The Spodek multi-purpose arena in Katowice was the venue for the IEM Season XI World Championship as 12 teams battled it out for the $104,000 first place prize. The Danes of Astralis would continue their dominant form to become champions of IEM Katowice 2017, although it would not come easy, with a tough group stage in particular to navigate.
The Group Stage at Katowice consisted of a single game versus the other five teams in the group, with the top three entering the playoffs. The top seed in each group received a bye into the semifinals while the other two qualifiers played in the quarterfinals.
Danes pushed in the Group Stage
FaZe Clan, Immortals, Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas and OpTic Gaming joined Astralis in Group A.
Astralis opened their first best-of-one face-off against a new-look OpTic line-up with Hiko in place of Stanislaw. In a competitive back and forth bout, Astralis won 16-12 on Train.
Next up for Astralis were Ninjas in Pyjamas, a team not expected to put up a fight as they have struggled mightily of late. Somewhat surprisingly, in the longest match of the tournament Astralis had to fight tooth and nail to win a quadruple overtime game on Overpass 28-24.
After a shocking loss to Immortals 12-16 on Cache, Astralis went on to defeat both Fnatic (19-17 on Inferno) and FaZe Clan (16-8 on Train) to force a three-way tie for first place alongside FaZe and Immortals. FaZe won the tiebreakers, leaving Astralis as the second seed and Immortals as the third.
Into the playoffs
Astralis faced off against Na’Vi in a best-of-three quarterfinal with the winner playing Heroic, the surprise number one seed from Group B in the semis.
Astralis started off on the Counter-Terrorist side of Mirage (Na’Vi’s map selection) and only amassed eight rounds on a map known to favour the CT side. However, Astralis then went on a run to start the T-side, only dropping one round on their way to map point. After stumbling for three more rounds, Astralis perfectly executed an advance onto the A site, giving them a 16-11 map win.
With Mirage done and dusted it was all but over, with one of Astralis’ best maps coming up; Nuke. As anticipated, Astralis completely dismantled Na’Vi 16-2 to clinch the series win and a date with Heroic in the semifinals.
Heroic surprise after Group B success
Heroic were at a disadvantage from the start of the best-of-three affair as they had an incredibly similar map pool to Astralis. As such, there was little chance of upsetting the superior Astralis team as there were no maps here on which the Danes were weaker. However, opening up on Train, Heroic raced to a 7-2 scoreline before Astralis secured five out of six rounds to reduce their opponents to an 8-7 half-time lead. Dev1ce and Xyp9x led the way for Astralis on the CT side as the Danes ended up taking down Heroic 16-12.
Once again the second map was Nuke and once again Astralis came out the victors, this time in a much closer contest than the Na’Vi game as they progressed to the Finals with a 16-12 scoreline.
Familiar foe in the Finals
Astralis met fellow Group A team FaZe Clan in the Finals to determine the winner of IEM Katowice. The best-of-five affair started on the only map Astralis had lost on up to this point; Cache. FaZe were dominant throughout, with in-game leader karrigan having a surprisingly high number of kills (20+). FaZe controlled this round from the get go and this saw them cruise to a 16-9 win.
The second map, however, was Overpass, which is considered the best map for Astralis. In an incredibly back and forth game where many rounds were won by the team with lesser weaponry, it would be Astralis’ dupreeh who would steal the show. With only a Desert Eagle pistol he eliminated all five members of FaZe in swift fashion to give Astralis the momentum they needed to finish off the win with a 16-12 scoreline.
The third map was Nuke and once again it was dupreeh with the highlight plays that gave Astralis the edge. While up 14-12 dupreeh found himself in a 1v3 situation without any armour; an almost impossible scenario from which to win and yet he pulled it off with incredible aim and discipline. This was the tipping point for Astralis, allowing them to win the very next round and take the map 16-12.
Inferno was even closer than both Nuke and Overpass but the result was the same as Astralis won an incredible back and forth affair 16-13 to give themselves the deserved title of IEM Katowice 2017 champions.
