NAVI beats Team Liquid and is guaranteed to reach the playoffs of IEM Katowice 2023

NaVi defeated Team Liquid 2:0, thanks to which they advanced to the Group A grand finals and guaranteed a place in the playoffs of IEM Katowice 2023. Now the Born to Win will meet with G2 Esports to compete for the opportunity to go directly to the semi-finals of the competition. In turn, the North American team falls into the lower bracket of the group stage, where tomorrow they will play with Team Spirit.

One of the final meetings of the gaming day started on the Inferno map, which became the choice of the "Born to Win". At the same time, NAVI started confidently on the map, showing a lightning-fast attack, which embarrassed the opponent. In turn, the North American team turned out to be helpless in defense, having recorded the defeat - 12:3. After the side switch, Team Liquid failed to return to the game, while the Ukrainian team quickly got the necessary rounds and took the lead in the series — 16:5.

Next, the teams moved to the Anubis map, which became the choice of Team Liquid. Here, the "liquid" felt much more comfortable, disposing of the advantage. And yet, NAVI managed to show the series on defense in order to close the gap to a decent one - 9:6. After the change of sides, the North Americans continued to bend their line and almost turned the matter over to the deserter. But in the very ending, "Born to Win" joined the fight to turn the tide of the game and pull it out to overtime. Here, NAVI players managed to put the squeeze on the opponent to get the final victory in the series — 19:17.

IEM Katowice 2023 takes place from 1 to 12 February in Katowice at the Spodek Arena. As part of the championship, 24 teams from the CIS, Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Oceania are fighting for a total prize pool of $1,000,000, as well as a ticket to IEM Cologne 2023 for the winner.

Interim results of IEM Katowice 2023

• 1st place: $400,000 + ticket to IEM Cologne 2023
• 2nd place: $180,000
• 3rd-4th place: $80,000
• 5th-6th place: $40,000
• 7th-8th place: $24,000
• 9th-12th place: $16,000
• 13th-16th place: BIG — $10,000
• 17th-20th place: MIBR, ENCE, Sprout and FURIA - $4,500
• 21st-24th place: paiN Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Permitta Esports and Grayhound Gaming — $2,500