IEM Katowice Action is Underway

Counter-Strike continues to be one of the most popular games in the world of esports, and there are always some big events taking place. The IEM Katowice 2024 is one of those big events, and it has been taking place over the last few days. 

There are many different parts of the IEM Katowice, and the action has really heated up now that the group stage has begun. Things are only going to get even better from here as all of the teams are trying to compete for the top prize.

All of the action at the IEM Katowice can be viewed on Twitch or Youtube, but there have been plenty of updates provided as well. Here are some of the biggest news stories from the early part of group stage. 

Vitality Bows Out Early

Betting is now a huge part of the esports experience as well, and odds were set for each team to win this big event. Vitality entered this event as the betting favorite, but anyone that bet on that team is not going to be happy with what went down. 

It was a very early exit for Vitality as they were one of the first teams eliminated during the group stage. Vitality was at the top of the power rankings heading into the weekend, but Heroic was able to come up with win in what turned out to be a massive battle. 

This wasn’t easy for Heroic to pull of the upset as two of the three maps had to go into overtime before a winner was declared. Betting on Heroic to pull off this upset would have come with a nice payout, and it now has opened things wide open for the rest of this event. 

TeSeS and NertZ both had impressive teams for Team Heroic as they seemed to be one step ahead of Vitality at every turn. 

Falcons, NAVI Both Battling

The loss by Vitality has the other teams in this event dreaming big, and there are some other underdogs that are playing well. Two of those teams are the Falcons and NAVI and both teams are trying to ride a wave of momentum into the next round. 

Falcons were able to keep their dreams alive by getting past Rebels in what turned out to be a terrific matchup. This Falcons team was expected to be one of the top contenders in this event as well, but they are now needing to avoid another loss or their run will end. 

NAVI is also in a position where they must avoid another loss, and that loss nearly came early in the group stage. That team was able to get past Apeks, but some of their top performers are going to have to step up their play moving forward. 

Two Teams Moving On

There are two teams that have already secured a spot in the playoffs at this event, and they are two names that you would expect to be here. One of those teams was FaZe and that is a roster that has had a ton of success in CS:GO Action. 

The win by FaZe came against Eternal Fire, and the end result actually could have been much different. Eternal Fire got off to a 1-0 start in this battle, but couldn’t close out the deal by losing in overtime in the second map. 

Spirit is the other team that has already moved on into the playoffs, and they actually got the job done first. Complexity was the team that couldn’t seem to compete with Spirit as it was a 2-0 victory to move on to the next round.