The present scenario of the tournament
IEM Katowice 2023 organised by ESL has now reached its concluding stages. The tournament gave some intense actions since it began on 1st February with the Play-in stage actions. From the 4th of February, the group stage actions began and now the tournament is down to the Playoffs. From a total of 24 teams, it was down to 6 teams for the playoffs. Yesterday, the Quarterfinals were played out and it gave a total of two matches. Team Liquid with an intense win made it to the Semifinals while Natus Vincere had a flawless victory and qualified for the Semifinals. So as a result, the tournament now holds only 4 teams who are competing for the lion’s share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.
Team Liquid and NAVI steals the show
As mentioned above, the Playoffs of the IEM Katowice 2023 commenced yesterday. Team Vitality and Team Liquid were placed together in the Quarterfinal draw while Natus Vincere was placed with Outsiders. G2 Esports and Heroic were seeded in the Semifinals as they were the Group Stage winners. So, the Playoffs kicked off with the Quarterfinal fixtures, to witness the actions, visit ESL-Counter-Strike’s official YouTube channel for the match stream. Fans witnessed the two games mainly Team Vitality vs Team Liquid, Natus Vincere and Outsiders played the second game of the day. The matches were of Best of 3 game series, a detailed match recap is provided below –
Match 1: Team Vitality vs Team Liquid
(Best of 3 score: 1-2)
- Map 1: The game began on the Overpass map, and the first-half score remained 13-2. Team Liquid made it 2-13 and forced the match to overtime. Team Liquid won the game with a 17-19 finish.
- Map 2: Both teams met each other on the Nuke map. The first-half score remained 9-6 with Team Vitality taking a lead. After that, a 7-1 second-half finish led them to a win by 16-7.
- Map 3: Mirage was the decider map for the teams. The first-half score remained 6-9, later a 6-7 second-half finish from Team Liquid gave them the victory.
Team Liquid won the game with a score of 1-2 in the best-of-3-game series.
Match 2: Natus Vincere vs Outsiders
(Best of 3 score: 2-0)
- Map 1: The first map of the game was Overpass. NAVI made it 9-6 in the first half with a dominating performance, the second-half draw of 7-7 led them to a victory by 16-13.
- Map 2: After the first map, both teams headed for the Inferno map. Outsiders led the first half by just one round with a score of 7-8. But NAVI players turned the show in the second half with a score of 9-4. Natus Vincere won the game with a final score of 16-12.
Natus Vincere won the best of 3 game series with a score of 2-0.
Team Vitality and Outsiders are now eliminated, with these victories, Team Liquid and Natus Vincere made it to the Playoffs Semifinals where they will be drawn with G2 Esports and Heroic. The Semifinals fixture that is up today is as followed –
- G2 Esports vs Team Liquid.
- Heroic vs Natus Vincere.
Conclusion
As you all know, the Playoffs are taking place at Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland. With just only one day left for the matches, it now depends on the Semifinals to decide which teams are making it to the Grand Final. The matches will be played out today and the Grand Final will be played on the 12th of February with a Best of 5 game format.