Day one at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2016 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament had some interesting series as well as some minor and major upsets as Group A has finished.
IEM Katowice Group A of the CS:GO tournament kicked off with fnatic vs. Natus Vincere on de_dust 2, where the Swedish team managed to overcome Na'Vi 16:10. At the same time mousesports managed to beat Ninjas in Pyjamas with 16:08 on de_mirage. The Mongolians were next on mouz's list, grabbing their second win in the group stage by beating The MongolZ 16:07. While the German team managed to kick off strong in the tournament, Natus Vincere struggled against the Brazilian team of Luminosity. The CIS team were not the only one to lose against Luminosity, as fnatic lost 12:16 while NiP beat The MongolZ with 16:05. Following was the Swedish duel of fnatic vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas. Both teams went with one win and one loss into the match at de_inferno. The game began with a bang, as Richard "Xizt" Landström managed to score a triple-kill on CT-side, follow by two strong rounds for Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund. After the extended lead of 6:0 as defender, fnatic woke up and secured seven rounds in a row to take away the lead of NiP. Besides the bad beginning, fnatic managed to finish the first half 8:7 in their favor. The game went back and forth after a quad-kill from Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi in the pistol round. Eventually fnatic finished off NiP 16:14. While the Swedish duel was ongoing, Na'Vi faced mouz on de_cobblestone. After a great 2:0 start into the tournament, the Germans only managed to secure three rounds on their scoreboard when the first half time finished. In the second half the team around Nikola "NiKo" Kova? started with a three round win but failed to succeed any further, losing 06:16 to Egor "flamie" Vasilyev and company.
Luminosity then reinforced their group leadership by beating The MongolZ 16:6, meanwhile Natus Vincere took on Ninjas in Pyjamas 16:13. The Swedish powerhouse fnatic then faced The MongolZ in a pretty one sided match, securing a 16:04 on de_cache. Luminosity on the other hand pulled off and incredible comeback against mousesports on de_cobblestone after their 8:7 lead. Thanks to a strong performance of Kova?, the German team were 14:08 in the lead and it seemed that they managed to deliver the Brazilian team their first taste of defeat of the tournament. Gabriel "FalleN" Tolendo and Fernando "fer" Alvarenga however had other plans and showcased great performance late into the second half. Luminosity edged their way back into the game and overall to a 16:14 victory. The final games of the first day in Katowice were between Na'Vi and The MongolZ, where Na'Vi secured a 16:06 on de_cobblestone, and Ninjas in Pyjamas with a surprising victory against Luminosity on de_mirage. The Brazilians managed to remain undefeated in the group until the 16:13 against the Swedish team, who already were out of the tournament. Fan favorites The MongolZ failed to win a single series, being placed last with 0:5 in Group A. The Germans from mousesports faced fnatic in a crucial match-up, as tournament survival was on the line. After the won pistol round on CT-side, fnatic quickly ran away taking one round after another. However, mousesports has not given up quite yet as they managed to secure the pistol round on T side after losing the first half with 05:10. Keeping hopes alive for a three-way tiebreaker in the group, mousesports fighted back and tied the series. Despite losing the two following rounds, thanks to Kova? mouz tied the game and kept hopes alive. The match went into overtime, with the first round in mouz's favor. Eventually fnatic showed no mercy as the match went their way, closing out the series with 19:17 victory.
Group B of the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2016 will kick off later today, determining the second team to automatically advance to the semifinal, as well as two teams which will move on to the quarter-finals to face-off against fnatic and Natus Vincere.
Headline Image source: pcgamer.com
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