Sulfur
After two days of head-scratching results coming from all corners of Katowice, Day 3 finally saw some stability, predictability, and of course, top-tier CS like always. (Especially because elimination was on the line in some of the matches.)
XVI Katowice 2022Poland, Katowice, Spodek
FaZe Clan
G2 Esports
Heroic6 matches were played, again, and the chaos of Days 1 and 2 meant that relatively stronger teams were in the lower bracket. Hence, even upper bracket matches were practically elimination ones.
FURIA, for example, were in the upper bracket. But they were gonna face NaVi and if they lost (which they did, of course) they would have to play the winner between G2 and Liquid. I cannot predict Day 4, but it’s safe to say that G2, the winner against Liquid, will defeat FURIA with ease. (That’s what I said about NaVi vs MIBR, though, so FURIA fans still have some hope. Hopefully, the CS gods shall bestow upon you their virtuous blessings, Brazil.)
With that said, let’s get into all the CS action we saw on the third day of Group Stage!
Astralis vs ENCE
Astralis played ENCE in the first elimination match of Group B, and the action-packed match did not disappoint.
The match started with ENCE’s Mirage pick. As said yesterday, Astralis are relatively inexperienced on this map, so it might not be the greatest benchmark to set during comparisons. Regardless, that simply should not take away from the fact that ENCE played really well. Like, they won the first half 9-6, but even that didn’t match their performance. An 11-4 is what it felt like, and thankfully, ENCE didn’t let these little mistakes ruin the map for them.
gla1ve did show some great signs of life occasionally, but it was always too little. ENCE ended up winning the map 19-16.
Overpass was better for Astralis. They were able to hold off the CT aggression in the first half. And then their own CT side was great. They had a proactive defense. They did not give any room to ENCE, definitely not for free. Even when ENCE were leading, they looked uncomfortable. Snappi’s mid-round calls were not up to the mark, and Astralis deserved to win 16-12.
The last map ended 16-13 in the favour of Astralis, but ENCE were quite lucky to that score. Their first 5 round wins, especially, inflate their quality. blameF and k0nfig woke up after that rough patch, and it was easy sailing for the Danish team after that. Nothing too complicated, but both teams did give away a few sloppy rounds.
That loss concludes ENCE’s story in Katowice this year. Astralis go through to the next round at their mercy. They are primed to face fnatic now, the team that defeated G2. That surely will be an interesting match.
THE REVERSE SWEEP ?@AstralisCS win Overpass and Ancient to eliminate @ENCE from #IEM Katowice 2022 pic.twitter.com/lsQbtQunQb
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 19, 2022
G2 vs Liquid
G2 were a shadow of their usual selves yesterday against fnatic, but with elimination on the line today, they made no such mistake. Every move was top-class, and style and talent oozed out of every shot they took. A beautiful match from the very best of G2 to send the NA team packing. And guess what? In only his second match on LAN in top-tier CS, m0NESY already bagged an MVP. Scary.
The first half of Vertigo saw G2 on the CT side. You can conclude that half by saying A was untouchable. NiKo and m0NESY’s grand presence meant A was simply out of the equation for Liquid. G2 won that half 10-5, thanks to the two stars. The second half wasn’t too much better for Liquid either, as NiKo and m0NESY had 1.83 and 1.74 rating performances.
Not a lot you can do against that.
The second map was G2’s Mirage, and it was even less competitive. G2 lost both pistols and still managed to win 16-5. There are simply no bounds to this team…. except they themselves. NiKo put it best in his post-match interview, “If we play like today, we can beat every team, but if we play like yesterday, every team can beat us.”
In the end, Liquid’s top fragger, shox, had the same kills as NiKo and m0NESY had in the first map alone. Strats fall into the darkened background when you have that magic going on.
.@G2esports convincingly sweep @TeamLiquidCS and eliminate them from #IEM Katowice.
16-8 Vertigo
16-5 Mirage pic.twitter.com/F2hf1DPmD2— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 19, 2022
FaZe vs fnatic
This was the match where ropz returned for FaZe, replacing the interim jks. It was a fair debut for him in Katowice 2022. He obviously couldn’t perform to the highest of his individual levels, but we can easily expect the classic ropz to show up in the Playoffs if FaZe reach it.
But let’s talk about FaZe vs fnatic first.
The first map was another blowout for fnatic on their own map. FaZe defeated them on Overpass 16-5. So yeah. Just another day in the fnatic camp.
Well, jokes aside, fnatic did look very poor in both halves. The one-dimensional CS that ALEX likes to play didn’t work since fnatic had little to no opening kills. Fnatic could only conjure up a 10-5 first half, which in itself is quite generous, I’d say. The second half was silly. FaZe won 6-0 on their T side, and fnatic had absolutely no answers.
I’m starting to wonder why fnatic even pick maps up and then play like this. I bet it’s just for the memes.
I say that because they clearly are a capable side. On FaZe’s pick of Inferno, they looked better. Thye had a much stronger defensive side, which they won 9-6, and their attacks were great too. FaZe kept walking into places and dying. They were not executing their strats well, and a good chunk of their round wins came down to superior individual skill.
The decider match was Mirage. It was clear that their playbook has been constantly updating ever since ropz joined FaZe. Off server, ropz is known for those pixel-perfect smokes, and FaZe Clan in 2021 were using outdated and slow lineups. The fact that their constantly grinding and improving themselves in itself is a big deal. On Mirage, FaZe was a tad bit faster and cleaner, and with enough firepower, fnatic simply couldn’t compete as they lost 16-9.
And with that victory, FaZe finalize their place in the IEM Katowice Playoffs. This is karrigan’s first time playing in Katowice in four years, and his post-match interview reflected just that. “I was so mad I couldn’t go. I wanted to go to Katowice, and now I finally can. This is how legends are made, and I wanna be one of them.”
CONGRATS TO @FaZeClan! ?
We will see them in the Spodek Arena, next week ?#IEM pic.twitter.com/sIqJxUGIA4
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 19, 2022
You’re definitely a legend, Finn.
NaVi vs FURIA
After not being at their very best so far in 2022, NaVi improved their form at least a little. And in the first map, what we saw was NaVi at their best. The difference between this version of NaVi and the best versions of other Top 10 teams is like the difference between Silver 1 and Global Elite. NaVi are just levels and leagues away from other teams.
On FURIA’s own map pick of Mirage, they were humiliated 16-2. NaVi exposes a team’s flaws like no other team ever does or can. That is quite harsh for a team like FURIA who are still rather new with saffee. They need time to build themselves for the topmost level.
The second map was a better showing by FURIA. They lost 16-12 on Nuke, but actually won their second half T side 7-6. It was nothing serious, no real tactical issues. FURIA just got themselves back and played the best they can. And seems like there is hope for them against G2. They won’t be able to win, but they’ll put up a serious fight. More than they did on Mirage against NaVi, at least.
After this win, NaVi become the third team to qualify for the Playoffs. They’ll battle against FaZe for that semifinal spot, but they’ll be in the Playoffs, nonetheless.
The winners of the last LAN edition of #IEM Katowice are BACK in the Spodek! ?
The crowd awaits. @natusvincere pic.twitter.com/ykCJ6ryPDn
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 19, 2022
Vitality vs Gambit
The megateams and heavy favorites of this tournament were about to face off in an elimination match in Group 1. Who could’ve predicted that? And unfortunately for CS fans, it simply wasn’t competitive. Gambit won fairly easily, and Vitality’s dreams of wearing the crown in Katowice were cut short in the Group Stage itself. Harrowing for the former French camp. They’ll definitely need to look into their mistakes and figure out a way to grow stronger before the Major.
The first map was Gambit’s Mirage. It wasn’t a disaster from Vitality. Gambit were simply too good. It was a dominating 16-7 win, with nafany’s T side calling being extremely supreme. zywOo had probably the worst game he’ll have in 2022. With a 3-18 score and 0.32 rating, the chubby French had a map to forget.
The second map was better, but still not nearly enough. Gambit absolutely nailed the basics of Counter-Strike. The movements, the angle clearance, the teamwork. Beautiful. This is why Gambit is the only real competition to NaVi.
Have you watched some NaVi maps where the opponents try to throw curveball map picks on them? NaVi never succumb to that! Their fundamentals and basics are so strong that if they are to play on a 100% new map that no team has ever even seen, NaVi would still win. Not just because of the fragging powers, but because they can create stuff simply by looking at the mini-map. I would love for a showmatch like that.
Getting back to the point, Gambit reigned supreme. No overly complicated stuff. Just some great CS, and a deserved win. Too bad it came at the mercy of a team so strong like Vitality is, but the truth remains true. No place for slacking, no place for lack of motivation, no place for losers.
Vitality will be packing their bags, and Gambit will live to fight another day.
Some things take time. ⌛
With their loss against Gambit, @TeamVitality are now eliminated from #IEM Katowice 2022.
The curse of never making it to the Spodek was not broken this year but with the talent on your roster we know it's only a matter of time.
GGs! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lHFHlingzY
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 19, 2022
MOUZ vs NiP
It could’ve been a well-placed competitive match, but it simply was not. The last match of Day 3 did not throw any unexpected results our way, and yes, it is kinda unsatisfying.
Nevertheless, let’s break it down!
NiP started the match on MOUZ’s pick of Vertigo. It used to be a permaban for NiP, and as we saw yesterday, they were defeated by Gambit on it. Yet, they have bounced back and now won on it twice in a row. Great stuff from the Ninjas. REZ had a great game, but his inconsistency keeps rearing its ugly heads from time to time. I have no doubt that it’ll be the root cause of why NiP will be eliminated from Katowice when they do. I get it, he had a great game and this isn’t the space for me to bash him. But he effectively is a Swedish flamie. Look at what happened to NaVi when they replaced flamie.
Sorry REZ fans, just putting it out there. By the way, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, he’s been on NiP since mid-2017. 4.5 years. He’s a great player but the trick of the world is not to reach the top. It’s to maintain yourself at it.
After walking down another tangential path, let’s get back to the game.
The second map was even better for the Swedes. They won 16-6 on Ancient, and their CT side was flawless. No, literally. They won 7-0 on their defensive CT side. MOUZ simply couldn’t compete with NiP’s solid core. NiP knew they were better, and they owned that badge.
Unfortunately for MOUZ and torzsi, this is the end of Katowice for them this year. NiP have moved on and set up a rematch against Gambit. They had triumphed over the CIS side last time, but can they do it again now that they are so, so close to Playoffs? Only time can tell.
.@NIPCS ELIMINATE @mousesports from #IEM Katowice 2022
They make it a clean match with 2 clear wins on Vertigo and Ancient pic.twitter.com/sF0AHEyGUY
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 19, 2022
These three days have worked hard to make the next and the last better. So many storylines, so many loose ends. All shall be tied up very soon, and I’ll get back to you guys with the final results of the Group Stages.
