IEM Katowice 2021 Playoffs: Gambit Defeats Na’Vi, VP eliminate Astralis

In two of the biggest upsets of the year, the quarterfinal matches of IEM Katowice 2021: Playoffs saw defending champions Na’Vi and HLTV’s ranked one CS:GO team in the world Astralis, face elimination from the $1,000,000 USD tournament. Gambit and Virtus.pro put up a fierce fight to qualify ahead into the semifinals, which now comprises of 3 CS:GO teams from the CIS and 1 from NA. Both the opening matches of the playoffs stage were beyond exciting, especially the 3 map thriller that ensued between Astralis and Virtus.pro. One thing which is sure at this point is that, the champions of IEM Katowice 2021 will definitely not be a team from Europe.

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sh1ro denies s1mple consecutive IEM Katowice victories

The two highest-rated players of the tournament, Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolo and Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev clashed head-to-head in the quarterfinals of IEM Katowice 2021, but sadly it wasn’t the ‘s1mple show’ that everyone expected from Na’Vi.

The showdown began on Gambit’s map pick Overpass. It was a strong start for Na’Vi, who managed to win 5 rounds in a row despite losing the opening pistol. But despite the ‘5-1’ start, the score was quickly equalized by Gambit on the back of some crucial clutch plays by sh1ro, and by the end of the first half they even managed to an ‘8-7’ lead. Na’Vi again started out strong in the second half but gradually lost control, crumbling in the 28th round to lose by a ‘16-12’ scoreline.

Na’Vi now had to win both the remaining maps, to keep their tournament hopes alive. But sadly they failed to capitalise on their own map pick Train, a decision which was highly criticized by the CS:GO community since the veto. A crushing ‘16-6’ loss on the map resulted in Na’Vi finishing 5th-6th at IEM Katowice 2021, while Gambit move on to face their local rivals Team Spirit.

Note: Overall series stats in order of HLTV rating 2.0.

VP take down the stars, Astralis

On the other side of the playoffs, it was Virtus.pro against the best CS:GO team in the world and boy did they stand up to the occasion, mostly due to a brilliant overall performance by Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis.

The first two maps were an equal exchange as both the teams won their respective map picks Overpass and Train quite comfortably. Though the final map Inferno was a nail biter, especially in the first half where Dzhami 'Jame' Ali constantly failed to find success for VP with the AWP. 

The second half however was a completely different story as VP led by YEKINDAR commanded the flow of the game going forward. Giving away just 3 rounds to Astralis and winning the map ‘16-11’. With this, VP successfully eliminated the last remaining European roster Astralis and advanced to the semifinals.

Note: Overall series stats in order of HLTV rating 2.0.

RELATED:  Na’Vi, VP, Spirit, Gambit - All CIS CS:GO Teams Qualify for IEM Katowice Playoffs

With Na'Vi and Astralis eliminated, all the remaining teams have reached the Playoffs by fighting their way all the way from the Play-ins stage.

The semifinals fixtures for IEM Katowice 2021 now look as follows, Gambit will play against local rivals Team Spirit in a CIS derby match, while Virtus.pro will take on North America’s finest Team Liquid.