G2 Esports or Heroic? Both teams deserved to take the IEM Katowice crown in a more than memorable final. But in the end, there can only be one.
Katowice has a new champion!
After a strong performance on both sides, G2 Esports finally came out on top with a final score of 3:1 and collected a total of 400,000 US dollars in prize money. But that was not enough! The direct qualification for the German edition of the tournament, the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023, is also on top of it.
Heroic takes the lead, G2 takes the lead
G2 Esports came in as heavy favourites, although many of the visitors, pundits and players saw both teams as equals. Even according to the official world rankings from HLTV.org, the teams are close with G2 in first and Heroic in second place. Initially, however, it looked as if Heroic would pull away from their competition and led 10-5 before the change of ends.
But on the CTs’ side, G2 were to leave no stone unturned, barring two rounds, and eventually took the lead with a final score of 16-12 and thus 1-0. This victory also marked the 20th triumph in a row. Number 21 was not too long in coming either.
ONE. MORE. MAP. pic.twitter.com/JNpgeeN7w2
– G2 Esports (@G2esports) February 12, 2023
G2:0 lead
Next up for the opponents was Mirage, Heroic’s map pick. However, those who hoped that this would equalise the result of the first round and level the series hoped in vain. G2 Esports was extremely concentrated, but also had to struggle with problems in the meantime, but in the end they shot to a 2:0 lead and the first match point of the evening with a score of 16:13. The air was getting thin for Heroic, slowly but surely.
Decision adjourned
Now then, Inferno. With their backs against the wall, Heroic began to come on strong once again. G2 grabbed round one, but couldn’t bag another one after that until the 8th. Instead, it was the competition that took one win after another. So it was only logical that the world number one tried to analyse the situation with tactical timeouts. This was to bring about the turnaround, so that the two teams parted at half-time with an intermediate score of 7:8 from G2’s point of view. But even when they came back from this successfully and won a few rounds, in the end it was Heroic who finally arrived in the final. Thus, an early decision was postponed.
Ancient seals Heroic’s fate
However, things were to move very quickly after that. Initially balanced, G2 Esports extended their lead after the change of ends and in the end had the victory in front of their noses. Heroic seemed to have sapped Inferno of all its energy, which is why it was a clear-cut affair in the end. With a score of 16:7, G2 Esports was crowned Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023 Champion.
