Odds to Win Starcraft II Intel Extreme Masters 2021

After a hard-fought campaign through the 2020/21 season, the Starcraft II pro players are gearing up for the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice tournament. The IEM Katowice 2021 is the last major tournament of the ESL Pro Tour League.

The tournament began 2/20/21 with a preliminary play-in round before the Main Group stage begins. Players are competing for a prize pool of $250,000. Players will be competing almost every day until the championship match on 2/28.

Player TY led the Pro Tour with 3162 points with ROGUE close behind with 2845 points. Both teams received a direct invite to the IEM because they’re previous tournament winners.

Starcraft II IEM Tournament Structure

The IEM begins with a play-in round where 16 hopeful teams will compete for 4 slots to advance into the main Group Stage event. In the Group Stage, four groups of six teams will compete in a round-robin format.

First place in each group will automatically move into the quarterfinal round. Second and third place will move onto a playoff round of twelve. The playoffs will be single-elimination, best-of-five matches. The championship match will be best-of-seven to determine winner of the tournament.

The winner will receive $65,000 dollars along with $100 match bonuses throughout the tournament.

Odds to win the IEM Katowice 2021

Serral (+275)
Dark (+300)
ByuN (+350)
Reynor (+450)
Maru (+550)
Trap (+700)
Stats (+900)
Clem (+900)
Rogue (+900)
INnoVation (+1100)
Zest (+1400)
TY (+1400)

Odds via BetOnline as of February 18, 2021.

Region to Win IEM

South Korea is the dominant region for Starcraft 2. Out of the top ten players, seven of them are from South Korea. BetOnline lists South Korea (-227) as favorite over The Rest of the World (+162).

Race to win the IEM

Starcraft is divided into three different races: Protoss, Zerg, and Terran. Each race has it’s advantages as each player has a favorite race. BetOnline lists the favorite race to win the championship: Zerg (-105), Terran (+240), and Protoss (+260)

IEM Team Analysis

Serral (+275): Despite S. Korean players being considered the best in the world, the odds favor Serral, a player from Finland. He’s currently ranked No. 3 on the Pro Tour. Look for Serral to go far in this tournament. He finished 3rd-4th last year, and has only gotten better.

Dark (+300): The odds favor him in this tournament and Dark is ranked No. 13 on the Pro Tour. He won the WCS Global Finals in 2019 but only played two major tournaments in 2020. I’d expect Dark to be the player to beat.

ByuN (+350): ByuN has a long road ahead. First, he has to survive the Round of 36 and advance to the Group Stage. Once a top player, ByuN hasn’t competed since 2016 because of mandatory military service. Bettors might want to wait before putting their eggs in his basket.

Reynor (+450): Another “world” player against the elite South Koreans. He’s currently ranked No. 4 on the Pro Tour. Reynor is an Italian child-prodigy and has been competing for years despite being 18. Look for Reynor to be on the podium in this tournament.

Rogue (+900): Crowned the 2020 IEM Katowice champion. Currently, he’s ranked No. 2 and has 2845 points in the Pro Tour. Despite an impressive year it hasn’t boosted his odds. Bettors could win a hefty payout if Rogue repeats his performance.

TY (+1400): It’s interesting that odds are so against TY. He leads the Pro Tour with 3162 points. A good be for any bettor looking for a steep payout.