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G2 Vs Heroic At IEM Katowice 2023 Grand Final

As we draw the curtains on IEM Katowice 2023, we have finally crowned a new CS:GO Major champion. It was G2 vs Heroic at the Spodek Arena in the grand finals. Who are returning home with another championship under their belt? Find out!

G2 vs Heroic

G2 beat another title contender, Team Liquid to make it to the finals of Katowice 2023. On the other hand, Heroic annihilated NaVi to reach the finals this year. Last year, they missed out losing to FaZe Clan in the semifinals. The stage was now set for G2 vs Heroic!

Rosters

G2 Esports

  • Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen (IGL)
  • Justin “jks” Savage
  • Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
  • Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
  • Nemanja “huNter” Kovač

Heroic

  • Casper “cadiaN” Møller (IGL)
  • Martin “stavn” Lund
  • René “TeSeS” Madsen
  • Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
  • Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard

Map Picks & Bans

  1. G2 removed Overpass
  2. Heroic removed Anubis
  3. G2 picked Nuke
  4. Heroic picked Mirage
  5. G2 picked Inferno
  6. Heroic picked Ancient
  7. Vertigo was left

The Series

Map 1 (Nuke)

Nuke was the first map in the grand finals of G2 vs Heroic. The map started off well for G2. They picked up the first three rounds with relative ease. However, Heroic was quick to remind everyone why they’re in the finals. The first half ended 10-5 in favor of Heroic. G2 started off the second half quite well, again picking up the pistol. HuNter really turned heads in the second half with a 2.01 rating. Thanks to him and support from the rest of the G2 roster, Heroic could barely pick up a map or two on the T-side. G2 picked up the first map 16-12.

Map 2 (Mirage)

The G2 vs Heroic series continued with Heroic’s pick of Mirage. This time, Heroic started off the map well picking up the first three rounds. The first half ended in favor of Heroic yet again, with the score line being 9-6. G2 bounced back at the beginning of the second half. G2’s m0NESY showed up big time as they leveled the score 10-10. G2 turned the game around with some big plays from round 21. Heroic showed some resistance but it was too little, too late. G2 picked up the second map as well against Heroic 16-13.

Map 3 (Inferno)

G2 had to seal the third map to pick up the series. They picked up the first round but Heroic was quick to respond. They won the next 6 rounds straight without sweating much. G2 did a good job of trying to make a comeback as the first half finished 8-7, slightly in favor of G2. The momentum continued as G2 won the first two rounds of the second half as well. But Heroic’s entire roster showed terrific co-ordination and team effort in the second half. Heroic picked up their first map win quite comfortably, 16-11 being the score line.

Map 4 (Ancient)

Ancient started the right way for G2. They started CT-side and won the first three rounds. Heroic started to resist from the next round but G2 fought back again. The first half ended 9-6 in favor of G2. With a 3-round advantage, they were now hoping to win the series and the grand final. G2 kept their eyes on the prize as they were dominant in the second half- only conceding a single round. Picking up their easiest map of the night, G2 beat Heroic and have now been crowned the champions of IEM Katowice 2023.

G2 fans across the globe must surely be ecstatic after their team’s win.

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IEM Katowice 2023 Group A Day 1 Action

IEM Katowice 2023 is running hot as we just got started with group A action today. With the matches already going on as we write this, let’s find out who were the victors on day one. Do check out our previous Katowice 2023 article to learn about this year’s event.

IEM Katowice 2023 Group A

Regarded by many as the group of death, group A is surely delivering us the action CS:GO fans are craving for. With the likes of G2, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid and NaVi in group A, the hype is justified. Group A consists of the following teams:

  • Team Liquid
  • IHC Esports
  • Cloud9
  • Natus Vincere
  • G2 Esports
  • BIG
  • Team Spirit
  • FaZe Clan

Now, let’s check out all the matches of group A of day 1.

Group A Day 1 Matches

G2 Esports vs BIG

Being directly qualified into the group stage, G2’s first opponent was BIG. The Blast Premier World Final 2022 was up against the Roobet Cup 2022 winners. Despite BIG getting the first map pick, it didn’t end well for them. G2 picked up both Anubis and Inferno with a 2-0 clean sweep.

Cloud9 vs Natus Vincere

Meanwhile, G2’s arch rival, NaVi was busy dealing with Cloud9. NaVi showed up on matchday with a clear game plan in mind. That was well reflected in the series between the two teams. On a day where s1mple had barely stepped up, it was the likes of electroNic and b1t that took matters into their own hands. In the end, NaVi walked away with a clean 2-0 win over Cloud9.

Team Spirit vs FaZe Clan

Team Spirit faced the mighty FaZe Clan in the upper bracket quarter finals. Captain Karrigan had an amazing field day leading his team to victory from the front. The team didn’t have to go to a third map and won their series 2-0. They won 16-5 on Ancient and 16-12 on Nuke. Team Spirit will face BIG at the lower bracket quarter finals.

Team Liquid vs IHC Esports

On the last series of day 1 of Katowice 2023 group A, Team Liquid was paired against IHC Esports. IHC showed up but their efforts fell short as Liquid picked up both maps 16-13 and 16-6. The two maps were Iferno and Overpass. IHC will be facing Cloud9 in the lower bracket quarter finals.

Who’s meeting at the upper bracket semifinals?

It’s getting hotter and hotter here at IEM Katowice 2023 group A. Team Liquid is set to face Natus Vincere and G2 will be facing FaZe today. Both matchups are well-balanced and there will be no love lost when the teams will be facing each other. All four of the teams have a terrific shot at winning this major but unfortunately, two will have to take the harder route at the end of the day.

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IEM Katowice 2023: All You Need To Know

Counter Strike fans, rejoice! Top tier Counter-Strike is back and we can’t get more excited than this. With less than a day left till we kick off IEM Katowice 2023, here’s everything you need to know about the Major!

About IEM Katowice 2023

Organized by ESL, the first Intel Grand Slam Major is set to kick off tomorrow and ends on 12th February. The venue for the playoffs is the Spodek Arena of Katowice. A prizepool of $1 million USD is up for grabs for the participating teams. 24 teams will be meeting each other on the maps to be crowned the winner of IEM Katowice 2023.

Participating Teams

Directly Qualified Teams

  • FaZe Clan
  • Team Vitality
  • Outsiders
  • Heroic
  • Team Liquid
  • Natus Vincere
  • G2 Esports
  • MOUZ

Play-In Teams

  • Ninjas In Pyjamas
  • Team Spirit
  • Cloud9
  • Complexity Gaming
  • FURIA Esports
  • MIBR
  • IHC Esports
  • Grayhound Gaming
  • OG
  • ENCE
  • BIG
  • Sprout
  • PaiN Gaming
  • Evil Geniuses
  • Fnatic
  • Permitta Esports

Format

Play-In

The play-in set will begin first with FURIA Esports facing Permitta Esports tomorrow. 8 of the 16 play-in teams will move on to the group stage. Play-ins will take place on February 1st-3rd. All of the opening matches will be a best-of-1. The following matches will follow a best-of-3 format.

Group Stage

February 4th-7th will witness the group stage matches. There will be two groups- A & B with 8 teams each. All matches will follow a best-of-3 format. The top three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs:

  • Group stage winners directly advance to the semifinals
  • Group stage runners-up advance to the quarterfinals as the High Seeds
  • Finally, group stage second runners-up teams advance to the quarterfinals as the Low Seeds

Playoffs

The playoffs will be taking place on the last 3 days, February 10th-12th. Following a single elimination bracket, the quarter and semifinals will be a best-of-3. Meanwhile, the grand finals will be a best-of-five series between the finalists.

All of the matches will be livestreamed on the ESL CSGO Twitch channel. Let’s see who gets crowned the king of Katowice 2023!

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