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IEM Katowice Playoffs: Who Are the Favorites?

Team Spirit and Team Liquid have successfully made the jump to the Semi Finals of IEM Katowice. But are... Fabio | 25. February 2021

Team Spirit and Team Liquid have successfully made the jump to the Semi Finals of IEM Katowice. But are they really capable of competing against Astralis, Natus Vincere, and the rest?

The Group Stage had quite a few surprises in store. Astralis had to suffer a 1-16 map loss to Team Spirit, Vitality exited early on. With Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo at the helm, Liquid showed up strong and achieved a 2-1 victory over Natus Vincere. But almost an entire week has passed between these games and the upcoming Quarter Finals, which obviously changes some things.

Team Spirit, who have set themselves on top of Group A, will now have to fight either Natus Vincere or Gambit Esports. After Spirit boys have put up such a phenomenal performance over the Danes, Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov and Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov will surely not make the mistake of underestimating them.

DO GAMBIT AND VIRTUS.PRO STAND A CHANCE?

On the way to the Lower Bracket Finals, Gambit have beaten mousesports, Heroic, and G2 Esports. While this does sound impressive, they actually admitted defeat to Evil Geniuses prior, who themselves had lost out to Astralis in 0-2 fashion earlier on. Even though Hobbit and his men have already achieved a lot with their playoffs qualification, there is still a considerable margin to the top. Their duel with Natus Vincere remains quite the challenge for them. Now that Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and the rest have had four entire days to prepare for this specific match, Gambit will surely feel the heat.

Virtus.pro’s chances aren’t looking any better. They managed to compensate for their 0-2 loss to NaVi with victories over NiP, FURIA, and Team Vitality. However, the latter had put up a very weak show throughout the event. Despite the return of Dan “apEX” Madesclaire to the active roster, they haven’t fully recovered yet. The underdog factor is a great bonus for Virtus.pro. While Dzhami “Jame” Ali and his players are renowned for their upset potential, Astralis have lost out to a CIS team just a few days ago. The Danes will surely be nervous going into this match-up, a feeling that Jame and his colleagues will have to abuse confidently.

DO ASTRALIS AND NATUS VINCERE STILL REMAIN FAVORITES?

At the BLAST Premier: Spring Series, the Danes had suffered a striking blow. Afterwards, however, it appeared as though they had quickly recovered. They put themselves in the Upper Bracket Finals after mounting one-sided victories over mousesports and Evil Geniuses. Their loss to Team Spirit has once again put a question mark on their form and their consistency. In an interview with HLTV, Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen admitted that the team is currently reworking its structure. One important aspect is trying to get the Danish youngster integrated on more maps, but obviously these efforts will throw them back a bit for the time being. Even though their individual level should be enough to strike down Virtus.pro, they’re still going to face Team Liquid in the Semis.

With Fallen at the helm, Liquid have shown great potential. Now that Jake “Stewie2k” Yip has been freed from his leadership duties, he once again delivers kills and highlight-worthy moments. The North Americans’ tactical arsenal is growing with each day and they are getting increasingly dangerous. So if they have already managed to secure a 2-1 win over Natus Vincere past Sunday, shouldn’t a victory over a weakened Astralis be in store next?

On their side of the bracket, Natus Vincere will only have to deal with CIS teams. For them, this is a massive disadvantage. In last year’s tournaments, they have repeatedly proven that they have a weak spot for domestic match-ups. Something happens that just allows third-grade teams to beat them. If s1mple and his colleagues want to reach the Grand Finals, they’ll have to move past Gambit Esports and Team Spirit. If they then want to win the Grand Finals as well, they will potentially have to face Astralis or Liquid for a second time.