FaZe take on G2 as IEM Katowice reaches playoffs

6-2-2024 22:33

The winners of the two previous editions of IEM Katowice will clash in the quarter-finals.

Legends of the game and ex-teammates, TaZ and NEO, are set to do battle as coaches

16 teams were whittled down to just six as the IEM Katowice group stage reached its conclusion, and plenty of shocks and upsets have taken hold in Poland.

The top-ranked team in the world, Vitality, fell to two underdogs to exit the competition in last place. A Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets-inspired Spirit have dominated all challengers and look untouchable. Hometown heroes ENCE shocked Vitality and G2 to earn an appearance in front of a home crowd. These are just some of the storylines that rocked the group stage.

Now the dust has settled and six teams are set to vie for the coveted Katowice trophy, and without a doubt the headline quarter-final matchup is a mouth-watering battle between G2 and FaZe.

The two sides have contested a plethora of big matches over the years, the IEM Katowice 2022 final among them, and once again they butt heads in Poland. Adding to the intrigue is the fact their coaches, Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas and Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski, were teammates in the legendary Polish Virtus.pro lineup and won a Major together. Now they line up on opposite sides of the server.

FaZe breezed through a matchup with Rebels before fighting tooth and nail to get past Eternal Fire and make the playoffs, but the indominable Spirit prevented them from skipping straight to the semi-finals. G2, by contrast, had to battle through the lower bracket after a shock loss to ENCE, but fought back with wins over Monte and HEROIC to claim a playoff spot.

The other quarter-final pits Falcons against ENCE, which means not long after the old ENCE core headed to Falcons, they will face off against their old organization. Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha will be hoping wins over Vitality and G2 were not flukes as he faces off against his old teammates, whilst Falcons will hope to continue their match-by-match improvement in Poland.

Waiting in the semi-finals are MOUZ and Spirit, who earned their spots by making their way through the upper brackets of their respective groups. MOUZ had a relatively easy group run but grew in stature with each series, whilst Spirit bulldozed through their group with ease thanks to two of the best-rated players at IEM Katowice, Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov and donk.

The full playoff schedule is as follows:

Quarter-finals

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
09/02/2024	FaZe 16:15 G2	Match
09/02/2024	ENCE 19:30 Falcons	Match

Semi-finals

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
10/02/2024	MOUZ 16:15 FaZe	Match
10/02/2024	Spirit 19:30 Falcons	Match

Grand final

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
11/02/2024	FaZe 17:00 Spirit	Match

2024-02-06 22:33

GL neo

2024-02-06 22:34

2 replies

I'm so glad to see taz and neo back in Katowice!

2024-02-07 05:08

1 reply

2024-02-07 21:25

yessir

2024-02-06 22:35

faze looked so ass against spirit, I might actually go with mid2

11 replies

If at least one G2 player pops off they should be able to take it.

2024-02-06 22:39

or somehow hunter wakes the fuck up

2024-02-06 22:41

That should be enough. Faze is looking flat right now.

2024-02-06 22:47

Match is a coin flip, both teams are shaky but showing some good signs. I feel like they are an even matchup and it comes down to who feels better on that day.

2024-02-07 00:40

5 replies

looking like a m0nesy v frozen

2024-02-07 02:38

4 replies

why comparing the best awper in cs 2 to a shameless baiter ?

2024-02-07 06:26

3 replies

lol "best awper in cs2" - so so clueless. Also "Stewie2K" explains a lot your lack of knowledge on cs.

2024-02-07 06:50

2024-02-07 07:18

flag💀 go back to dota or league of legends. I can see you even changed your flare💀

2024-02-09 19:31

Every team looks ass against Spirit mate.

2024-02-07 08:20

everyone looks bad against DONK

2024-02-07 08:52

Playoff RAIN activated. Faze 2-0 Mouz 2-1 FAZE ENCE vs MOUZ final in katowice, 4 poles vs the best Pole IGL

7 replies

nah, spirit in finales

the first even test for DONK, the kid is just insane, 11 000 poles vs DONK its a fair match ahahah

2024-02-06 22:58

No way MOUZ is beating Faze lol, but I can see G2 upseting Faze if m0NESY goes life gaming 90 bombs like he did in groups

2024-02-06 23:03

I see MOUZ beating FaZe a lot more realistic than G2 winning

2024-02-06 23:44

Overall MOUZ > G2, but MOUZ has terrible record vs Faze, while G2 is hit or miss thing, if they have good day they can beat every team np, can't say that about MOUZ.

2024-02-07 00:21

man FAZE getting destroyed by 17 yo donk, G2 will own fluke clan

2024-02-07 06:25

ok faze lost to insane young talent, but g2 lost to poland tier3 team

2024-02-07 12:20

taz is the coach who doesnt know what he is doing, so he just screams really loud after every round. and also taunts the other team.

2024-02-06 22:42

ahhaha NEO destroying is ex-teammate and great friend TAZ

2024-02-06 22:59

Yeah you know the best how TaZ coaches them

2024-02-07 00:02

flag checks out

2024-02-07 00:13

flag checks out, better focus on your tier 5 BR teams

2024-02-07 13:12

the last time poland won an event was 2014. i wouldnt talk

2024-02-08 01:59

When was the last time BR won not a tier 3 event?

2024-02-08 11:29

Dude chill, Taz got worst org to coach. There is no possible way for him to be good at it from the start. Its going to be a miracle if he is able to take G2 on next level any time given.

2024-02-07 08:27

neo young bald , neo old hairy hahhaa

2024-02-06 22:43

that's poetic

2024-02-06 22:44

white teeth vs yelow teeth battle

2024-02-06 22:46

would be insane if Spirit takes it but tbh they have the momentum

happy for brollan! gl mouz

Spirit basicly guaranteed in the final

2024-02-07 00:20

GL NEO

2024-02-07 00:46

Is Faze running out of juice. Not talking about tactical differences, why are their shots just not connecting at all? I was so surprised when they lost so many duels on nuke against Spirit. After a few events, are they facing a lack of motivation once again? It's sad because I expected Vitality and Faze would at least make some really interesting CS in Katowice. But now I'd rather watch MOUZ or Falcons, or even ENCE. Spirit, no doubt, is the most exciting team to watch this tournament. I expected them to 2-1 Faze, but they totally mauled Faze in Nuke. Hope they will continue bringing this performance to the major and Cologne.

2024-02-07 02:44

Grand final match up and quarter, going to be hype. Taz vs Neo. Deep down still hoping ence wins it all but they've done a lot already Also damn, 8 poles playing in spodek

2024-02-07 04:05

pog

2024-02-07 04:33

Dono

2024-02-07 04:59

Taz mogs Neo

2024-02-07 05:20

TaZ gets mogged by his hairline unfortunately

2024-02-07 06:57

Ez for donk

2024-02-07 05:55

It gets even more interesting when you remember that kuben was teammates with Taz and Neo back in 1.6, and even early CS:GO 3/4 of the quarterfinal teams are being coached by members of the legendary 'golden 5'

2024-02-07 07:01

We still have one more coach from G5 days - Loord. Unfortunately he is coaching only Polish teams. He was working with Taz on Kinguin/Devils/Arcy and got Wisła to ESL pro league. Hope that he also goes international.

2024-02-07 08:41