Imperial Fe becomes first women’s team to qualify for IEM Katowice

Imperial iron She became the first female Counter-Strike team to qualify for it IEM Katowice.

The event will take place from January 29 to February 9, and also marks the first time a women’s team will compete in an event that is part of ESL Pro Tour Championship.

IEM Katowice, a Counter-Strike tournament organized by ESL FACEIT Group, features 24 teams vying for a share of its $1 million (~£817,450) prize pool.

Along with Imperial Fe, e.g Navi, Team vitality Shanghai Major winning team Team Spirit is also participating. It is worth noting that eight teams received a direct path to the group stage due to their place in the tournament valve Regional Ranking (VRS).

Each team was invited based on its VRS ranking as of January 6, 2025. However, there are some notable additions to point out. ESL FACEIT noted that the Falcons were invited due to having the majority of the roster of eighth-placed VRS team HEROIC.

Furthermore, the Imperial V team was not the only women’s team to reach the top 24 VRS threshold. It was 24th place Furia However, since the organization already had a team in the competition, the women’s roster was elected not to compete. In the team’s place is HEROIC, which has taken over the majority of the roster eSports Sangal (VRS rank 25).

After placing 23rd, Imperial Fe qualified for the Play-In portion of the competition. Teams are placed in the best-of-three (BO3) bracket, a double-elimination bracket where the top eight advance to the group stage.

Imperial Fe has had a lot of success since its founding She returns to women’s Counter-Strike in May 2024. In November 2024, she won the sixth season of ESL Impact, receiving $50,000 (~£40,883) in prize money as a result.

IEM Katowice It forms part of the Intel Grand Slam, an award given to the first team to win four of ten consecutive events run by ESL. Any team that achieves this goal receives $1 million (~£817,450).

Team Spirit won the 2024 IEM Katowice Championship, defeating FaZe Clan in the grand final. Both teams will compete in the 2025 event.

The IEM Katowice Championships are held in Katowice, Poland, with qualifiers taking place in the city’s Spodek Arena which seats up to 11,000 people. The tournament series, sponsored by Intel, has been running since 2007 and takes place across Europe and North America.

The full list of participants for IEM Katowice 2025 is:

In addition to Counter-Strike, IEM also hosted tournaments in the real-time strategy (RTS) title StarCraft II. ESL FACEIT Group has not yet confirmed whether IEM Katowice 2025 will host the StarCraft II tournament.