IEM Katowice Qualifier #1 day one over
The first open qualifier for a $250,000 event is now upon us, signaling the start of a new year of Counter-Strike. Coming off an extended break from the end of the year, there was a significant amount of intrigue surrounding who certain teams would be playing with in lieu of open positions on their squads.
And we were not disappointed! Yesterday the new Rogue side fell in the quarterfinals, as Rise Nation featuring Mitch "mitch" Semago and SoaR using Ian "Tex" Botsch fell earlier in the bracket.
Making deep runs and still alive in the bracket are an Alec "Slemmy" White-less compLexity, Splyce using hot young prospect Zack "XotiC" Elshani, and a Ghost squad rounding out their ranks with Yassine "Subroza" Taofik and UK player Tramaine "stan1ey" Stanley. Also present are the surprise MDL side of Etherian, who took down the aforementioned Rogue side.
Notable teams participating in the event that have already been eliminated are:
5-8. 
BlackOut (impsta, Fighter, TenZ, aproto, kaboose)
5-8. F1-racecar-PEEK (lanhero, Spongey, huynh, koga, asxp)
5-8. Rogue (vice, Hiko, cadiaN, ryx, SicK)
9-16. Mythic (LeX, fl0m, Polen, adreN, anger)
9-16. Rise Nation (vSa, moose, Ace, dazzLe, mitch)
9-16. Swole Patrol (SileNt, Zellsis, freakazoid, Cooper, ryan)
9-16. Iceberg (crux, stellar, alter, hades, tconnors)
17-32. SoaR (xCeeD, Grim, voltage, mCe, tex)
The remaining matches to be played in the qualifier are as follows:
| 6:00 PM EST | Splyce |
vs. | RONIN |
| 7:00 PM EST | compLexity |
vs. |  Ghost |
| 7:00 PM EST | Etherian |
vs. | Splyce/RONIN winner |
| 10:00 PM EST | Grand Final |
The one team left standing at the end of the bracket will secure a spot in the Closed Qualifier, where seven invited sides await.
The full qualifier bracket is available here.
Registration for the second open qualifier is available on ESEA here.
