The stage is finally set for the playoffs at the 2019 IEM Katowice CS:GO Major.
ENCE Esports, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and FaZe Clan solidified the final three spots in the championship bracket of the 14th Valve Major. They join Astralis, Team Liquid, Renegades, MIBR, and Natus Vincere as Legends in the New Champions stage after winning today’s 2-2 decider matches.
Related: FaZe Clan and Cloud9 escape elimination at the IEM Katowice Major
The Finns of ENCE completed their group stage story of redemption from 0-2 by finishing 3-2, sweeping AVANGAR in the first game of the day. It was relatively easy for ENCE on Mirage, and they closed out the series with a convincing win on Train. Aleksi “allu” Jalli finished atop the server in the end at 22 kills per map and an overall 1.34 HLTV 2.0 rating. This is also the first time that ENCE has made it to the top eight at a Major.
In the second match, NiP took Cache but lost Overpass to Team Vitality because of a shaky T side. The Swedes still managed to come out on top by putting up another dominant scoreline on Mirage against the struggling French side. NiP have officially qualified for their first playoff stage since 2016, which happened at MLG Columbus.
Another rematch of the ELEAGUE Boston Major went down between FaZe and Cloud9—and this time, FaZe stopped two North American comebacks. The European juggernaut prevented them from forcing overtime on Cache with a win in round 30, before later taking the series 2-0 on Dust II. The clutch efforts of AWPer Tim “autimatic” Ta weren’t enough to put C9 ahead in the late game, while Nikola “NiKo” Kovac went off at 25 kills per map. Swedish star Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer also remains the only player to be on a Legend status team in every Valve Major in history.
Round five
2-2 matches
ENCE vs. AVANGAR
- ENCE won Mirage 16-12
- ENCE won Train 16-7
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Team Vitality
- NiP won Cache 16-7
- Vitality won Overpass 16-8
- NiP won Mirage 16-7
FaZe Clan vs. Cloud9
- FaZe won Cache 16-14
- FaZe won Dust II 16-9
The playoffs of IEM Katowice begin on Thursday, Feb. 28 with two quarterfinal games. Teams will have three days to prepare for what could be the biggest and most important playoff matches of the year.
