Team Liquid advanced to the semi-finals of IEM Katowice 2023

Team Liquid got an unexpected victory over Vitality with a score of 2:1, thanks to which they advanced to the semi-finals of IEM Katowice 2023. Here, the North American team will play with G2 Esports, which became the strongest in group A. In turn, zonic's wards are eliminated from the tournament, taking 5 -6th place and earning $40,000.

The second quarter-final of the event started on the Overpass map, which turned out to be the choice of the North American team. At the same time, the audience did not see any struggle at the start of the series, since zonic's wards immediately seized the initiative on the server. In turn, the "liquid" did not come up with anything for the attack, having received a natural defeat - 13:2. It seemed that the deed was done, but Team Liquid joined the game, which made an unbearable comeback and switched the map to overtime. Here the North Americans put the squeeze on a drooping opponent and took the lead in the series — 19:17.

Then the teams moved to the Nuke map, which became Vitality's choice. Here the Danish-French team began to correct the situation by imposing their own game. However, the North Americans managed to get away from defeat, gaining a few rounds at the end of the first half - 9:6. After the side switch, there was no trace of Team Liquid, while Vitality players confidently finished on defense and quickly leveled the score in the series — 16:7.

Everything was decided on the Mirage map, where, after the opening firefight, the initiative went into the hands of Team Liquid. Nevertheless, zonic's men were able to pull themselves together in order not to bring things to a rout and reduce their backlog - 9:6. After the side switch, the Danish-French team almost approached the opponent, starting to demonstrate excellent understanding in attack. But at the most necessary moment, Team Liquid players returned to the map to close the comeback and get the final victory — 16:12.

IEM Katowice 2023 takes place from 1 to 12 February in Katowice at the Spodek Arena. As part of the championship, 24 teams from the CIS, Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Oceania are fighting for a total prize pool of $1,000,000, as well as a ticket to IEM Cologne 2023 for the winner.

Interim results of IEM Katowice 2023

• 1st place: $400,000 + ticket to IEM Cologne 2023
• 2nd place: $180,000
• 3rd-4th place: $80,000
• 5th-6th place: Outsiders — $40,000
• 7th-8th place: FaZe Clan and Complexity Gaming — $24,000
• 9th-12th place: IHC Esports, OG, fnatic and Team Spirit — $16,000
• 13th-16th place: BIG, Ninjas in Pajamas, MOUZ and Cloud9 — $10,000
• 17th-20th place: MIBR, ENCE, Sprout and FURIA - $4,500
• 21st-24th place: paiN Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Permitta Esports and Grayhound Gaming — $2,500