IEM Sydney Invites Finalized with the addition of Fnatic

One of IEM’s flagship tournaments, Intel Extreme Masters Sydney, has finalized the invited list of teams in attendance with the addition of Fnatic.

We now know the majority of teams that will attend IEM Sydney. Fnatic joins twelve other teams that have either received invites or qualified for the tournament, including Team Liquid, Mousesports, FaZe, and Renegades. The final list of invites is as follows:

Boots-d[S]
eUnited
Team Liquid
Renegades
FaZe Clan
Ninjas in Pajamas
Mousesports
BIG Clan
MVP PK
ViCi Gaming
MIBR
NRG
Fnatic

Additionally, three more squads will join these teams at the conclusion of the Oceania qualifier, the winner of the GG.BET Invitational, and the AU/NZ national champion.

Swole Patrol Replaced

Swole Patrol, unfortunately, will not be attending. ESL made the determination that Swole Patrol’s spot at IEM Sydney would be transferred to North American team eUnited. The transfer comes three Swole Patrol players left the organization and signed with eUnited in early February. Due to this, there was some confusion among teams and fans regarding who actually owned the spot. This morning, however, ESL announced that, due to the roster moves, the spot at IEM Sydney belonged to eUnited. Ironically, Swole Patrol won the IEM Sydney qualifier against none other than eUnited.

Update to the IEM Sydney 2019: NA qualifier. With the core roster of Swole Patrol now competing under eUnited we have concluded that eUnited will receive the qualification position over Swole Patrol. See them live in Australia this May! #IEM

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) March 25, 2019

IEM Sydney is the premier tournament in the region which has traditionally struggled to attract large-scale organizers.

In addition to the aforementioned teams, several Asian squads have also qualified for the tournament.

Chinese team ViCi gaming will also attend, having most recently failed to qualify for WESG. Mixed-roster Boot-d[S] will also appear at IEM Sydney. Finally, IEM has also invited Chinese team MVP PK to the tournament. IEM Sydney often showcases Counterstrike from the Asian region due to its proximity.

This tournament marks the third IEM event held in Australia. IEM Sydney will be held at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney from the 3^rd to the 5^th of May. Hopefully, we’ll see some shoeys.