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tips.gg/CS2 (CS:GO) News/IEM Katowice Quarterfinals

IEM Katowice Quarterfinals

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25.02.2022, 20:25

The day we had been waiting for is finally here. It’s Playoffs time in front of the Katowice crowd. The six best teams in the entirety of this globe have geared up to battle it out in front of a roaring presence of fans and casters alike (yes, you, Scrawny.) These teams come here dreaming of reaching even higher. They are not here for a participation trophy, they are here to fight, to brawl, and to conquer.

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

To start off the Playoffs, these were the matches fixed: G2 vs VP. FaZe vs Gambit. No second chances. Loser goes out.

With everything at stake, these matches produced some of the best quality CS we’ve seen in months. Buckle up, for here’s what happened.

G2 vs VP

09:39Finished25.02.2022
0Virtus.prorussia (terrorist state)
2G2 EsportsEurope

The first map was G2’s strongest one, Mirage. Yet, it comes out as a surprise pick, given how they’ve lost on it twice in this event. More importantly, it was m0NESY’s LAN debut in top-tier CS. And in the astonishing way he played, I’d forgive you for thinking that the 16-year-old had been up there in front of a crowd for decades. A 45-kill masterclass, topped by the fact that he literally carried NiKo. Saying that NiKo played badly is an understatement. He was so terrible with his rifle, and so countered for his tendencies that he had to ditch the rifle completely and pick up the famous, big green.

The map started with G2 winning the pistol and converting the next. But in the gun rounds, a versatile Polish defense meant that G2 had no breathing room. NiKo kept getting picked off at the start of the round, mostly by Jame. It was frustrating for G2 fans to watch. The half ended 9-6 in the favour of VP. G2 then took a lead of 10-9, thanks to a pistol win, subsequent conversions, and a stellar display from m0NESY. On his major LAN debut, he reached 20 kills even before any of his teammates could reach 10. After VP and G2 each won 4 rounds in a row, the score remained in G2’s favor, 14-13.

But a disastrous 28th round, where G2 conceded an unforced flashbang error, meant VP won the round, thanks to a 4k by Qikert. After that win, G2’s economy was in tatters for the following two rounds, and everything favored VP. In the next episode of twists, G2 won the 29th round forcebuy and breathed a huge sigh of relief, before VP returned the favor in the final round.

Mirage had gone to overtime. The playbook was thrown out of the window in the 3 overtimes that were played. Everyone did their own thing, and there was nothing we could predict. At one point, there were 5 AWPs on the server, 2 on G2, and 3 on VP. It was chaotic and perfect entertainment. In the third overtime, G2 put in a flawless CT side, winning their half 3-0. After losing the first round of the second half, G2 found themselves in a near-unwinnable situation. VP could smell the smell of fourth overtime, but Aleksib and m0NESY had other plans. They won an insane 2v5 on the B site to close out an exhausting Mirage.

m0NESY ended his debut map with 45 kills, with NiKo on 23. The Future.

The second map was VP’s strongest map, Ancient. VP went 5-0 down before taking a timeout to better their T sides. The B hits they had tried hadn’t worked at all, thanks to NiKo and JACKZ’s great plays. That continued, as G2 won two more rounds to reach 7-0.
And that point, G2 just left NiKo alone on B with an AWP and set up the undead in A. But thanks to Jame’s incredible AWP openings on m0NESY and huNter, G2 were left to save.

The international squad made no mistakes again and pushed the scoreline to 10-1. VP finally responded to this steamroll by making it 10-3. G2 fixed their silly mistakes to make it 12-3, winning a dominant half of CS on Ancient.

The second half was practically done. VP won the pistol round but lost the following, which put a huge dent in their economy. Another pair of rounds where VP and G2 won forcebuys later, the Polish found themselves in a completely broken economy, and just two rounds away from elimination. G2 did not hesitate and easily won the following two rounds, setting up an iconic date with NaVi.

We will get to see the most exciting storylines of the past 6 months. NaVi vs G2. s1mple vs NiKo, indirectly. electronic vs NiKo (especially outside yard on Nuke.) m0NESY vs b1t, the battle of rookies. And of course. s1mple vs m0NESY. The most drooled-over story ever since the future-NaVi-player left the Ukrainian academy to join G2.

Tomorrow’s match cannot come any quicker.

FaZe vs Gambit

13:25Finished25.02.2022
0Gambitrussia (terrorist state)
2FaZe ClanEurope

With jks standing in once again, this time for rain, FaZe were at straws when it came to momentum and chemistry. Despite these continuous changes and break in symmetry, karrigan has powered through and handed FaZe a famous LAN victory over the defending champions of the IEM Season. It was a 2-0 masterclass, and Gambit must be experiencing deja vu, as FaZe had also defeated them back in the Major Quarterfinals. A True Kryptonite.

The first map was Gambit’s Dust 2. There was no denying the quality of FaZe’s CS. With ropz hitting shots like nobody, and the stand-in in jks doing everything right, FaZe simply couldn’t lose. They defeated Gambit 16-5 on the CIS’ side own map pick. It was unprecedented.

jks was playing the positions rain usually plays, and he was nailing them with perfection. Those entries, those site hits, those multikills: a piece of beauty.
FaZe punished Gambit’s slow T-side play heavily. The aggression, the calls on the CT side, the info plays, and, of course, the double AWP setup; everything was perfect.

FaZe won their defensive first half 10-5, and then put on literally the most flawless offense in the second half, by winning it 6-0.

And then a 1v4 by ropz to end it all. A string of smart deductions and crisp aim meant that ropz was able to maintain FaZe’s spotless second half, and won them the map. Dominance.

The second map was FaZe’s pick of Inferno, a karrigan specialty. The break between the maps surely gave enough time for Gambit to recover. They did lose the first two rounds, but they responded 8 of the nine following rounds. The round they lost was a crazy broky ace. When it’s his time to shine, you just accept it and let him do his thing. But other than that, there were no hiccups. Things looked great for the Russian defense, but FaZe figured Gambit out, and pushed back valiantly to keep the map competitive. After a string of round wins, the half ended 8-7 in the favour of Gambit.

In the second half, FaZe showed Gambit how to truly defend on Inferno. After losing the pistol round, FaZe went berserk with their reads and their team play. They won 9 rounds after that pistol loss, and the only two they dropped were individual plays in form of a sh1ro 1v4, and an anti-eco 3k by Ax1Le with his hero AK. It’s clear that when a team has to rely on individual prowess to win rounds, they are as good as lost. That was certainly the case, as FaZe won the second map 16-11, eliminating the defending champions.

Coming into this match, the biggest threat to FaZe was karrigan’s end product or lack of it thereof. Against NaVi, his KD was a painstaking -41. He only had 29 kills in three maps and two overtimes. Now, of course, he’s an IGL, and he’s the brains over aims guy of the squad. But -41 is unacceptable. That was my biggest criticism, and roadblock, of this FaZe squad.

Today, though, karrigan’s shooting was on point and satisfactory. I do not want him to be a s1mple, I just want him to not be shockingly bad when it comes to fragging. And he delivered today, with a KD of 0. That’s a huge improvement from -41, and if karrigan can keep this up, FaZe have a real shot at the trophy, especially with ropz and jks in top form.

Talking about jks, despite his last-minute substitution into yet another role, the versatile Australian managed to bag the MVP of the match. Unfazed.

It was a great story of two polar opposite entities standing stronger over their visible shortcomings and conquering over their opponent’s minds on the server. Despite XTQZZZ and rain missing out, G2 and FaZe did not let that deter them. They have shown true strength and secured their 3rd-4th place in the grand tournament of IEM Katowice.

But that’s not enough. These 12 men are not here for a 3rd-4th place. They want more. G2, FaZe, Heroic. They want more. They are tired of being in the shadow of a Ukrainian force so formidable that it could quake servers. They are here to win.

G2 vs NaVi. FaZe vs Heroic. All crave the crown, but not all can get it. Katowice is roaring.

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