hyped shines as BIG crush HEROIC in Katowice

The German team advances to Stage 2 after a blowout victory in a one-sided match.

BIG are through to Stage 2 of IEM Katowice after a quick 2-0 win over HEROIC in an elimination match. Their second win of the Play-In stage was decorated by an imperious display from AWPer Marcel "⁠hyped⁠" Köhn, who put in an impressive 2.21 rating.

Fresh off a dominant victory against Imperial Valkyries, BIG came out guns blazing and ran out 13-2 winners on HEROIC's pick of Nuke. They then showed why they consider themselves to be the best team in the world on Ancient as they went 12-0 on the T side before calmly putting the series to bed in the second half.

"I can't remember the last time we won a 2-0 so convincingly, especially in a qualification game," Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa said after the match.

"There's always drama, overtimes... Normally, we would lose the second map 13-1 and then win the third map. Kind of cool."

hyped in stunning form for BIG

What better way to bounce back from a 0-12 half than with a 12-0 half? After being humbled by Wildcard on Ancient just two days ago, BIG showed clear improvements and played out a flawless T half on their map pick.

But as the series came to an end, what everyone was focused on was hyped's incredible performance. Brought back into the starting lineup at the start of the year, the 23-year-old showed why the team saw him as an improvement over Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische as he took over the match.

hyped ended the series with 26 AWP frags but his impact was also felt with other weapons, like when he got a timely flank on Nuke or when he picked up a 4K in the first pistol round on Ancient.

Asked after the match about hyped's improvements since his first stint on the team, Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz said everyone is working on building a better atmosphere.

"I think he enjoys the environment," the German captain said. "He really enjoys playing with Krimbo, with kyuubii. Players he has known for a long time.

"It's just a joy that we have one guy again who enjoys the journey. He loves the game and he loves the vibes in the team. It makes everything easy when everyone has the same goal."

HEROIC go out with a whimper

It's impossible for HEROIC to take any positives from this series. They looked inept from the start and lacking in the strategy or firepower to put up a fight against their red-hot opponents.

Andrey "⁠tN1R⁠" Tatarinovich was the only player who looked like he could make something happen and had a couple of solid rounds. As Ancient was heading towards a swift conclusion, HEROIC's players looked dejected, almost on the brink of tears.

It was probably one of those days where everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. They'll be looking to bounce back in CCT Season 17 Europe, which they will use to prepare for ESL Pro League 21.

"A bit surprised," head coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha said after the match. "You always want to do better, and this was not good at all. We are still a young team, and we have a lot to learn. We need to create the fundamentals for the team to find our level.

"Today, I would say this was our bottom level. Hopefully, we can raise the floor so we won't have showings like this again. It was just too bad."