IEM Katowice 2023: G2 Esports win title

ESL

The 2023 edition of IEM Katowice is officially in the rearview mirror. Here’s our full recap of the event if you missed any of the action.

IEM Katowice is one of the biggest and most iconic tournaments on the CS:GO calendar, only rivaled by the Majors and IEM Cologne. The 2023 edition brought elite-level Counter-Strike to the Spodek Arena, where the winner walked away with the lion’s share of a $1 million prize purse and a ticket to IEM Cologne.

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The tournament featured 24 teams from all over the world, including 17 of the top 20 teams in the rankings. Eight teams were directly invited to the group stage, while the other 16 duked it out in the Play-In stage for the final eight spots in the main tournament.

G2 Esports picked up where they had left off in 2022 and won IEM Katowice with a spectacular dream run. The BLAST Premier World champions lost just one map en route to the title, in the 3-1 victory against Heroic in the grand final.

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Justin ‘jks’ Savage made history as the official tournament MVP and the only player in Katowice history to win back-to-back events with different teams. In 2022, he played as a stand-in for FaZe as the team won the title after beating G2 in the final.

The biggest disappointment of IEM Katowice was without a doubt Cloud9, who did not win a single match in their first outing with Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov. FaZe, the defending champions, also cut a frustrated figure after being denied a spot in the playoffs by Team Liquid.

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Here are all the details you need to know about IEM Katowice, including the full schedule, lineups, and prize money.

Contents

IEM Katowice 2023: Results

IEM Katowice began with the Play-In Stage, where 16 teams competed in a double-elimination bracket. The opening round was played in a best-of-one format, while the remaining matches were best-of-three series.

The top eight teams advanced to the group stage, where they joined the eight teams invited by ESL based on the world ranking. These 16 teams were split into two GSL groups, with three teams per group advancing to the single-elimination playoffs, which were played at the Spodek Arena. The tournament culminated in a best-of-five grand final.

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Playoffs (February 10-12)

Day 1: February 10

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Quarter-finals NAVI 2-0 Outsiders 6:30 AM 9:30 AM 2:30 PM
Quarter-finals Liquid 2-1 Vitality 10 AM 1 PM 6 PM

Day 2: February 11

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Semi-finals Heroic 2-0 NAVI 6:30 AM 9:30 AM 2:30 PM
Semi-finals G2 2-0 Liquid 10 AM 1 PM 6 PM

Day 3: February 12

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Grand final Heroic 1-3 G2 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM

Group Stage (February 4-7)

Day 1: February 4

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group A U. 1 Cloud9 0-2 NAVI 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group A U. 1 G2 2-0 BIG 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group A U. 1 FaZe 2-0 Spirit 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group B U. 1 Vitality 2-0 NIP 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group A U. 1 Liquid 2-0 IHC 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Group B U. 1 OG 2-1 MOUZ 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

Day 2: February 5

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group B U. 1 Heroic 2-1 Complexity 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group B U. 1 Outsiders 1-2 Fnatic 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group A U. 2 G2 2-0 FaZe 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group A L. 1 BIG 1-2 Spirit 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group A U. 2 NAVI 2-0 Liquid 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Group A L. 1 Cloud9 0-2 IHC 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

Day 3: February 6

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group B U. 2  Heroic 2-0 OG 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group B L. 1 NIP 1-2 Outsiders 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group B L. 1 Complexity 2-1 MOUZ 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group B U. 2 Vitality 2-1 Fnatic 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group A L. 2 FaZe 2-0 IHC 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Group A L. 2 Liquid 2-1 Spirit 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

Day 4: February 7

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group B L. 2 fnatic 1-2 Complexity 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group B L. 2 OG 0-2 Outsiders 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 11:30 AM
Group B U. 3 Heroic 2-0 Vitality 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group A L. 3 FaZe 1-2 Liquid 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Group A U. 3 G2 2-0 NAVI 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Group B L. 3 Outsiders 2-1 Complexity 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

Play-In (February 1-3)

Day 1: February 1

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Upper Round 1 Cloud9 16-5 IHC 2 AM 5 AM 10 AM
Upper Round 1 ENCE 16-7 paiN 2 AM 5 AM 10 AM
Upper Round 1 MIBR 13-16 NIP 3:15 AM 6:15 AM 11:15 AM
Upper Round 1 Spirit 16-6 Grayhound 3:15 AM 6:15 AM 11:15 AM
Upper Round 1 Sprout 16-19 OG 4:30 AM 7:30 AM 12:30 PM
Upper Round 1 Fnatic 16-8 EG  4: 30 AM 7:30 AM 12:30 PM
Upper Round 1  BIG 16-12 Complexity 5:45 AM 8:45 AM 1:45 PM
Upper Round 1  FURIA 16-4 Permitta 5:45 AM 8:45 AM 1:45 PM
Upper Round 2 Spirit 0-2 NIP * 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Upper Round 2 Cloud9 2-1 ENCE * 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Upper Round 2 Fnatic 1-2 OG * 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Upper Round 2 FURIA 1-2 BIG * 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

Day 2: February 2

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Lower Round 1 Grayhound 1-2 MIBR 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Lower Round 1 IHC 2-0 paiN 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Lower Round 1 EG 0-2 Sprout 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Lower Round 1 Permitta 0-2 Complexity 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

Day 3: February 3

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Lower Round 2 Fnatic 2-0 MIBR * 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Lower Round 2 FURIA 1-2 IHC * 7 AM 10 AM 3 PM
Lower Round 2  ENCE 1-2 Complexity * 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM
Lower Round 2 Sprout 1-2 Spirit * 10:30 AM 1:30 PM 6:30 PM

IEM Katowice 2023: Teams & players

IEM Katowice 2023 featured top teams from Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The majority of the participating teams were determined by ESL’s world ranking, with only two coming from qualifying events (Fnatic through winning Elisa Masters Espoo and Permitta by topping ESL Mistrzostwa Polski Autumn).

The Polish event was the first opportunity to see some of the new teams in action. Those were the cases of Cloud9, who placed 13th-16th in their first event with buster, and IEM Rio Major winners Outsiders, who acquitted themselves well after adding Aleksandr ‘⁠KaiR0N-‘ Anashkin, reaching the playoffs. Sprout will also attend their first LAN tournament with Romanian AWPer Adrian ‘XELLOW’ Guță.

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Buster Virtus.pro IEM Cologne 2021Stephanie Lieske for ESL
buster had a rough start to his Cloud9 tenure

IEM Katowice also marked Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke’s debut for NIP. In their first tournament with the former Astralis rifler, who replaced Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser, the Ninjas went out 13th-16th after losing to Vitality and Outsiders.

Invited Teams

Team Region Players
NAVI Europe s1mple, b1t, electroNic, Perfecto, nipl
FaZe Europe karrigan, ropz, broky, Twistzz, rain
Liquid Americas EliGE, NAF, oSee, nitr0, YEKINDAR
Heroic Europe cadiaN, sjuush, TeSes, stavn, jabbi
Outsiders Europe Jame, FL1T, fame, qikert, KaiR0N-
G2 Esports Europe NiKo, m0NESY, huNter-, jks, HooXi
Vitality Europe ZywOo, apEX, dupreeh, Magisk, Spinx
MOUZ Europe frozen, dexter, JDC, xertioN, torzsi

Play-In Teams

Team Region Players
NIP Europe REZ, Aleksib, headtr1ck, Brollan, k0nfig
Complexity Americas floppy, JT, Grim, hallzerk, FaNg
Evil Geniuses Americas Brehze, autimatic, HexT, neaLaN, wiz
BIG Europe tabseN, faveN, Krimbo, syrsoN, k1to
Spirit Europe chopper, Patsi, magixx, s1ren, w0nderful
Cloud9 Europe nafany, sh1ro, HObbit, buster, Ax1Le
FURIA Americas KSCERATO, yuurih, arT, drop, saffee
MIBR Americas exit, Tuurtle, brnz4n, HEN1, insani
IHC Asia Techno4K, bLitz, ANNIHILATION, sk0r, Bart4k
Grayhound Oceania Sico, INS, Liazz, Vexite, aliStair
OG Europe nexa, F1KU, degster, NEOFRAG, flameZ
ENCE Europe Snappi, dycha, maden, valde, SunPayus
Sprout Europe refrezh, XELLOW, lauNx, Staehr, Zyphon
paiN Americas zevy, skullz, hardzao, PKL, biguzera
Fnatic Europe KRIMZ, mezii, nicoodoz, roeJ, FASHR
Permitta Europe sNx, iso, casey, Layner, OLIMP

IEM Katowice 2023: Final standings

Below you can find the prize pool distribution and the final standings.

Placement Team Prize Money (USD)
1 G2 Esports $400,000 
2 Heroic $180,000
3-4 Liquid $80,000
NAVI
5-6 Vitality $40,000
Outsiders
7-8 Complexity $24,000
FaZe
9-12 fnatic $16,000
OG
Spirit
IHC
13-16 Cloud9 $10,000
BIG
MOUZ
NIP
17-20 Sprout $4,500
ENCE
FURIA
MIBR
21-24 Permitta $2,500
Evil Geniuses
Grayhound
paiN