

If MSL can’t get results with his new players ‘Kjaerbye’ and ‘mertz’, we might see him and ‘aizy’ saying goodbye to the organization.

What we expect from North on Katowice

It’s do or die time for him.

The first match for the team will be a B01 against Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Swedish team will be also starring their new player ‘dennis’ for the first time in an offline event.

It will be a highly disputed match, however North had more time to adapt to their new players with cs_summit 2 and this will probably give them an upper hand.

Virtus.Pro on home soil

Katowice was the place where Virtus.Pro got their first and only Major title. Back in 2014 things were never as bad as they look at the moment. The team just added ‘MICHU’ on a trial replacing TaZ hoping for changes at StarSeries.

Maybe it’s time for the iconic PashaBiceps to leave the team. Or even ‘NEO’ to leave and leave the in-game leader role to ‘Snax’ once again? Even byali at this point could be looking for better opportunities.

The future for Virtus.Pro is uncertain. This time however they will be playing on their home soil. Can we see the Plow re-surging, even if it’s just to get them to the top 8th place?

Our Expectations for Virtus.Pro

The Polish squad under the VP banner won’t have enough time to fix all their problems that they saw this week.

There first B01 match against G2 isn’t a good way to start an event and they may be falling to the Lower Bracket of the group stage.

Unfortunately for the VP fans it might not be long until a second legendary member leaves the team.

Fnatic disappointing performance at Kiev might repeat here

If there was something that was completely unexpected from StarSeries it’s Fnatic early exit without winning a single match in the event.

The team looked so strong back in ELEAGUE Major Boston, but at Kiev KRIMZ and Lekr0 were the only ones with decent performances.

What to expect from Fnatic

Starting just two days after StarSeries, Fnatic will be another team without time to recover. Not being able to go back restructure will surely impact them.

So, the city who once saw the Swedish squad leaving with a Major title in their hands might see the same banner leaving with disappointment this time.

It’s unfortunate, but Fnatic probably won’t be putting on a show here.

Ninjas in Pyjamas now with dennis

Dennis probably was the player most rumoured in the last player transfere window.

Supposed to go to Mousesports, then OpTic, the Swedish player decided to stay within a team sharing his nationality. While he has already played with NiP last week during EPL Season 7, this is his first offline event with the ‘GeT_RiGhT’ squad.

While renewed, the team will have to take their time to adapt. Dennis will be taking the in-game leader role and this might impact their initial performance.

Ninjas Future is Bright, Kato not so much

Fortunately for NiP, dennis seems to be a great investment in the long time run. However, as a new leader entered the team, they will need time to adapt.

It’s completely possible to see them advancing to the playoffs. However North not only will be their first opponent but there’s a high chance to see them fighting for the Lower Bracket spot to the playoffs.

Concluding, NiP might not have a deep run in Katowice, but it will be a good experience. The team certainly can learn a lot from it as it’s there first event with dennis.

Astralis is amongst the favorites

While not putting the big numbers in the scoreboard, Astralis new player ‘Magisk’ fits in well with the team. Might be too early to say but Astralis didn’t look this promising since a long time.

Of course, one might argue that Astralis had weaker opponents in StarSeries group stage, but the confidence and teamwork is there. As the in-game leader said early this week, it’s like they’re on the right path again.

If Astralis did this at Kiev, they can surely fix minor problems and go in stronger at Katowice.

What to Expect

It’s clear that Astralis can get a top four placing at Katowice.

Their first match will be against Renegades, an opponent a level below them. After this, beating SK might be a problem, but the Lower Bracket don’t seem to offer many risks to the Danish team.

Astralis is finally looking solid and they surely are up with the liks of G2, SK Gaming and FaZe as our favorites to win Katowice.

IEM Katowice 2018 will be starting 27th February, featuring 16 teams. Who are you want to see lifting the trophy? Tell us!

And remember to follow our predictions, as we will have every game covered on our Predictions page.