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With the ESL Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Global Challenge Kiev happening this weekend, some people may be asking themselves: How did these players end up here? How were the groups determined? Let's answer those questions. I won't only answer them, but tell you why I believe it's a great way to put together the player field at a major tournament.

IEM tournaments have always featured one thing that sets them apart from the rest. Besides the four Korean invites (a region which qualifiers aren’t held in because of scheduling conflicts), every other player who competes at any of the IEM Global Challenges must participate in the online, regional qualifiers. A different qualifier is held for North America, South East Asia, China and Europe. Each of these Global Challenges contribute to points, which are tallied and, at the end of the season, the top 24 players are invited to play in the IEM World Championship, a tournament which last year featured a $30,000 USD prize pool.

Taking a look at the current points ranking, you'll see a table filled with players you recognize and several others you probably haven't even heard of. Not only does IEM reward players who come out regularly to their tournaments (e.g. MaNa who played both at Colonge and New York), but also players who may only have had a good run at one tournament (e.g. KiLLeR who placed third in New York). By appealing both to consistent performers and up-and-comers, IEM creates a tournament roster that even some of the best invitational tournaments cannot muster. With the World Championships being upped to a 24-player lineup for 2012, you can see for yourself: it's a stacked tournament that will be hard to predict.

Gatored (pictured above) and KiLLeR both had great performances at IEM New York (Photo: TeamLiquid.net)

What is the advantage of this seasonal format? Let me highlight it using an example from IEM 6 New York. The qualifier system for this tournament allowed players like Pokebunny, Gatored and KiLLeR to participate. These three players, while performing well, were relative unknowns. When it was all said and done, Gatored had swept oGs.TOP 3-0 and KiLLeR made an eye-opening run of his own, defeating the likes of SjoW and elfitaja to earn third place. Countless stories such as these emanate from other IEM events: HasuObs, Socke and many other players grasped their first, highlight performances at an IEM stop. Being able to bring out new players and give them a moment in the spotlight can lead to many things: sponsorships, offers from teams and most importantly, a chance for their personal brands to grow, which builds the fanbase, adds to the media coverage, and in general grows the competitive scene altogether. The importance of a player's fanbase cannot be understated, and IEM tournaments are at the forefront of featuring players who can use larger ones.    

In a quest to get more insight about the IEM circuit, I spoke with IEM's product manager Michal “Carmac” Blicharz. He brought up an important point of bringing relevance to as many players as possible because of the need for having new star players to cheer for - players who will carry the sport onward when the other, more established stars decide to retire or move on. Carmac told me, "the only reason why we don't have Stephano and White Ra at every IEM is because they get beaten in the online qualifiers. What are we supposed to do about that?"

To that I say nothing. Nothing should be done about that. By hosting such a rigorous qualifier system, only the most deserving players will go on to play in the circuit tournament. It's true that sometimes these players will simply be swept aside by the more experienced competitors, but the fact that they earned their slot on their own merits and not based on an arbitrary invite system, year-old performance results or otherwise, is a critical point. Furthermore, there is always the chance that one of those unknowns will make a huge run providing drama and an excellent storyline (case in point: everyone remembers ThorZaIN’s TSL3 run).

Rox.KIS Pomi (right) qualified for IEM Kiev; will he be the next breakout success? (Photo:GoodGame.ru)

It should also be noted that IEM awards at least $600 USD to every competitor, no matter their placement in the tournament. As Carmac noted, "[$600] is enough to cover at least 50% of a flight from any corner of the world.” This helps the lesser-known, less-sponsored players who sometimes cannot afford the cost of travel to some events, to be able to make the trip...and it's one less roadblock for their chance at success. Carmac told me, "not everyone is sponsored and can afford to fly overseas. Our system ensures that everyone can earn their spot fairly and pick up either valuable event experience or glory and fame.  It sometimes affects our viewership in ways which we don't like, but we really believe this is the right way.”

I believe that the IEM circuit is superior to others simply because of how fair it is and the opportunities it allows to players who are not as well-off as the established ones. The online qualifiers give any player the opportunity to participate based simply on their own skill. If they can get their feet through the door and into the tournament, there is a minimum prize that provides a decent incentive to compete. On top of it all, if they can manage a strong performance, they can even secure themselves a ticket to the World Championship. In my opinion, IEM places competition above attracting big names and believes in a player's merits rather than their means, harvesting a great environment for competition.

Kiev marks the next stop in the IEM circuit (Photo: InfoInKiev.net)

IEM's next stop takes place at the Cybersports Arena in Kiev, Ukraine January 19th through the 22nd. For coverage throughout, visit our event page and use our Score Center to keep tabs on results.

Thomas Shifrer

Thomas Shifrer is a StarCraft 2 reporter for ESFI World. Follow him on Twitter at @The_Wiz4rd.   » ESFI Profile   » Twitter