2016's edition of IEM Katowice is officially on the books. And it wasn't quite the surprise that last year brought. There were some similarities for sure. A lot of regions again brought mid-level teams with their top teams missing the nod. There were a few unexpected faces in the finals. But, when it comes down to it, the team that everyone expected to win the tournament actually won handedly. Let's run down the teams grouped by region and rate how they did.

NA

Counter Logic Gaming

The stronger team coming out of the NA region fell flat this tournament, dropping their series against SKT T1 and Fnatic. A lot of their problems stemmed from very strange pick and ban priorities, perhaps tunnelling a little and forcing Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaha in a strict split-push role on odd picks like Vladimir and Ekko. And, when CLG couldn't get the split-push going, they often looked lost and unlike their usual coordinated selves. CLG continuing to underperform in international tournaments might be a worrying trend.

Grade: C-

Team SoloMid

Having a relatively easier group than their NA compatriots might have helped the struggling Team SoloMid squad. Dropping a guaranteed win against the Korean challenger team Ever in the group stage, Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and company managed to redeem themselves by beating Origen in a tight series and then going on to properly sweep Ever in a rematch series. Getting completely outplayed by SKT T1 in the semifinals might not have felt good, but TSM fans can feel good that their team exceeded expectations.

Grade: B

EU

Origen

This was an opportunity for the IEM San Jose winners to right the proverbial ship coming into Katowice. But, unfortunately for Origen fans, it simply wasn't meant to be. The Europeans would straight-up get bullied out by the Chinese aggression of Royal Never Give Up and then go on to ultimately slip up against TSM. This was a series that has to still be haunting Jungler Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider, who was directly part of some critical missteps by OG that cost them the series against his former team.

Grade: D+

Fnatic

For the former kings of Europe, Fnatic can certainly hold their heads a little higher. Despite losing their initial game against QG, the team seemed to come into their own and overcome both CLG and QG in tightly contested three-game series. Martin "Rekkles" Larsson showed that he was a Jhin player to be feared. Channeling a lot of gusto and strong camaraderie, the team conquered the Chinese powerhouse team Royal Never Give Up only to fall to SKT T1 in the finals. A great showing overall though by EU's 5th place team.

Grade: B+

CN

Qiao Gu

Since completely flopping at this past year's World Championship, Chinese international play has been a point of contention. QG didn't do much to convince the doubters at IEM. Despite bringing in former Worlds finalist Zihao "Uzi" Jian and defeating FNC in their initial group stage match, one of the top teams from China ran right into the brick wall that was SKT T1 and seemingly could not recover, ultimately losing to FNC in the deciding series. 

Grade: C

Royal Never Give Up

China's strength as a region has consistently been their ability to dominate teamfights and RNG, China's other top team in this tournament, managed to properly showcase this strength. Winning out the first seed of their group off the back of very calculated aggression, RNG would ultimately fall in the semifinals to FNC off the back of China's weakness as a region: macro play. Falling behind consistently on lane swaps, it was the Achilles' heel for Royal and ultimately cost them a finals match against SKT.

Grade: B-

KR

Ever

There were a lot of question marks for the Korean challenger squad coming into Katowice. This was a team that upset SKT T1 in the KeSPA Cup and won IEM Cologne. However, at the same time, this wasn't the same team with a lot of their power getting siphoned off. Mid Laner Gang "Athena" Haun was picked up by EDward Gaming and AD Carry Park "Police" Hyeong-gi moved over to Apex Gaming. Despite losing a lot of their power, Ever managed to upset TSM in their first meeting, but couldn't move any farther than that.

Grade: C

SK Telecom T1

Who was really surprised by this? Defending World Champions may not look as strong as they used to be in their own region, but SKT seemed to pick up right where they left off when it comes to international competition. Jungler Gang "Blank" Seon-gu wasn't the liability that Bae "Bengi" Seong-ung has been for SKT. But, the MVP Bae "Bang" Jung-sik put on his God pants and straight out flattened all of the other AD Carries who faced him this tournament, which led to the defending World Champions raising the trophy once again.

Grade: A