The group stage of IEM Katowice 2022 has come to its natural end, and the audience is eager to watch a fiery playoff. For our region, the good news is that all three of our teams were able to get to the main stage and have the opportunity to reach the final. At the moment, the number of CIS teams is equal to those remaining in the competition, who are the 3 other organizations? Who is the main favourite? Which bracket is the hardest? Let's figure it out.
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Tournament bracket
The quarter-finals will start on Friday, February 25 with G2 Esports vs. Virtus.pro and Gambit vs. FaZe Clan. Both of our teams will face the tournament’s favourites, although at this stage everyone is a contender for victory. These six teams right now can be called the strongest in the world. The rest showed a lower level, Vitality or NIP have to correct several aspects of their playing style. The quarter-finalists took the third and second positions in the groups, so they start their way to the playoffs from this stage. Heroic and Natus Vincere went undefeated, which is why they are waiting for their opponents already in the semi-finals.
G2 Esports vs Virtus.pro
The first match of the playoffs will be between the most hyped team of the tournament and the most stable one. G2 Esports in a new, trendy roster made it to the matches right through the lower bracket, where they left behind Team Liquid, Furia and Astralis. The team was defeated by fnatic in the debut meeting, taking the first map 16-2. We have not seen such thing from Kovacs, so the team is in the playoffs. Nikola NiKo Kovacs demonstrates why he is the best player on the planet right now, Ilya m0NESY Osipov delivered some crazy highlights, especially on Vertigo against Liquid or a 1v2 clutch with a 1hp scout against k0nfig and blameF. Other players of the organization do not sag and shine at crucial moments. For 1.5 months of joint training at the first major tournament, the team shows ambitions for the title, taking into account the language barrier of each player and coach. This is what Astralis was supposed to look like, but for 3 months the athletes have not been able to find a game and are only asking for more time while communicating in the same native language. We expect the disbanding news.
Virtus.pro did really great. They have the strongest Inferno in the world right now, as well as a high percentage on several maps. If not for a misfire with Heroic, then the band's performance should have been rated 5 plus. The G2 encounter will take place on three of these maps: Vertigo, Dust II, Mirage, Ancient, Inferno. The advantage of the bears is that they ban the opponent's best card - Nuke. Chances are generally equal, but long experience of playing together can play a key role in Virtus.pro's success. G2 should hope that the younger Kovacs will continue to show ultra form, and teammates will support.
By the way, both teams are capable of defeating Natus Vincere in the semifinals. If FaZe Clan captain Finn karrigan Andersen had played better against the Born to Win, then this organization would have been the next opponent in this bracket. NaVi went undefeated, but the toughest fights with ENCE and FaZe inspire confidence in the competitors. Moreover, the "bears" have a successful map pool against Natus Vincere.
Gambit Esports vs FaZe Clan
Gambit played on the nerves of the fans at the group stage, dropping into the lower bracket after losing to NIP, but then went through the stage, leaving the Swedes out of work. Team captain Vlad nafany Gorshkov noted that the team is looking for new moves on each map, because many have learned the game of Gambit, and they have to come up with new tricks. Not everything works out, but there is a result. In a bright duel, the CIS team sent home Team Vitality, where the great and terrible Mathieu ZywOo Erbo managed to give the worst performance of his career on LAN 3-18 on Mirage. As for FaZe, the main rival of this team in Katowice is the coronavirus. First they had to qualify without Robin ropz Kool, then two players fell ill (Havard rain Nigard and Hellweiss broky Saukants), the sniper test turned out to be negative, but the veteran is still sick and fights from the room. Will the Norwegian have time to return to the playoffs, the question is open. Justin jks Savage is still in Poland with the team and is ready to come on as a substitute at any moment. If everyone is in order and healthy, then FaZe Clan are the main favourites of the tournament. The potential of the shock four (Twistzz, rain, ropz, broky) is unlimited. Even with the captain's karrigan 29-70 against NaVi, they were a short step away from winning.
Gambit will have a hard time even if they reach the semi-finals, because there, in anticipation of the battle, the loudest, in the truest sense of the word, CS:GO team of the scene. Heroic went through everyone in group A. The victories over Vitality and Virtus.pro stand out especially. The Danes are notable for their excellent preparation for the opponent, that's why they "countered" the "bears" without any resistance, just playing from the opponent. Heroic should believe in Gambit's victory, because our guys are more convenient opponents for them, the Danes know what to expect, but the new FaZe is able to break Heroic. Their last meeting at IEM Winter 2021 ended with the victory of karrigan and the company 2:0. And today FaZe Clan has become even stronger with the arrival of ropz. Therefore, we repeat that the presence of all the players of the main squad in the playoffs makes this team a favourite to reach the final, at least.
We look forward to a great fight in the playoffs and wish our teams to continue their victorious march in Katowice!
