IHC Eliminated: IEM Katowice 2023 Day 6 - Group A Recap

On Day 6 in the Hall of Champions in Katowice, 4 teams went head-to-head for a shot at survival to still be able to qualify for Play-offs.

Group A: Lower Bracket

Game 1: Faze vs IHC Esports

After being knocked into the lower bracket by G2, Faze had to fight back against IHC for a shot at qualification. They won the series 2-0 in quite a commanding fashion. Map 1 was Inferno picked by IHC. IHC had a good opening, but Faze came out to be the more dominant side, ending the half 9-6. IHC again had a better start on their CT-side, and managed to equalize at 11-11. But Faze pulled off a 5 round win in a row, along with a fantastic round from Kariigan to take the map 16-11.

Faze picked Ancient for Map 2, and completely destroyed IHC. with a very dominant T-side start, Faze managed a 6 round win streak, and a 4 round win streak in between the 2 of IHC to end the half 12-3. On their CT-side, they did not give IHC any room to breathe, as they started and ended the game with another 4 round wins back-to-back to win the map 16-3.

Twistzz and Karrigan did a bulk of the killing with 41 and 38 kills overall, but it was Twistzz leading the table with a 1.51 rating.

Game 2: Liquid vs Team Spirit

Unlike Team Spirit, Team Spirit managed to put up quite a fight against Liquid. Although Liquid came out on top, it was not an easy fight for them.

Team Spirit picked Nuke for Map 1, but it turned out to be unfavorable for them. Liquid ended the first half 10-5 with a dominating 5 round win streak. They also got to Map Point first after another 5 round streak. Although Team Spirit did try to fight back with a 6 round streak of their own, it wasn’t enough. Liquid won the map 16-12. Elige and oSee did the heavy lifting for Liquid with 22 kills each.

Liquid picked Overpass for Map 2. This time Team Spirit managed to fight back. Although Liquid managed to end the half 8-7, Team Spirit had a tremendous T-side. Liquid only managed 5 rounds on their T-side, as Team Spirit won the map 16-13. W0nderful was at the top of the table with 28 kills, 15 of those from the AWP, and a 1.47 rating.

Anubis was the deciding map. Team Spirit had a good start on their T-side, starting out with a 5-round win streak, and ending the half 9-6. However, Liquid had a stellar T-side of their own. They allowed Team Spirit to win only 2 rounds in the second half, and ended the map 16-11. This time it was oSee doing the heavy lifting, as he sat at the top of the table with 26 kills, 11 AWP kills, and a 1.49 rating.

Faze and Liquid advanced to the Lower Bracket Final of Group A, where they will face off against each other for a shot at qualification. IHC Esports and Team Spirit have been eliminated from the tournament.