donk stars as Spirit sweep FaZe to win IEM Katowice

The Russian side proved far too strong for their opponents as they wrapped up the series in three maps.

Spirit have been crowned the champions of IEM Katowice 2024 following a 3-0 victory over FaZe, capping off a perfect run in Poland that saw them drop only one map.

If there were ever any doubts about Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets’s ability to perform in high-pressure scenarios, there aren’t anymore as he put in a display worthy of the tag as the world’s best player. The 17-year-old averaged a 1.93 rating in the series to finish the tournament with a jaw-dropping 1.70 rating, equaling Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač’s record from ESL One New York 2017.

Still, questioned by James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks after the match if he is indeed the best on the planet, donk was coy. "I don’t know," he said. "We will see."

FaZe made it competitive at times and almost took Mirage to overtime. However, the series made it clear just how far ahead Spirit are at this point in the season in terms of raw firepower as we approach the European RMRs and the Copenhagen Major. Every round FaZe won felt like a massive grind, almost as if they had to play perfect CS to come out on top. Spirit’s rounds, by contrast, came rather effortlessly as they won most aim duels and easily capitalized on their opponents’ mistakes.

donk came into the match firing on all cylinders and powered Spirit to a 5-1 lead on Nuke with a stunning 16 frags and a 224 ADR. FaZe, who had won their first round courtesy of a 1v2 clutch from Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, stabilized after a timeout and put together a string of rounds to take the lead before Spirit equalized the game at 6-6.

Now playing on the CT side, FaZe won the pistol round off the back of two quick kills from ropz, one of which with the Zeus, but there was no follow-up as Spirit hit back immediately. This scenario would play out again and again: The Russian team afforded to make a few mistakes in the half, but they never let FaZe get too comfortable and kept the intensity high at all times.

Ultimately, Spirit’s relentless aggression proved effective as they closed out the map 13-9, with donk ending the game with 32 frags and a 2.06 rating.

FaZe came into Mirage determined to end Spirit’s stunning 13-game winning streak on the map and romped to a 3-0 lead, but their respite wouldn’t last long as Spirit responded with four rounds of their own.

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen’s troops then tightened up their defense and enjoyed a spell of dominance. Spirit coach Sergey "⁠hally⁠" Shavaev used up all of his timeouts to halt their momentum, but the best that his team could do would be to reduce the deficit to 7-5 with a 4K from donk in the final round.

The 17-year-old carried that momentum into the second half and jumped to the top of the scoreboard with several multi-kill rounds as Spirit took control of the game and hit map point at 12-8. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský and ropz came to FaZe’s rescue as they pushed for overtime, but they fell at the final hurdle against a shoddy buy from Spirit in a round that began with a stunning Scout headshot from Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov.

FaZe’s players looked dejected on Overpass and the frustration became more evident with each round as Spirit cruised to an 11-1 lead on the CT side. Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants kept FaZe in the game in the following pistol round as he denied Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia the ace. However, Spirit fought back shortly afterward and picked up the two rounds they needed to put the match to bed.