FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere advanced to the Group B upper-bracket final with victories on Saturday at IEM Katowice 2022 in Katowice, Poland.
While Natus Vincere swept FURIA Esports, FaZe had to work for a 2-1 win against Fnatic while playing with rifler Havard “rain” Nygaard of Norway in isolation after he tested positive for COVID-19.
The ongoing Group Stage is the second of three stages of the $1 million event. Following the Play-In stage, which concluded Wednesday, the top eight teams from that stage joined eight previously qualified teams in the Group Stage, a double-elimination bracket where all matches are best-of-three. The top three teams from Groups A and B reach the single-elimination Playoff bracket, with the best-of-five grand final set for Feb. 27.
With rain playing from his hotel room, Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool also returned to the FaZe Clan lineup following his own bout with COVID-19 earlier this month. FaZe sandwiched a 16-5 win on Overpass and a 16-9 win on Mirage around a 16-10 loss against Fnatic on Inferno. Canada’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken led Faze with 56 kills and a plus-15 kills-deaths differential, while ropz added 50 kills and a plus-3 differential.
Natus Vincere followed up a 16-2 win on Mirage with a 16-12 defeat of FURIA on Nuke. Russia’s Denis “electroNic” Sharipov had 41 kills and a plus-18 differential and NAVI teammate Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev of Ukraine added 41 kills and a plus-17 ratio.
Also in Group B action on Friday, Astralis rallied to defeat ENCE 2-1 and G2 Esports swept Team Liquid in the lower bracket’s first round. ENCE and Liquid were knocked out of the competition in 13th-16th place, earning $10,000 each.
Group A action resumed in the lower bracket’s second round, with Ninjas in Pyjamas beating MOUZ and Gambit Esports downing Team Vitality, both with 2-0 sweeps. MOUZ and Vitality were eliminated in 9th-12th place, taking home $16,000 each.
Group Stage play continues Sunday with five matches:
Heroic vs. Virtus.pro (Group A upper bracket)
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Gambit Esports (Group A lower bracket)
Natus Vincere vs. FaZe Clan (Group B upper bracket)
Fnatic vs. Astralis (Group B lower bracket)
FURIA Esports vs. G2 Esports (lower bracket)
Fnatic-Astralis winner vs. FURIA Esports-G2 Esports winner (Group B lower bracket)
IEM Katowice 2022 prize pool:
1. TBD — $400,000
2. TBD — $180,000
3-4. TBD — $80,000
5-6. TBD — $40,000
7-8. TBD — $24,000
9-12. MOUZ, Team Vitality, TBD, TBD — $16,000
13-16. OG, Copenhagen Flames, Team Liquid, ENCE — $10,000
17-20. BIG, GODSENT, Movistar Riders, Entropiq — $4,500
21-24. Wisla Krakow, Sprout, Renegades, MIBR — $2,500
–Field Level Media