Team Vitality underachieved heavily at IEM Katowice as they got eliminated from the CS:GO tournament in just their third match. Three more teams said goodbye to Spodek Arena on Wednesday. Let’s get in on the action!
IEM Katowice was harsh for Team Vitality
We finally got to the point at IEM Katowice where most matches are highly contested affairs from start to finish and boy did we have some good ones on Wednesday.
In a high-profile elimination game in Group A Team Vitality fell to FaZe Clan and their young Latvian star Helvijs “broky” Saukants. The French stole their opponent’s map Mirage to go up 1-0 in the series, but their own veto game let them down as both Nuke and Inferno went the Clan’s way, thus ending French presence in Group A.
The second elimination game there paled in comparison. Ninjas in Pyjamas were no match for Natus Vincere and only gathered 13 rounds on Mirage and Train.
Back to the interesting part. G2 kept French spirits up with an impressive victory over in-form mousesports in Group B. After success on Dust2, mouz were looking poised to secure the win on their map choice Inferno, but something went terribly wrong for Finn “karrigan” Andersen’s squad. They got smoked twice in a row by G2 – not only on Inferno, but on Nuke as well, meaning the reigning ESL Pro League champions will have to exit the group through the lower bracket.
Group B kept producing quality. The North American derby between Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses went full format too, with TL emerging as victors. They could have done so earlier, but the Nuke OT on the second map was not too kind and all the rounds were for EG. Team Liquid recovered well on Inferno, however, and will be playing for a playoff spot in their next match.
While some teams were fighting for a better position in the playoffs, others were out there for mere survival. MAD Lions put an end to Virtus.pro’s participation in Poland by squeezing a 16-13 victory on the deciding map of Dust2. No more VP chants at the Spodek this year I’m afraid.
In the last fixture of day three, 100 Thieves dealt with Tyloo who never looked up to the task of filling in for ViCi Gaming at this event. Another 2-0 loss and game over for the Asians.
Thursday is the final day with six matches on the schedule and the end of group play. Here is what we are going to see today:
- Evil Geniuses – 100 Thieves
- mousesports – MAD Lions
- Astralis – Fnatic
- FaZe Clan – Natus Vincere
- Team Liquid – G2
- Group B lower bracket final (winners of EG – 100 Thieves; mouz – MAD Lions)
Who’s going home before the playoffs? Place your bets below!
