The full list of teams attending Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta 2026 is officially confirmed after the conclusion of the final qualifiers, giving us the 16 teams who will be heading to the USA for the first big Counter-Strike 2 event of the year in North America.
Atlanta has established itself as one of the biggest events in North America and has positioned itself as a prestigious event, being part of the Intel Extreme Masters circuit. Set to kick off on May 11th and run until May 17th at the Georgia World Congress Centre in Atlanta, USA, the event will feature an eye-watering prize pool of $1,000,000, despite some big names choosing to skip it.
The likes of FURIA, Falcons, Spirit, and MOUZ will not be attending the event, but that doesn’t mean there is an absence of competition, especially with Vitality choosing to attend it. One can argue that ZyWoo will have an easy time in the USA, but there are enough teams to give them unexpected trouble, including but not limited to FaZe, NAVI, and Astralis.
Teams
Here is the confirmed list of teams competing at IEM Atlanta 2026:
- Vitality
- FaZe Clan
- Natus Vincere
- Astralis
- FUT Esports
- Team Liquid
- B8
- paiN Gaming
- NRG
- GamerLegion
- M80
- Legacy
- BC.Game Esports
- BetBoom Team
- BET-M 33
- Passion UA
It goes without saying that the team list would suggest only one team is the heavy favorite out of all, given their recent form. Vitality stands tall as the best team in the world, but closing in on them are FaZe and NAVI, who, despite struggling with poor form, have time till May to iron out the wrinkles in their team and cause a massive upset.
With the CS2 2026 season unfolding in style, we have Vitality continuing their domination from the year before, and it is easy to see why they are favorites, but staying the best is harder than becoming it, so time will tell if anyone can dethrone them or if they head into mid-season in solid form.