Cloud9 chose Overpass for the first map of the series, and while they fought hard, FaZe proved too strong in the final rounds, and they took a 1-0 lead going into their map pick of Inferno.
Inferno saw FaZe dominate the first half 11-4 before winning the map 16-9, meaning the international squad only needed to win one more map to claim the ESL Pro League trophy.
Cloud9 fought back and won their second map pick on Mirage, but when the two teams went to Ancient for the final map, FaZe won the series thanks to some big individual plays from players like Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken and Robin “ropz” Kool.
Ropz won the MVP award for the third time in his career, after topping the server in nearly every category and finishing with the second-highest player rating in the competition.
THE FOUR STEPS TO @FaZeClan's HISTORIC #IntelGrandSlam TRIUMPH!
#IEM Katowice 2022#ESLProLeague Season 15#IEM Cologne 2022#ESLProLeague Season 17
The only team to win both Katowice and Cologne in their 4 win campaign. pic.twitter.com/FOzfIH4sX8
— ESL Counter-Strike 2 (@ESLCS) March 26, 2023
FaZe finally completed the Intel Grand Slam with victories at IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 15, and IEM Cologne before winning their fourth ‘Big Event’ organised by ESL on Sunday.
The Intel Grand Slam was first introduced by ESL in 2017, with Astralis winning the inaugural season, followed by Team Liquid and Natus Vincere in seasons two and three.
Winning the Intel Grand Slam carries a high level of prestige, but the winner also receives a $1 million bonus.
FaZe created history not only by winning their first Intel Grand Slam, but also by becoming the first international squad to win the title with players from countries that do not share a language.
Meanwhile, Twistzz made history by becoming the first player to win the prestigious title for the second time, after winning the Grand Slam with Team Liquid in season two.
FaZe Clan will now focus on the BLAST.tv Paris Major RMR, while Cloud9 will have little time to reflect on what could have been, as the BLAST Premier Europe Spring Showdown begins on Wednesday.
]]>Recognised as the pinnacle of Counter-Strike esports, IEM Katowice is set to start on Monday, February 24, with the grand finals slated to be played on Sunday, March 1. The participating teams will compete for the largest slice of a US $500,000 prize pool, with the champions taking home a quarter of a million dollars.
The tournament is also part of the Intel Grand Slam, which is now in its third season. The first team to win four IGS-affiliated titles during a window of 10 consecutive events will pocket a cool $1 million. Astralis, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, mousesports and Team Liquid all have one win apiece this season.
Here, we will look at the latest odds and best bets for the IEM Katowice 2020 CS:GO World Championship.
IEM Katowice 2020 outright odds
$3.00 – Astralis
$7.00 – FaZe Clan, mousesports
$8.00 – Team Vitality
$9.00 – Team Liquid
$11.00 – Natus Vincere
$13.00 – Evil Geniuses
$19.00 – Fnatic, G2 Esports
$21.00 – 100 Thieves, MAD Lions
$26.00 – Ninjas in Pyjamas
$34.00 – Cloud9
$51.00 – Renegades
$67.00 – Virtus.pro
$151.00 – TYLOO
Market courtesy of GG Bet
IEM Katowice 2020 underdogs
Of the 16 teams taking part, eight cannot be compared to the favourites because they lack either quality or form. Belonging to that category are TYLOO, Cloud9, Renegades, Virtus.pro, Ninjas in Pyjamas, MAD Lions, G2 Esports and 100 Thieves.
TYLOO are the weakest team in the field, having earned their spot at Katowice only because ViCi Gaming failed to secure their visas. What’s more, TYLOO will also travel to Poland without their head coach, LiKan “KingZ” Luo, who is in quarantine because of the coronavirus outbreak.
None of the other seven underdogs have impressed with their recent showings. Cloud9, Renegades, 100 Thieves and MAD Lions all field relatively new rosters that have failed to produce any notable success in recent months. G2 Esports are still underperforming, while Ninjas in Pyjamas just recently signed a new coach and lost Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg to Dignitas.
IEM Katowice 2020 dark horses
Sitting in the middle of the rankings are Fnatic, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere and Evil Geniuses. All four teams are significantly stronger than the eight underdogs, yet all have issues that prevent them from entering the tournament as favourites.
Fnatic had their moment of glory back in October when they won DreamHack Masters Malm? 2019, yet it soon became clear that title run was a flash in the pan. Also, this will be their first major tournament of the year, which suggests they will be a bit rusty travelling to Katowice.
Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid both possess immense individual quality, yet they fail to inspire much optimism following their shaky displays at the BLAST tournament earlier this month.
While far from tournament favourites, Natus Vincere have improved significantly since they replaced Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács. Although a lot will have to go right for Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and company to hoist the trophy in Poland, they offer some value at long odds.
IEM Katowice 2020 favourites
Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, mousesports and Astralis are the top four contenders according to the outright odds at esports bookmakers, but FaZe look out of their depth in such esteemed company. Nikola “NiKo” Kova?’s squad had a solid run at the BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 regular season, where they defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid, but it was clear that they overperformed.
FaZe might win a couple of matches in Poland, but going the distance will be out of their reach. Team Vitality are in complete contrast to their North American counterparts, as they severely underperformed at the BLAST tournament but should feature prominently in Katowice.
Mousesports are a solid team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, but no team can compare to Astralis. When they are playing to their full strength, the Danes are a class above everyone. They might let things slip on occasion at some lesser tournaments, but that won’t be the case at IEM Katowice.
If there are no massive upsets, Astralis should secure their second title of the Intel Gram Slam season without any major issues.
IEM Katowice 2020 predictions
Astralis to win
SEE ALSO: ESPORTS LEAGUES AND TOURNAMENTS
Unveiled on the ESL website, the changes are designed to prevent another short-lived term as per season two, when Liquid won four IGS tournaments in a row to end the campaign 379 days earlier than Astralis did in season one.
The new rules state that teams can still claim the crown and US $1 million prize money if they win four out of 10 IGS-affiliated events, but at least one of those titles must be ESL One Cologne, IEM Katowice, or any CS:GO Majors hosted by either DreamHack or ESL. Without one of those Masters-level trophies, a team must win six out of 10 events to take out the IGS.
It is worth noting that if the newly implemented rules were used since season one, Team Liquid would still have won the title at the same time as they did in season two, meaning the changes should not have a huge effect when teams dominate the way Liquid have this year.
Along with the new conditions, organizers announced three IGS Season 3 events to follow IEM Chicago:
- ESL One New York (September 26-29)
- DreamHack Masters Malm? (October 1-6)
- ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals (December 3-8)
There have also been talks about a possible IEM Beijing in November, but no official confirmation has been released yet.
SEE ALSO: BETTING ON ESPORTS TOURNAMENTS
Entering the tournament as the second favourites after Astralis, Liquid fought their way to the finals with a streak of dominant performances. The North American giants took down MVP PK, NRG, and NaVi twice to set up a date with Vitality in the finals.
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The deciding series stretched out over four maps, but it was Team Liquid who triumphed with wins on Overpass (16-6), Inferno (16-10) and Mirage (16-7). While the whole Liquid team played well throughout, it was Vitality’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut who took home the ESL One Cologne MVP thanks to an average rating of 1.33 across 17 maps and a high watermark of 1.87 against NRG in the playoffs.
By winning the event, Liquid not only took home $125,000 prize money but also managed to win the Intel Grand Slam and its $1,000,000 reward after only five events. To put it into a perspective, the first IGS season lasted over 500 days and featured 15 events, which shows how good Team Liquid are compared to all other CS:GO esports teams in the world right now.
How exactly Team Liquid found their winning rhythm is up to debate, but there is no denying they have been on a roll since they won IEM Sydney in May. The North American powerhouse seems to get better and better with each passing event, so it seems clear that ‘Astralis era’ is over and ‘Liquid era’ has begun.