We’re 4 days into IEM Katowice and we’ve already seen a ton of intense matches. We’ve seen a couple of upsets, the main one being Mousesports and FaZe not making it through to the playoffs but overall the group stage was pretty good in terms of matches. The 2 teams that topped their groups are Astralis and G2. These 2 teams had an unstoppable run the whole way through with only 1 map being dropped by G2 which was versus Mousesports. From just the conclusion of the group stage we can already acknowledge the fact that Astralis has practiced hard for this event to shake off their losses during Blast Premier Spring Series earlier this month, and G2 have certainly improved their game with their international roster, beating the likes of 100 Thieves, Mousesports and Team Liquid.
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Teams that have been on the rise the whole tournament through are Natus Vincere and 100 Thieves. Na’Vi started out the tournament by beating FaZe 2-1 and advancing to the upper semi-finals where they met with Fnatic and lost that series 2-1. They then continued their run in the lower semi-finals vs NiP, which they beat 2-0 and then moved on to meet FaZe again in the Lower Finals to eliminate them with a 2-1 score line. In regards to the Aussies performance, they started out their tournament showing by losing their first series with a clean 2-0 versus G2. They then moved on to the 1st round of the lower bracket versus Tyloo, which they beat 2-0 to move on to the lower semi-finals and play versus Evil Geniuses, which gave them one hell of a game, but 100 Thieves managed to top it off with a 2-1 score. Then came Mousesports as their final stage before the playoffs, which they eliminated with a swift 2-1.
These 2 teams have had a very impressive showing till this stage of Katowice and we cannot wait to see what else they have up their sleeve.
Schedule
Playoff matches are as follows (all times are CET):
Friday, February 28:
- 15:00 Fnatic vs. 100 Thieves
- 18:55 Liquid vs. Natus Vincere
Saturday, February 29:
- 15:00 G2 vs. fnatic / 100 Thieves
- 18:55 Astralis vs. Liquid / Natus Vincere
Sunday, March 1:
- 17:00 TBD vs TBD
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Predictions
As far as predictions go, I personally think that even though Liquid haven’t been at their best as of late, they’ve still been good enough to reach the playoffs, and we all know that when they focus up they can beat the likes of Astralis, so do not count them out of the winning picture just yet. 100 Thieves have shown that they’ve got what it takes to beat super tactical teams like Mousesports, so for them Fnatic shouldn’t be an obstacle. The upcoming playoff matches are sure to be chaotic and filled with excellent Counter Strike and we cannot wait to see what these teams have in store for us.
