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tips.gg/CS2 (CS:GO) News/The Greatest Grand Final In CS:GO History: Katowice 2022

The Greatest Grand Final In CS:GO History: Katowice 2022

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27.02.2022, 17:03

IEM Katowice has come to an end, and FaZe Clan have 3-0ed G2 to take this trophy home for the first time in their history. The Batman in karrigan has cleaned the streets of the Polish town off of any other team’s name, and has become the hero of the night.

IEM Katowice 2022 Grand Final will go down in history as the greatest fight two teams have ever fought. Sure, the score “3-0” suggests something else, but the match in itself breeds in it a different story.

A new drama.

XVI Katowice 2022Poland, Katowice, Spodek
$1,000,000Prize Pool
24Teams
PremierTier
FaZe Clan
Winner
G2 Esports
2nd Place
Heroic
3rd Place

The 10th edition of IEM Katowice has lived up to its hype, and in case you don’t know the thrill of the Final that just ended, here’s what happened.

Inferno

The first map was FaZe’s pick of Inferno. Both teams had played this map in the Semifinals against NaVi and Heroic. Both had won, of course. This was bound to be a great battle on a map usually set as a decider.

That notion was quickly proved wrong, as G2 rushed to a defensive 11-2 lead on Inferno. Occasional aggression from NiKo, Banana wins by G2, huNter’s mid aggression, and of course, m0NESY. A new fear. All these factors played their part. FaZe managed to salvage 4 rounds by the end, two of them being forcebuy wins.

Things changed for FaZe on their CT side, though. After winning the pistol and converting the next two, FaZe were 11-7. G2 took a timeout before the first gun round of the second half and came out of it guns blazing. Their tactical side truly shone, be it NiKo’s game sense to get 2 openings on B, or be it a beautiful A execute that left FaZe scrambling for effective positions. Just like that, it was 15-7 in G2’s favour, and they had all the time in the world to close this out against karrigan’s men.

But the veteran Danish IGL was not gonna give up. It was a weakened forcebuy win by FaZe to kickstart the comeback. Two anti eco wins sandwiching a beautiful Banana 3k by jks (thanks to broky’s flashes) made it 12-15 for FaZe. And with that score, G2 took a timeout to keep this map from spiraling away. But that proved to be an impossible task. G2 did nearly win after taking B in the next round, but a sensational double kill from broky meant it went FaZe’s way. That round broke G2’s economy for the 29th round. And then in the 30th round came a mind-blowing ropz ace to push this match into overtime.

FaZe rode that defensive momentum into overtime, as they won the next two rounds to take the lead on Inferno, the first time they had ever done. G2 were struggling for even basic map control, and it looked like the squad’s fundamentals had taken a strong hit. A G2 timeout did nothing to solve their issues. In the final round, the crazed brainiac in karrigan ran down Banana to kill 3 G2 players transitioning to A. FaZe were up 18-15, and it was G2’s time to reactivate their own CT side and take this brawl into a second overtime.

But it was simply not meant to be. After a great A take (and having Lady Luck be on their side, as m0NESY missed 3 AWP shots), it was FaZe that won the map, thanks to a stunning 12-round win streak.

It was a heartbreaking Inferno comeback for NiKo, who was at the receiving end of it in a Grand Final. Oh, deja vu for him, then.

Mirage

The map started very strong for FaZe. jks constantly shut down NiKo in Palace, and FaZe’s weird mid give-ups were their secret strat. They nearly won 3 guns rounds using that strat, and only m0NESY’s brilliance could deny one of them. The only rounds G2 could win were off of individual multikills from their star players, the opposite of what G2 showed us yesterday. FaZe would’ve won one more round had it not been for a delayed retake, but they will still be rather happy with an 11-4 half.

The second half began as FaZe started theirs on Inferno. A pistol-round win and the following conversion for G2. But since FaZe got a bomb plant in the second round, they had a good buy for the next round, which they used to down G2, breaking their economy for the next two rounds.

After a messy start to the second half, it was 14-6 in favor of FaZe, and then a real gun fight. And G2 finally stepped up, winning round after round in an unrelenting streak of wins. But the only blemish they had in between proved to be their demon, as FaZe had secured map point through a random forcebuy amidst this run. Regardless, FaZe were shell-shocked to have fallen victim to a crazy comeback themselves, losing 9 out of 10 rounds from 14-6 to 15-15.

FaZe finally broke that momentum by winning a round, thanks to great positioning and trades in A. The next round was decided by the first fight itself: broky killed m0NESY in Apps, and with NiKo playing Connector on his CT side, it was a free barge in for FaZe. A huNter- double was canceled by a jks lurk. G2 finally won a CT round and ended the first half 1-2.
FaZe started their CT side by securing 18, but G2 fought back valiantly, thanks to m0NESY’s heroics. Double overtime was needed to separate these two star-studded teams.

The double OT started with a huNter- 1v2 clutch that made JACKZ kiss him on the head. jks and ropz responded by wiping out G2 on A, and the score had tied once again. The next round was broky’s time to shine, as the Latvian ran through the Cat fires to backstab two G2 players. FaZe had won the first half of the second overtime.

Before I could even stop writing, G2 had already tied it 20-20. *shrugs* A CRAZY 4k by Twistzz pushed FaZe to 21. But G2 recovered and before FaZe knew it, they were down 3v5. m0NESY went on to kill the last man standing in broky, and WE HAD A THIRD OVERTIME.

YOU.CANNOT.WRITE.A.SCRIPT.LIKE.THAT.

NiKo got an early AWP kill in both the rounds, and that paved the way for G2 to win and go up 23-21. But a very quick round from FaZe that I missed again meant it was a conceivable 23-22. G2 had some great entries on B and planted the bomb 5v2 up. jks and ropz could do nothing but watch as G2 secured map point for the first time on Mirage.

But please stay with me here. Yes, you’ve guessed it. But don’t leave in frustration. A FOURTH OVERTIME.

FaZe kept their strong CT side flowing through the veins of millions, as they took a 26-24 lead. And guess what? G2 still had a timeout left. In the fourth OT, G2 took a timeout somehow and it clearly helped, as G2 won the following round. Clearly, they discussed CT strats as well, because they won the first two rounds of the second half too, to secure one more map point.

Hold your breaths. There’s a huge “but” I’m throwing your way now. B.U.T.T. …..BUT broky and Twistzz combined beautifully to take it to the nineteenth overtime or something like that, idk anymore.

The lost-count overtime started with a broky AWP clutch. Two very quick A hits by karrigan and co…. and we finally had a 3-0 OT winner. FaZe clean-sweep-ed their T side, and it was time for their defense to not humiliatingly falter. And not humiliatingly falter they did!!!

After a bad start, a jks lurk clutched Mirage 1v2 and we FINALLY had a winner. It took 58 rounds, but we finally did.

A crazy map finally came to an end to give everyone involved a much-needed break. Including me, yeah. This map took all the professional out of me and threw it out the window. I mean, we literally, mathematically, had two maps combined into one.

Nevertheless, G2 had to put all of this behind. They were 2-0 down, but it was their map pick of Dust 2 that lay ahead. They had to huddle themselves back up and power through.

Katowice was at stake.

Dust 2

Unlike how things were on Inferno and Mirage, it wasn’t a CT side rollover in the first half. FaZe’s T side actually won the first half closely, 8-7. They won the pistol and converted the next two. They failed their defaults a few times, simply because of the talent on the G2 side. There were no secret strats or stuff. Plain, simple CS. FaZe also won two eco/forcebuy rounds in this half, which alone accounted for roughly 4 rounds in total. Amazing stuff from this squad.

G2 won the pistol round in what would be the final half of IEM Katowice. FaZe tried their classic “defeat them in ecos” strat, and it almost worked except for a m0NESY 1v2 clutch. G2 also converted the next, taking a 10-8 lead before the first gun round.

FaZe depleted the G2 side through spams and utility after giving up B site rather easily. They started winning the following rounds to gain momentum, and finally break G2’s economy. FaZe made it to 12-10, and nothing truly special was going on, tactics-wise. The 23rd round started with ropz out AWP-ing m0NESY through mid. I just wanted to include this, because I found that to be pretty awesome. jks followed it with a quad kill to extend FaZe’s lead. FaZe then fell prey to their own games, as G2 won an eco round to make it 13-11, much more competitive than 14-10 that FaZe would’ve expected. G2 won the next two rounds to tie it up 13-13. G2’s flashes were extremely high-quality so far into the map, and clearly, this utility usage was a key reason they picked this map.

A crazy 4k by broky meant it was 14-13 in favor of FaZe. In the 28th round, G2 fell behind after karrigan got a 2k on double doors, but they powered through it, thanks to m0NESY and huNter’s 2k each. It was 14-14, and the next round was make or break for both teams. And broky shined the brightest here. AWPing from Window, he took away all the attention from ropz who got a 2k near Tunnels, and then broky followed it up by his own 2k on m0NESY and NiKo.

It was map, match, and championship point for FaZe. And this time, fighting against a very weak buy of a few pistols and 2 AKs, FaZe did not falter.

FaZe, coming through from the Play-In stage, fighting against covid time and time again, trying to incorporate the young and the old, have won IEM Katowice 2022 in THE most iconic way possible.

broky won the MVP of this tournament, and the young AWPer is showing his true potential on the big stage. I’m so excited to see what becomes of 2021’s World Number 20 this year.

There are a LOT of storylines surrounding every FaZe player, and I’ll be wrapping them up very soon. Untill then, thanks for following the tournament along with me!

Our Counter-Strike is the greatest game ever to have been played. Katowice creates history.

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