After the last major eSports event of 2021 – BLAST Premier World Final has come to an end, tournament organizer ESL has published the final rankings and announced the final list of participants of IEM Katowice. A total of sixteen teams will compete in the play-in stage. Eight of them were already known earlier, and eight more were determined now, taking into account the latest changes in the world ranking.
In particular, Copenhagen Flames – , a Danish team that demonstrated unexpectedly high results at this year's PGL Major Stockholm, has been selected. Now it's up to her to prove that her success at the majors was no fluke. Other European teams in the play-in include – fnatic, ENCE, BIG and OG, with the latter two facing significant roster changes before the tournament. The only CIS team to make the play-in will be Entropiq, as the three leaders of the region – Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere and Gambit – received invitations directly to the main stage.
The only team from North America to make the play-in was Extra Salt. Given that there has been recent speculation about its lineup moving to Complexity in 2022, it remains unclear whether the slot will remain with that lineup.
The IEM Katowice play-in stage will begin on February 15, 2022. The top eight teams will advance to the next stage, where they will meet eight directly invited opponents.