From foes to friends to foes again: TaZ and NEO meet in Katowice playoffs

The two biggest names in Polish Counter-Strike will clash once again, ten years on from their Major success at Spodek.

Tomorrow afternoon, when G2 and FaZe take the stage at Spodek for their quarter-final bout, it likely won’t be stars like Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač or Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov getting the most cheers from the crowd but the two coaches leading the teams.

Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas and Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski are returning to the same arena where, ten years ago, they helped create the greatest moment in Polish Counter-Strike history. That epic victory in the grand final of the EMS One Katowice Major against NIP cemented their status as legends in a country that they put on the map during their long and illustrious playing careers.

"The entire Polish story at IEM Katowice is the story of Virtus.pro, namely NEO and TaZ’s 2014 victory," Łukasz Pożyczek, a Polish analyst and caster, told HLTV.

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
09/02/2024	FaZe 16:15 G2	Match

TaZ and NEO formed the longest partnership in the Counter-Strike franchise, but they began their careers on opposite sides of the trenches, their teams developing a fierce rivalry with one another during the early 2000s. "You could compare it to the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls," TaZ told Duncan "⁠Thorin⁠" Shields in October. "It was like that. We really didn’t like each other."

They eventually banded together and went on to form what would become the ‘Golden Five’, one of the most dominant teams in CS 1.6, winning a plethora of international titles under different organizations (and sometimes without an organization at all).

After a rough start to CS:GO, they rediscovered success in the new game, and perhaps history would give that Virtus.pro roster even more recognition had they defeated Astralis in the grand final of ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017 and joined the select club of teams with more than one Major crown.

TaZ and NEO knew how to work together despite their almost polar-opposite personalities. NEO was the silent, naturally gifted star, and TaZ the vocal and plain-spoken captain who dabbled in the art of trash talk and did not mind keeping the attention on himself, if only to entertain. "They are undoubtedly two separate worlds," Pożyczek said.

TaZ is still taking his first steps as a coach, with IEM Katowice being only his second LAN event behind the team after replacing Jan "⁠Swani⁠" Müller at the end of last season. NEO is a bit more experienced in the role, having taken up coaching in July 2023, and he has already overseen two LAN titles in CS2, earning a permanent position with FaZe after a four-month trial.

Their yin and yang personalities can also be seen in the nature of their coaching jobs. Like his predecessor, Robert "⁠RobbaN⁠" Dahlström, NEO prefers to work in the shadows as the right-hand man to Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and a cog in the well-oiled FaZe machine. By contrast, TaZ was hired to be more of an authoritative figure and pull the reins tighter on a team that had enjoyed too much freedom at times. “He [TaZ] knows when people need to hear what they don’t want to hear,” Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen told HLTV in December.

The first weeks of the tournament season have shown that both teams teams still need to find their best form ahead of the European RMRs and the Copenhagen Major.

FaZe showed some signs of weakness in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, where they lost one match to GamerLegion and won the other one only in three maps, and they had to work extremely hard to beat Eternal Fire in the group stage of IEM Katowice. Against the red-hot Spirit, they were simply outclassed on Nuke after a close Mirage game.

“I don't think we really were there honestly, on the second map, even though the first map was looking completely different,” David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský said about the loss to Spirit. "[I'm] a little disappointed that it ended that way, but it's better to lose like this in this match than later in the tournament.”

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G2 had a bumpy route in Copenhagen, where they beat a misfiring Ninjas in Pyjamas squad and the new-look Liquid and twice lost to Natus Vincere, but they have looked like an improved side in Katowice, though their over-reliance on m0NESY and NiKo -— the team’s only players with an above-average tournament rating — remains a cause for concern.

“The first weeks were full of emotions,” TaZ told HLTV. “The results were not exactly the ones that I expected, but it was for the best. I would rather qualify for the BLAST Spring Finals or the IEM Katowice playoffs the hard way than get an easy road.

“It has allowed us to recognize some of the issues that we had, inside and outside the game. Maybe it was a little bit stressful, but it gave us plenty of LAN games early in the year, when players are still rusty after the break. I didn’t expect it to be any easier, and I love how the team is dealing with all the challenges.”

G2 and FaZe last faced each other at the BLAST Premier World Final, where karrigan’s side ran out 2-1 winners in a hard-fought series. In Abu Dhabi, where TaZ was still on the sidelines, looking on and taking notes, he said that he was “looking forward” to the events where he and NEO could find themselves on opposite sides once again.

The upcoming bout brings an extra layer of excitement and energy to IEM Katowice, at a time when Polish Counter-Strike is showing signs of a revival. Rebels acquitted themselves better than many expected despite their lack of experience. And ENCE, coached by Jakub "⁠kuben⁠" Gurczyński, another member of the iconic Golden Five squad, became the first Polish team to reach Spodek since 2016.

Virtus.pro’s achievement in 2014 inspired a new generation of Polish players, some of whom are now starting to step into the limelight. After ENCE qualified for the playoffs, Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha couldn’t help but burst into tears. "[It means] basically everything," he said in an interview with HLTV. "I was playing my whole life to qualify for this event." When they step onto the stage tomorrow to meet Falcons in the quarter-finals, ENCE will certainly be given a raucous reception from the crowd.

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"There's no denying that, due to ENCE's results, NEO and TaZ’s duel has gone slightly into the background," Pożyczek said. "This may come as a surprise, but Polish CS in Katowice has never had as many storylines as this year."

Speaking to HLTV during media day on Wednesday, NiKo said that the history between the two coaches will add "extra spice" to the match-up. He added that he is curious to see which of the two teams the crowd will favor, though he noted: "Wiktor is usually very good with the crowd game."

As he prepares for his first arena match as a coach, TaZ is brimming with excitement. “I can’t wait to see the crowd and hear the roar of the Polish fans,” he said. The stage is set for an exciting elimination match, and it would have been impossible to wish for a more proper venue to rekindle such an iconic and old rivalry.

“I'm just super happy that we will have a chance to ‘go up against’ each other once again,” TaZ said. "It is crazy that we started our rivarly in 1.6 and joined forces across many CS versions. And now, after 19 years, at the beginning of the CS2 era, we are back at it, not as players but as coaches.

“Still, it is not only about me and Filip when it comes to the old guard in Spodek. kuben is also there. When I think about it, we had a special group of guys back in 1.6. Good times. Let the best team win, and I hope that the arena will go nuts when we play tomorrow.”