IEM Dallas 2022 Preview, Teams, Format, and Matches

Counter Strike always delivers the best action, and now it’s turn for the Intel Extreme Masters Season XVII – Dallas, which is the next big event coming for all the CSGO fans out there. That’s part of the beauty in Counter Strike, we keep getting international events nonstop unlike many other esports. We’ll see some of the same teams that just played in the PGL Major Antwerp, but we’ll also be seeing some new faces, so without further ado, let’s get to it!

IEM Dallas 2022 Format

When it comes to CSGO events, we’re used to seeing a lot of tournaments use the swiss system format because it allows for a bunch of upsets and interesting matches, but in this upcoming IEM Dallas, we’ll see something different. The tournament will feature a group stage with 2 groups and a double-elimination bracket for each.

• Opening matches are Best-of-1s and all following matches are Best-of-3s
• The top three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs:
• Playoffs:

• Single-elimination bracket

• The Quarterfinals & Semifinals are Bo3

• The Grand Final is Bo5

One of the most exciting parts about this is that after a while, we’ll finally get to see a Best-of-5 in the grand finals, which is very fun for all the cs-go gambling fans out there. Another important thing about this format is that every single team is guaranteed to play at least one Bo1 and one Bo3, which can be enough to bounce back from a bad opening match.

Participating Teams

We will see 16 teams from different parts of the world fight it out for the trophy and a share of the $250,000 dollars prize pool. IEM Dallas 2022 will feature teams from Europe, South America, North America, and Oceania, but unfortunately there won’t be any Asian teams participating in this event.

Some teams qualified through the ESL World Ranking, others through their respective regional qualifiers and the most prestigious ones qualified because of their ESL Partner status. These are the teams participating in the IEM Dallas 2022 and in which group they’ll play, also important to note is that the order in this list also shows which team they’ll be facing in their opening match (ex: FaZe Clan vs LFO).

• GROUP A

• • FaZe Clan

• • LookingForOrg (ex-Dire Wolves)

• • Astralis

• • Team Vitality

• • G2 Esports

• • Movistar Riders

• • MOUZ

• • ENCE

• GROUP B

• • FURIA Esports

• • Imperial Esports

• • Team Liquid

• • Cloud9

• • Ninjas in Pyjamas

• • BIG

• • Heroic

• • Complexity

There are a couple of things that stand out from this list. The first one is that Team Spirit and Copenhagen Flames won’t be participating in this tournament even after they managed to get into the PGL Major Antwerp playoffs. The other one is that we can already see some interesting storylines going on and the best thing of all is that even if your favorite teams lose their opening match they’ll still have another shot at getting through the group stage.

Best Opening Matches And Expectations

Astralis vs Team Vitality: In their own way, these two teams failed to meet the expectations during the PGL Major Antwerp. Astralis struggled throughout the first phase and couldn’t make it into the Legends Stage after losing to North America’s Team Liquid. On the other hand, Team Vitality had an easy time against Complexity and ForZe, and they were looking like a strong contender for playoffs, but ultimately dropped their elimination match against Heroic. Now they’ll have a second opportunity to make their fans proud.

Team Liquid vs Cloud9: We could say that both Team Liquid and Cloud9 had an “unlucky” streak in the last major during the Legends Stage, where they had to face all of the strongest teams of the tournament like FaZe, Heroic, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. And I know, if you want to be the best team in the tournament you have to be able to take down all of the competition, but I bet I’m not the only one that was left if Team Liquid and Cloud9 might’ve ended popping off in the playoffs, where they would be playing in front of a huge crowd.

FURIA Esports vs Imperial Esports: The only two Brazilian squads will have to fight against each other in the very first round of the tournament. It’s going to be very heartbreaking for all their fans if any of these two teams end up being knocked out early on in the event. We all know that FURIA comes into this match as the favorite one due to their recent run in the PGL Major Antwerp, but Imperial Esports didn’t do too bad either, and they were only just two maps away from qualifying to the playoffs.

This first phase of the event will satisfy all the cravings for all the CSGO fans out there. North American versus Europe, a Brazil versus Brazil match, and some smaller teams getting to prove themselves against the very best. And just like we did during the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, we’ll be covering all parts of this upcoming event with news, picks, and more, so be sure to stay tuned!