FaZe and G2 were the best teams on the first day of IEM Katowice Europe closed qualifier and secured their spot at the $500,000 tournament that will start on Feb. 25.
Both teams had to win two best-of-three series to qualify for IEM Katowice. FaZe defeated ARCY (2-0), and ENCE (2-1), while G2 passed through AGO and MAD Lions, winning both matches 2-1.
Håvard “rain” Nygaard was the most consistent player on FaZe in those five maps. The Norwegian had an overall of 1.18 rating, according to HLTV. Rain was surprisingly followed by Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer. The legendary player didn’t finish 2019 too well but got a 1.15 rating combining the performances against ARCY and ENCE.
On G2’s side, Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač showed that he still is in good form. The 24-year-old finished 2019 on a high note and was statistically the best G2 player today, with 1.16 rating across six maps. Kenny “kennyS” is sitting right behind with a 1.13 rating.
The IEM Katowice Europe closed qualifier isn’t over, though. There’s still one spot open for grabs and ENCE, MAD Lions, Arcy, and AGO will be the ones fighting for it, starting tomorrow at 11am CT. In North America, MIBR and Cloud9 are the teams playing for one spot and the last one will be given to the Australian qualifier’s winner.
IEM Katowice will be the first major tournament run by ESL in 2020 and already has Astralis, Team Liquid, mousesports, Fnatic, Evil Geniuses, Vitality, 100 Thieves, Natus Vincere, Virtus Pro, and ViCi confirmed, apart from FaZe and G2.
