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- What: Counter-Strike IEM Katowice 2025
- Date: Wednesday, January 29 – Sunday, February 9, 2025
- Location: Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland
- How to Watch: Twitch
The 2025 edition of the Counter-Strike Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice is upon us. The event runs from January 29 through February 9, 2025, at Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland. The tournament features the 24 best CS:GO teams in the world. Up for grabs is a $1 million prize pool. Last year, Team Spirit defeated FaZe Clan in the 2024 CS:GO IEM Katowice finals. Both teams are among the betting favorites to win the top prize of the 2025 version of the event.
The play-in portion of the 2025 IEM Katowice tournament begins on January 29. Sixteen teams participate in that double-elimination portion of the event. The top eight teams from the play-in then join the eight direct invite teams in the event. Those 16 teams compete in the main stage of IEM Katowice in two double-elimination groups. The top six teams from those groups then compete in the single elimination playoffs, with the finals occurring on February 09.
This year’s play-in teams are: Team Liquid, HEORIC, Complexity, Eternal Fire, 3DMAX, FlyQuest, Astralis, MIBR, paiNGaming, Vitus.Pro, SAW, Gamer Legion, Wildcard, BIG, Imperial Female, and Furia Esports. The invited teams are: G2 Esports, Team Falcons, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, Team Spirit, Natus Vincere, MOUZ, and the MongolZ. The winning team takes home $400,000, while the runner-up earns $180,000.
Before we dive into the betting picks for the 2025 IEM Katowice tournament, check out our guide to the best esports betting sites and the best sports betting apps and mobile options.
IEM Katowice 2025 betting picks
| To Win IEM Katowice 2025 |  |  |  |
| Team Spirit | +320 | +250 | +250 |
| Natus Vincere | +350 | +350 | +350 |
| Team Vitality | +350 | +300 | +300 |
| Faze Clan | +500 | +400 | +400 |
| G2 Esports | +550 | +540 | +540 |
| MOUZ | +800 | +700 | +700 |
| The MongolZ | +1400 | +800 | +800 |
| Falcons | +1800 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Team Liquid | +1800 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Eternal Fire | +2000 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Virtus.Pro | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Astralis | +3300 | +2900 | +2900 |
| FURIA | +5000 | +4900 | +4900 |
| HEROIC | +5000 | +4900 | +4900 |
| paiN Gaiming | +7500 | +6900 | +6900 |
| MIBR | +10000 | +9900 | +9900 |
| 3DMAX | +10000 | +9900 | +9900 |
| GamerLegion | +15000 | +14900 | +14900 |
| BIG | +15000 | +14900 | +14900 |
| Complexity | +25000 | +23900 | +23900 |
| SAW | +25000 | +23900 | +23900 |
| Wildcard | +50000 | +49900 | +49900 |
| FlyQuest | +50000 | +49900 | +49900 |
| Imperial.fe | +150000 | +133900 | +133900 |
Team Spirit
Team Spirit had a betting line of +750 hading into last year’s edition of this event. Winning the tournament and having some more success in 2024 has the Russian team as the betting favorites to win the IEM Katowice 2025 event.
Team Spirit is currently the No. 1 ranked CS:GO team in the world, with 1625 points. Following their win at the IEM Katowice 2024 event, Team Spirit picked up victories at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2, and Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.. They also finished as the runner-up at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #1 and BLAST Premier: World Final 2024. Team Spirit opened 2025 with a win at the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 tourney. Those events earned the team nearly $2 million in prize money.
Team Spirit has been playing together as a unit since late 2023, so they know each other very well.
Team Spirit play in Group B.
Natus Vincere
The No. 2 ranked team in the world with 1586 points Natus Vincere starts this event in Group B, and they could end up facing Team Spirit in the Upper Bracket Semifinals if each team wins their first matchup. Natus Vincere finished the 2024 version of this event in 7th-8th place. They entered that tournament with a betting line of +1400. They face much shorter odds in 2025.
Natus Vincere, who play out of Ukraine, were the No. 1 team for most of January 2025, but they dipped to No. 2 after they lost to Team Spirit in the semifinals of the recent BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 event. They eventually finished in 3rd-4th in that tournament for a prize of $22,500.
Natus Vincere picked up wins at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and Esports World Cup 2024 in 2024, earning $900,000 in prize money for those victories.
Like Team Spirit, Natus Vincere has been playing together as a unit for a while, the team’s most recent roster change came in 2023.
Team Vitality
The No. 5 ranked team in the world with 1109 points, Team Vitality spent some time in 2024 as the No. 1 CS:GO squad in the world, but they have slipped as of late, a 5th-8th place finish in the recent BLAST Bounty Spring 2025 tournament saw the French team take a dip in the rankings.
Team Vitality had some success in 2024, winning the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024 event in August, but they followed that with a 5th-6th place finish at IEM Masters Rio, and a 3rd-4th at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024.
This squad is good enough to win any event they enter, but they have had consistency problems over the past few months.
Team Vitality added ropz from FaZe Clan in January.
Best Bets: IEM Katowice 2025
Team Spirit have been playing well, and with consistency heading into this event, with that, they deserve to bet the betting favorites.
The betting pick is for Team Spirit to win the IEM Katowice 2025 tournament.
See below the top offshore sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
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