Reigning IEM Katowice champions Team Spirit have managed to keep themselves in contention to retain their crown by taking down GamerLegion in a scary 2:1 series. We now have our full list of teams in the IEM Katowice 2025 Playoffs, so let’s talk about some of the highlights!
Spirit stay alive in title defense
Credit: Helena Kristiansson | ESL
Going into this event, we had Team Spirit as comfortable favorites to win the entire thing. Right now, donk looks too good, and the rest of the scene too weak. Combine that with their BLAST Bounty Season 1 win, and you have a recipe for success. However, their run was derailed by a loss to NAVI, meaning they had to face the Lower Bracket, which culminated in a match against GamerLegion.
This young GamerLegion squad have impressed throughout IEM Katowice 2025, and they looked set to complete the upset of the tournament so far after taking the opening map of Anubis. Spirit looked all out of sorts, and frankly, it wasn’t pretty. For a moment, I believed. Spirit do what Spirit do, though, and they were able to swiftly bounce back and reverse-sweep to stay alive. Losing an underdog like GamerLegion is sad, but not having last year’s winners in the Playoffs would have been a slight travesty.
Eternal Fire edge out FaZe for Playoffs slot
Credit: Enos Ku | ESL
Eternal Fire vs. FaZe Clan, all or nothing for the last Playoffs spot in Group A of IEM Katowice 2025. While map one was a stomp in favor of Eternal Fire, the second was a complete grudge match, ending in quadruple overtime with the Turkish team coming out on top again. Nuke was perhaps the best map of IEM Katowice so far, and one everyone should revisit if they missed it the first time around.
The stakes were high here. FaZe Clan were finalists of IEM Katowice 2024, so making the Spodek Arena felt like a minimum. It just wasn’t to be, with a lights-out showing from XANTARES and a real captain’s performance from MAJ3R usurping an incredibly clutch day at the office for FaZe Clan’s broky. Regardless of what happens with Eternal Fire in Katowice now, this historic showing continues their impressive start to 2025.
NAVI and Vitality head straight to Semis in the Spodek
Credit: Enos Ku | ESL
As per the classic IEM format, we already have two of our Semi-Finalists as Group A and B played out decider matches between their two top teams. It won’t come as much of a surprise to learn the NAVI and Vitality are the two who have already secured their spots a stage deeper into the tournament, dispatching of both The MongolZ and Virtus.pro, respectively.
I wish I could say these matches were much of a contest, but in truth, they weren’t. Both series ended 2:0 without a competitive map in sight. Still, The MongolZ and VP will have their chance to redeem themselves when their Quarter-Finals runs begin.
Check out the full list of matches coming in IEM Katowice 2025 when the Playoffs start on Friday 7th February:
Quarter-Finals
- The MongolZ vs. Eternal Fire
- Virtus.pro vs. Team Spirit
Semi-Finals
- Vitality vs. The MongolZ/Eternal Fire
- NAVI vs. Virtus.pro/Team Spirit