They bested NAVI again in a third major event this year that they participated in. The match started off with Inferno, where the two teams were evenly matched from the get-go. The table turned with the second map, Overpass. It was NAVI that eventually grabbed the win for themselves after 29 rounds of play. FaZe tried to push on the Ukrainians but they were quicker to the draw and won the match 19-16....
Astralis also within reach of winning their first IEM title ever. Their journey in the competition has mainly been stress-free, especially in the group stages. They beatComplexityandBIGto book their place on the group stage. Movistar Ridersmeanwhile made history as they are in an IEM playoffs stage for the first time. Along the way, they beat teams such as Team Liquid, Team VitalityandG2 Esports. The Spaniards are showing their muscle in the competition....
The two teams advanced to the IEM Cologne Grand Final after beating their opponents in a clean sweep. The tables turned however as NAVI found a second wind as they pushed the match into overtime. It took an extra three rounds to give NAVI the eventual win and the ticket to the grand finale. FaZe Clan meanwhile had an easier time as they went against Movistar Riders for their semifinal match....
The eight teams join eight other teams who were seeded into the group stages based on their global ranking.
The top six include the winner of Major Antwerp, FaZe Clan.
The finals between NAVI and FaZe clan were watched by 1.25 million at peak. When people say CS:GO is dead, point them to this article. This even puts it ahead of the previous record holder,IEM Katowice 2022. The growth in number gives a very healthy indication that CS:GO viewership is growing again.
Teams from Europe, Americas and APAC will be competing to see who will head into the grand finale and win the IEM Cologne title. Twenty-four of the best CS:GO teams from all over the world will be heading to Cologne this July to see who will win the IEM Cologne trophy. IEM Cologne is also part of the Intel Grand Slam, where teams aim to win four S-tier tournaments within ten consecutive events....
Todays match-ups will deliver at least one NA team for the Group B lower bracket finals. So see to it to tune in and catch all the action live on the ESL_CSGO Twitch.tv streams. headline picture courtesy of ESL One
FURIA will be meeting G2 Esports with ENCE and BIG coming in as semifinal seeds. FURIA will be meeting G2 Esports while FaZe Clan will be battling Cloud9 in a North America derby.
Surprise losers in the tournament included Natus Vincere and Gambit Esports. FaZe Clan easily beat Gambit in two maps, with scores of 16-5 and 16-11. Virtus.pro meanwhile met up with G2 Esports for their quarterfinal match, G2 won with a score of 2-0. G2 however won in the end with a 25-22 score. For the semifinals, FaZe Clan met up with the high seed, Heroic. G2 was the one emerging as the winner this time around....
Eight teams from the play-in stage join the eight directly qualified teams in the playoffs in their respective groups.
The champions will take home $400,000 and will secure a direct invite to IEM Cologne 2023. IEM Katowice prize pool distribution headline picture credits: Helena Kristiansson | ESL
The annual competition will see top teams from across the globe compete in the first LAN of the year. English streams Russian Vietnamese
