Liquid and Renegades have both secured spots at IEM Katowice after finishing top two in the North American closed qualifier.

The first round of the single-elimination qualifier featured just two matches as NRG and Luminosity were handed walkover victories over 100 Thieves and Misfits - both of whom withdrew from the tournament due to roster issues.

With Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes back on the roster, Liquid overturned a 1-0 map deficit against the Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta-led Complexity, with Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski putting in a 1.45 rating and a 100 ADR in the series. On the other side of the bracket, Renegades were also made to work hard to beat the new Splyce roster, running out 2-1 victors thanks to strong individual showings from Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage and Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic.

Liquid book spot at IEM Katowice

The opening semi-final, pitting Liquid against NRG, saw steel's men draw first blood by the narrowest of margins following two extremely close halves. Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov then inspired his team to level the series (1.84 Rating, +16KDD), but Josh "⁠jdm64⁠" Marzano made Train his playground as he led the charge for his team, who cruised to a 16-8 victory.

IEM Katowice 2018 North America Closed QualifierBest of 3 NRGMatchpage 1 2 30th January 2018 Liquid 14Overpass 16 16Mirage 7 8Train 16

NRG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovCeRq	69 - 51	+18	88.4	1.30
Jacob 'FugLy' MedinaFugLy	54 - 45	+9	83.3	1.25
Ethan 'Ethan' ArnoldEthan	56 - 54	+2	82.2	1.10
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	48 - 48	0	65.8	0.94
Damian 'daps' Steeledaps	38 - 51	-13	54.5	0.80

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Josh 'jdm64' Marzanojdm64	59 - 53	+6	81.0	1.24
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	62 - 54	+8	83.9	1.17
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	45 - 51	-6	63.1	0.92
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	45 - 56	-11	69.9	0.90
Lucas 'steel' Lopessteel	38 - 51	-13	59.7	0.84

The other match was more straightforward, with Renegades requiring just two maps to beat Luminosity. With an in-form NAF, the Australian team ran out 16-11 winners on Cache after a dominant CT half in which they picked up ten rounds. The next map, Train, was a one-sided affair, as Renegades strolled to a 16-6 victory after another dominant defensive display.

IEM Katowice 2018 North America Closed QualifierBest of 3 LuminosityMatchpage 0 2 31st January 2018 Renegades 11Cache 16 6Train 16

Luminosity	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' GonçalvesSHOOWTiME	39 - 35	+4	86.5	1.16
Vinicios 'PKL' CoelhoPKL	34 - 36	-2	79.3	1.02
Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedeschelo	35 - 37	-2	67.2	1.00
Gustavo 'yel' Knittelyel	21 - 37	-16	54.8	0.70
Gabriel 'NEKIZ' SchenatoNEKIZ	20 - 41	-21	58.9	0.64

Renegades	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	49 - 26	+23	106.6	1.58
Aaron 'AZR' WardAZR	37 - 34	+3	91.6	1.22
Noah 'Nifty' FrancisNifty	37 - 30	+7	71.8	1.17
Karlo 'USTILO' PivacUSTILO	36 - 28	+8	81.1	1.15
Justin 'jks' Savagejks	26 - 31	-5	58.0	0.90

The team list for IEM Katowice currently looks as follows:

SK	Astralis
Virtus.pro	FaZe
Cloud9	Ninjas in Pyjamas
G2	TYLOO
ORDER	Liquid
Renegades

IEM Katowice will span six days and culminate with the playoffs at the Spodek Arena, in Katowice, from March 2-4. A total of $500,000 will be on offer in this 16-team tournament, which will be played under the new format recently announced by ESL, with two double-elimination groups of eight teams leading to the playoffs.