Vitality guaranteed a place in the playoffs of IEM Katowice 2023

The Vitality team turned out to be stronger than fnatic with a score of 2:1, thanks to which they guaranteed a place in the playoffs of IEM Katowice 2023. Now, zonic's wards will play with Heroic in the group B grand final, where they will compete for a ticket to the semi-finals of the tournament. In turn, fnatic will go to the lower bracket, where they will meet the winner of the Complexity Gaming match - MOUZ.

The second semi-final of group B started on the Overpass map, which became the choice of fnatic. However, zonic's wards immediately joined the game in order to take the initiative under their control and run far ahead. However, KRIMZ and the company managed to knock out some kind of minimum, filling out a two-fold backlog - 10:5. After the side switch, fnatic players made an attempt to return. But Vitality still managed to survive, and at the same time crush the opponent and take the lead in the series — 16:13.

Next, the teams moved to the Mirage map, which turned out to be the choice of Vitality. At the same time, the Danish-French team, as it seemed, began to impose their game and increase the pace. But here there was an unexpected turn, which was used by the fnatic players, who knocked out a series of 12 rounds in a row - 12:3. After the side switch, zonic's team failed to win back, while fnatic brought it to a rout and leveled the score in the series — 16:8.

Everything was decided on the Nuke map, the first half of which was held in a bitter struggle. However, in the very end, fnatic managed to run ahead a little, and then earn a comfortable advantage - 9:6. However, after the side switch, Vitalty was able to quickly gather his thoughts to overtake the opponent and get a second victory in the championship - 16:13.

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, Ninjas in Pajamas and Cloud9 — $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