Let's face it, what's the only thing that ever comes close to playing Starcraft 2? Watching it. IEM Sao Paulo is the last bastion, waving two tickets to the final championship in March, and as you're reading this our favorite players are getting ready to fight tooth and nail (or well, Zealot and Zergling) for a chance to obtain it. How do they get it? Four long, exhausting days of battling in the game we all love -- and we know everything about them. Sit back and have the schedule, interesting matches and community news served to you on a platter not only today, but each and every day the tournament is running. For now, ready yourself, because this is going to be BIG!


Who?
The group brackets for IEM have undergone a few changes, with players such as QXC being replaced by fan-favorite DeMusliM, but overall they are as solid as the qualifiers made them out to be. With my likely top-of-the-crop being SuperNoVa, Feast, viOLet and ret it's a solid lineup that will be battling it out at Campus Party. Keep a good eye out for Illusion, the somewhat unknown player who went through a tough bracket to get here.
Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
DarK.FoRcEDeMusliMbiGsFenix
IllusionFeastPotiguarret
KiLLeRTunicoviOLetsLivko
SuperNoVaXlorDReaLSnute
When?
If you're in korea, you might find yourself struggling to stay up throughout the tournament, but I'd sincerely recommend getting up early saturday to catch the finals. Get yourself an Orange Milkis, and suck it up -- we're in it for eSports, and eSports never sleeps. Everyone else is fairly lucky, as Brazil is in UTC-2, a time zone that makes us here in Europe have to stay up a wee bit to see it to the end, and gives you east-coast Americans an early - but fair - time to aim for. The table below details all the times you might want to know, so you no longer have any excuse to miss any of your favorite matches. Speaking of that, check out our tips below!
Wednesday
UTC -2
CET
EST
KST
Alternate.DarKFoRcE – Vile.Illusion
11:00:00
13:00:00
08:00:00
22:00:00
Dignitas.KiLLeR – OGS.SuperNoVa
12:00:00
15:00:00
09:00:00
23:00:00
Alternate.DarKFoRcE – OGS.SuperNoVa
13:20:00
16:20:00
10:20:00
00:20:00
Dignitas.KiLLeR – Vile.Illusion
14:20:00
17:20:00
11:20:00
01:20:00
Alternate.DarKFoRcE – Dignitas.KiLLeR
15:20:00
18:20:00
12:20:00
02:20:00
Vile.Illusion – OGS.SuperNoVa
15:20:00
18:20:00
12:20:00
02:20:00
EG.DeMusliM – Tunico
16:40:00
19:40:00
13:40:00
03:40:00
MYM.XlorD – Millenium.Feast
17:40:00
20:40:00
14:40:00
04:40:00
EG.DeMusliM – Millenium.Feast
19:00:00
22:00:00
17:00:00
06:00:00
MYM.XlorD – Tunico
20:00:00
23:00:00
17:00:00
07:00:00
EG.DeMusliM – MYM.XlorD
21:00:00
00:00:00
18:00:00
08:00:00
Millenium.Feast – Tunico
21:00:00
00:00:00
18:00:00
09:00:00
Thursday



Type.ReaL – Empire.vioLet
11:00:00
14:00:00
08:00:00
22:00:00
Potiguar – Mouz.biGs
12:00:00
15:00:00
09:00:00
23:00:00
Type.ReaL – Mouz.biGs
13:20:00
16:20:00
10:20:00
00:20:00
Potiguar – Empire.vioLet
14:20:00
17:20:00
11:20:00
01:20:00
Type.ReaL – Potiguar
15:20:00
18:20:00
12:20:00
02:20:00
Empire.vioLet – Mouz.biGs
15:20:00
18:20:00
12:20:00
02:20:00
GL.Snute – ROXKIS.sLivko
16:40:00
19:40:00
13:40:00
03:40:00
TL.ret – IM.Fenix
17:40:00
20:40:00
14:40:00
04:40:00
GL.Snute – IM.Fenix
19:00:00
22:00:00
17:00:00
06:00:00
TL.ret – ROXKIS.sLivko
20:00:00
23:00:00
17:00:00
07:00:00
GL.Snute – TL.ret
21:00:00
00:00:00
18:00:00
08:00:00
ROXKIS.sLivko – IM.Fenix
21:00:00
00:00:00
18:00:00
09:00:00
Friday




Quarter Final #1
14:00:00
17:00:00
11:00:00
01:00:00
Quarter Final #2
15:30:00
18:30:00
12:30:00
02:30:00
Quarter Final #3
17:20:00
20:20:00
14:20:00
04:20:00
Quarter Final #4
18:50:00
21:50:00
15:50:00
05:50:00
Saturday




Semi Final #1
14:00:00
17:00:00
11:00:00
01:00:00
Semi Final #2
15:30:00
18:30:00
12:30:00
02:30:00
Game for 3rd Place
17:20:00
20:20:00
14:20:00
04:20:00
Grand Final
18:50:00
21:50:00
15:50:00
05:50:00
Where?
There will be two streams provided, one in english (cast by Rotterdam and Mr. Bitter) and one in Portugese. These can be found on Twitch.tv, one of the sponsors of the event. Because the finals are at such great hours for Americans and Europeans alike, there are a large amount of Barcrafts popping up for the finals. If you're not involved in your local Barcraft community, searching Facebook, r/barcraft and Teamliquid might help you find an event near you. Take your time to savor the greatness that is eSports with likeminded people, what do you know, maybe you'll make new friends! However, not everyone is lucky enough to have nearby events, and for you, the streams are right here:
English language stream

Brazilian language stream

Why?
By far the most interesting question to answer: Because it's going to be amazing. Now, don't get me wrong, IEM has had production quality issues previously, not to mention when their computers break, or the venue loses power... Well, let's just say they really must've pissed off the Starcraft gods at some point. However, I'm crossing my fingers for better luck this time, because we've got some good games ahead of us.
Alternate.DarKFoRcE – Vile.Illusion
The tournament kicks off with a bang as well known DarK.FoRcE battles the complete newcomer Illusion. Will we see another Leenock? If so, it's going to be him.
EG.DeMusliM – KEYD.Tunico
DeMusliM has been "out of the loop" for quite some time now, but is IEM going to be his comeback? Don't miss the potential return of the Devil Terran... or the potential letdown. Tunico, a brazilian Zerg player, is somewhat unfamiliar to the scene, but hopefully he'll have some tricks up his sleeve to poke at the defenses. Otherwise, the go-to match for fans of the British Terran would be vs. XlorD later in the evening.
Empire.vioLet – Mouz.biGs
The two giants, this could just as well be the final to me. Yes, on paper VioLet is stronger, but if anyone is going to give him a run for his money it's going to be the swiss Zerg. These two are both contenders for the final price, and having traveled so far there's no doubt about if they want it.
Liquid.ret – IM.Fenix
Continuing the trend of amazing Zerg players, ret travels from the Netherlands to gain that golden ticket - and to get there he's going to have to fight the far more local Fenix. The fact that ret has struggled considerably more with Terran than other matchups recently means it's going to be a fierce battle, extra much so considering Fenix's training in Korea (with Nestea as a practice partner).
With that said, don't forget that you can check back here every day once the matches are done for a re-cap of what you should watch as VODs, as well as the community news surrounding the event.