CS: GO Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023: All you need to know
The CS: GO Intel Extreme Masters is the biggest longest-running pro-gaming tournament for CS: GO. The inaugural year of the Extreme Masters in 2007 saw the establishment of a unique format consisting of multiple group stages leading up to a grand final.
Since then, the tournament series has seen some of the best gamers and eSports teams around the world come together to participate in generous prize pools. The latest event in the long-running series, the CS: GO Extreme Masters Dallas 2023, has a total of 16 teams participating for a $250k winner’s prize.
The quarterfinals stage of the event will commence on 29th May remotely. The venue will be moved to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, on 2nd June, with the grand final scheduled for 4th June. Here, we look at everything that is known about the exciting competition as of now.
Format and prize pool
The $250k prize pool includes $100k for the winner, who will also automatically qualify for the Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 EPT Championship, which has a whopping $1 million prize pool. The Dallas event sees a total of 16 regional teams divided into two groups of 8.
The group stage matches will be best-of-1 knockout games. The top team from each group will qualify straight to the semis. The team that finishes 2nd will play in the Quarters with a high seed, while the 3rd-placed team will enter the quarters with a low seed. In this way, the 3rd-placed teams will face off with the 2nd-placed team from the other group.
Apart from the group stage matches which will be best-of-1s, all of the other matches will be decided on a best-of-3 basis.
The Teams
Defending Champions Cloud9 will be in group B this year
Some of the biggest eSports organizations and teams will participate in the ESL Masters 2023 Dallas. The groups are as follows:
Group A
9Z Team – dgt, max, dav1deuS, buda, try
Fnatic – mezii, nicoodoz, doeJ, FASHR, f0rest
FURIA Esports – yuurih, arT, KSCERATO, drop, saffee
G2 Esports – huNter-, NiKo, m0NESY, jks, HooXi
Heroic – stavn, cadiaN, TeSeS, sjuush, Jabbi
MOUZ – frozen, JDC, xertioN, torzsi, dexter
Nouns Esports – cj, MarkE, Bwillis, cynic, nosraC
OG – regali, F1KU, NEOFRAG, niko, flameZ
Group B
Astralis – Buzz, Altekz, dev1ce, gla1ve, blameF
Cloud9 – buster, sh1ro, Ax1Le, HObbit, nafany
Complexity Gaming – JT, FaNg, floppy, Grim, hallzerk
ENCE – Snappi, maden, dycha, SunPayus, NertZ
Evil Geniuses – Behze, autimatic, neaLaN, wiz, refrezh
FaZe Clan – rain, broky, Twistzz, karrigan, ropz
Grayhound Gaming – Sico, INS, AliStair, Liazz, Vexite
Team Liquid – EliGE, NAF, oSee, nitr0, YEKINDAR
Schedule
The Quarterfinal stage will begin on 29th May, with the semifinals set to begin a day later. The Final is set to be played at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on June 4th. All times are given below in the ET format:
Group A
Upper Brackets Quarterfinals – May 29
12 PM – FURIA Vs. OG
12 PM – G2 Vs. Nouns
1:15 PM – Fnatic Vs. MOUZ
1:15 PM – Heroic Vs. 9z Team
Lower Bracket Quarterfinals – May 30 (Time TBD)
Upper Bracket Semifinals – May 30 (Time TBD)
Group B
Upper Bracket Quarterfinals – May 29
2:30 PM – FaZe Clan Vs. Evil Geniuses
2:30 PM – ENCE Vs. Complexity
3:45 PM – Cloud9 Vs. Grayhound
3:45 PM – Team Liquid Vs. Astralis
Lower Bracket Quarterfinals – May 30 (Time TBD)
Upper Bracket Semifinals – May 30 (Time TBD)
Once the two semi-finalists from each group are decided, the final June 2-4th schedule and timings will be released.
Conclusion
With some top teams set to compete in the Dallas event, the tournament is set to be highly entertaining. The likes of Cloud9, Team Liquid, FaZe Clan, OG, G2, and Furia boast some of the top CS: GO players from the region.
The 2022 version of the event was won by Cloud9, who have an unchanged roster. The final was played between Cloud9 and ENCE, with FURIA finishing in the third position.
G2 and FaZe finished fifth and sixth respectively, and will be hoping for a much better run this time around. With some big names expected to participate this year as well, the ESL Masters 2023 Dallas can be expected to be an exhilarating event to attend.