IEM Katowice 2024 just played host to a scintillating Group A Upper Bracket Final clash where Team Spirit secured a flawless 2-0 series win over FaZe Clan. The Counter-Strike 2 esports competition saw Team Spirit hold on to their ground in a nerve-wracking series showdown.
Let us have a play-by-play rundown of what went down in the finals that saw Team Spirit dispose of FaZe Clan in a one-sided, albeit thrilling, contest.
How Team Spirit Claimed the Victory
Team Spirit and FaZe Clan removed Inferno and Vertigo respectively. Team Spirit then chose Mirage, while FaZe Clan went with Nuke. Then they removed Anubis and Overpass. The map Ancient was the only one left over.
Map 1 (Picked by: Team Spirit; Winner: Team Spirit; Score: 13-11)
FaZe Clan opened the game strongly by taking the pistol round on the CT side of Mirage, the anti-eco round, and thanks to Helvijs Saukants 1HP clutch, the first buy round of the game. FaZe was already up 5 rounds when Team Spirit opened their account. However, they closed the gap soon enough to finish the half on par with 6-6.
Team Spirit carried on their first-half momentum into the second half to secure the pistol round from the CT side of Mirage and also converted the following round to secure an 8-6 lead. FaZe Clan equalized within the next two rounds.
The two teams traded rounds back and forth until Team Spirit came out on top at the end 13-11.
Map 2 (Picked by: FaZe Clan; Winner: Team Spirit; Score 13-5)
In the pistol round and the following one, Team Spirit notched consecutive wins to go 2-0 up in Nuke. However, FaZe Clan retaliated hastily with three back-to-back round wins to go 3-2 up. However, they could only manage two more rounds in the first half as Team Spirit took hold of the reins and made it 8-4.
Starting from the T-side of Nuke in the second half, Team Spirit never looked in danger as they held on to their comfortable lead. They put no foot wrong as FaZe Clan managed to win a single round before Team Spirit put the result beyond doubt by winning 5 rounds to make it 13-5.
So, Team Spirit won the upper bracket finals of Group A, although FaZe Clan put up some good fights in the first half.
IEM Katowice 2024 Records Went Tumbling
Donk broke Monesy’s record of being the youngest-ever IEM Katowice winner by winning the 2024 edition at 17 years 17 days. He also became the youngest player to win MVP at a top-tier eSports tournament. The other members of the team, Magixx, Xyp9x, Boris, and Miroslav also registered their first-ever victory at a major tournament.
The IEM Katowice 2024 also experienced a notable rise in viewership which made it the fourth most-watched Katowice tournament. Team Spirit will take home a prize money of $400,000. In addition, they will receive slots at BLAST Premier World Final 2024, IEM Cologne 2024, and Esports World Cup 2024.
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