16 of the world’s best StarCraft® II players will battle for a share of $25,000 at IEM’s fourth stop in Shanghai

For the fourth time since the inaugural Intel® Extreme Masters competition in 2006, the world’s longest-running global esports tournament circuit is headed to Shanghai. From July 27–30, 16 of the world’s best StarCraft® II players will battle on the IEM stage at ChinaJoy, the largest gaming and digital entertainment exhibition in China. StarCraft II is Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed sci-fi real-time strategy game and one of the most popular esports of all time.

“We’re so excited to carry the momentum from the success we had with StarCraft II at IEM Katowice 2017 into Season 12.” said Michal Blicharz, VP of Pro Gaming, ESL. “The ChinaJoy audience is always full of passionate StarCraft II fans, and we can’t wait to see who will walk away with the IEM Shanghai 2017 championship title.”

Based on 2017 World Championship Series (WCS) points, four players have already been invited to IEM Shanghai 2017: Kim ‘Stats’ Dae Yeob, who won second place at both IEM Gyeonggi 2016 and IEM Katowice 2017; Lee ‘INnoVation’ Shin Hyung, the IEM Gyeonggi 2016 champion; Jun ‘TY’ Tae Yang, the IEM Katowice 2017 champion; and Eo ‘soO’ Yoon So, who recently placed second in the 2017 Global StarCraft II League Season 1. The remaining 12 players will need to battle their way through online qualifiers in June.

2017 marks the fourth year that IEM has chosen to host its Chinese tournament edition at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, and the ninth year that IEM has had a tournament stop in the region. The best-of-three double elimination group stages will kick off on July 27, the first day of ChinaJoy. From there, four players will advance to the best-of-five quarterfinals and semifinals, leading up to a best-of-seven grand finals for the title of IEM Shanghai 2017 champion and the largest share of the $25,000 prize pool and WCS points.

To stay up-to-date on the tournament and upcoming qualifiers, follow IEM on Twitter and Facebook and visit the official website: intelextrememasters.com.