G2, Astralis to face off for a playoff spot at IEM Katowice

FURIA and fnatic’s runs in Poland came to a close in the Group B lower bracket semi-finals.

G2 and Astralis have won the IEM Katowice Group B lower bracket semi-finals, leaving FURIA and fnatic behind in two series that went all the way to three maps despite no team winning their own map pick.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač’s performance in G2’s match was of particular note, as the highest rated player at IEM Katowice so far put on a stellar performance and was the engine in his team’s victory over FURIA, posting a 1.44 rating and 100.7 ADR across the three maps.

The two winning teams will now go on to face each other in their group’s lower bracket final at 19:30 for all the marbles, as the team that comes out ahead will secure a spot in the playoffs and their presence at the Spodek Arena.

G2 and FURIA kicked off proceedings on Nuke, where the international squad started on the CT side, but it was Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan and company who, after winning the second round forcebuy, took control of proceedings early on, winning five rounds in a row and going on to win out the half, albeit by a slim 8-7 margin, before switching to the defense.

A crucial plant by NiKo in the second pistol round despite being in a 1vs3 put G2 in the driver’s seat on the attack, as they won the second round forcebuy and overwhelmed their opponents in the early stages of the second half by controlling the economy. Unable to find their footing, FURIA dropped down to 10-14 before stringing three rounds together, but to no avail as the international team finished things off 16-13.

The two teams got off to a brawl on Mirage, with everyone on the server dying in the first pistol round as G2’s bomb exploded while the last players alive were fighting to stop a ninja defuse. NiKo and company wouldn’t be able to get far ahead, however, as FURIA had a convincing CT side to go 9-6 before the switch. The Brazilians started to inch closer and closer to match point on the attack, eventually reaching it with a seven round buffer and giving up five before closing the map out 16-13.

G2 showed class on the attacking side on Inferno, the deciding map, with the trio of Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, NiKo and Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač powering their team to an early 6-1 lead, but FURIA came alive after a successful 2vs2 retake on B to bring things to within one. G2 then won a pistol buy to keep charging ahead and went on a tear, reaching double digits at the half.

NiKo downed three in the second pistol round to keep G2 in charge, but a single Galil buy by FURIA in the second round plugged the Brazilians back into the game as they kept their chances at a comeback alive, although unsuccessfully as a stellar NiKo guided G2 to a 16-10 victory.

Astralis couldn’t kick start their series until seven rounds into fnatic’s Inferno map pick as the British-Swedish team converted attack after attack, but the Danes then won seven rounds of their own to bring it to 7-8 before switching sides. A triple by Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke in the second pistol round then tied things up as both teams traded two rounds before Astralis went on a six round winning streak that ushered Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and his men to match point, which they were able to convert on two rounds later.

Alexander "⁠ave⁠" Holdt's men won the first pistol round on Overpass, ready to take their map pick and win the series, but fnatic secured a second round forcebuy to once again establish early dominance as they had on Inferno, going on a tear as Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer and company crumbled time and time again to a 2-13 half. After winning the second pistol round fnatic rushed to match point, giving just two rounds up in the half to wrap it up 16-6.

Ancient started out as a much more even affair, with both Astralis and fnatic taking turns to link rounds together with both Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin and Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield coming alive for their team as they took an 8-7 lead at the half.

Astralis struck early on the CT side, winning the pistol round and going on a five round streak to start running away with the map, but fnatic didn't let up as the two teams fought their way to overtime. The international squad couldn’t keep up the pace in extra rounds, however, as Astralis turned up the heat and took four in a row, winning 19-15 and securing a spot in the Group B lower bracket final against G2.