The management of the IEM5 European Championship has decided to add an additional 6 slots to the European Championship group stage. This means that the groups will now have 5 players each rather than 4. The reason for this is to allow those players who had missed their national qualifiers for various reasons to have another chance to qualify. Also all players who have already participated in their national qualifiers or are currently in the regular qualifier rounds are allowed to participate. The ongoing qualifier rounds will not be affected by this and will proceed as planned.

The additional 6 slots will be awarded in 2 separate cups held in mid-October. The top 3 players of each cup will advance directly to the group stage. It is allowed to sign up for both cups.


Source: Intel Extreme Masters Season 5 News