The South American closed qualifier for IEM Chicago will start later today, with eight teams competing for a spot at the $250,000 tournament.

From August 29th through to the 31st, the qualifier will feature a double-elimination bracket that will round off in a best-of-five grand final, with the team coming from the upper bracket having a one-map advantage.

ESL invited Isurus, Luminosity, NoTag, and Wild to the closed qualifier, while the remaining four were determined by online qualifiers, with W7M, Santos, Revoltz, and Rão completing the team list.

The initial matches will start simultaneously, with the ex-NTC lineup NoTag set to take on Rão, while Gustavo "⁠SHOOWTiME⁠" Gonçalves' Santos will go head-to-head against his old team, Luminosity. Former Luminosity members Lucas "⁠destiny⁠" Bullo and Vinicios "⁠PKL⁠" Coelho's Wild will encounter Revoltz, with the final-initial scrap featuring Isurus and W7M.

The winner of the closed qualifier will secure a spot at IEM Chicago, which will take place November 6-11 at the Wintrust Arena with $250,000 on the line.

Below you can find the initial match-ups for the first round: