IEM Katowice will go down in CS:GO history as a very special and memorable tournament; this is the first event of the IEM system in the new decade, the “no audience” playoff event (due to concerns over the coronavirus), and above all, the emotional journey of Na`vi. Having just changed their roster a month prior and only having played together for two weeks, very few believed that Na`vi could reach the playoffs, let alone the grand final.
However, Na`vi displayed an incredibly impressive performance with the excellence of all individuals: they defeated FaZe Clan twice and then NiP to secure a spot in the playoffs; there, s1mple and his teammates annihilated two very strong teams, Team Liquid and Astralis, to reach the grand final against G2 Esports, a team also in top form with a 13-match winning streak.
Before the match, many referred to this as a “dream final” as both teams were performing exceptionally well, especially with the showdown between the two top AWP-ers in the world right now, s1mple and kennyS.
However, the match unfolded in a one-sided manner as Na`vi completely dominated their opponent, achieving a crushing victory on both of G2’s map picks (de_Nuke 16-4 and de_Mirage 16-2), along with a 16-13 victory on map 2 de_Dust2. Ultimately, Na`vi secured a convincing 3-0 win and claimed the championship title at IEM Katowice 2020 with a prize of $250,000. This may be one of the most devastating and overwhelming victories in the history of CS:GO finals.
Throughout the grand final, all Na`vi members spoke out and exhibited an incredibly fearsome performance, completely outclassing G2 Esports. On map 1, Na`vi’s IGL Boombl4 shone with a staggering K/D of 32-11 and a rating of 2.58, the highest of his career. On map 2, both s1mple and Boombl4 performed well, along with the stability of Perfecto and electronic bringing home the map win for the team, while on map 3, it was flamie and s1mple’s turn to step up.
With this championship, Na`vi has joined the race for the Intel Grand Slam Season 3 title, alongside names like Astralis, EG, Liquid, mousesports, and Fnatic. As a Master-level title, Na`vi now only needs three more championships from ESL and DreamHack events to complete this challenge and earn $1,000,000 for themselves, with the next milestone being the ESL Pro League Season 11 Finals, which will begin next month.
Additionally, according to statistics, over ONE million people watched the grand final live, making IEM Katowice 2020 the highest-viewed non-Major tournament of all time. This number also broke previous records on the Russian streaming channel and the IEM system, surpassing even Major-level tournaments like the StarLadder Berlin Major (2019) and PGL Krakow Major (2017).
These are incredibly impressive statistics, and with the emergence of numerous exciting tournament systems like BLAST Premier and FLASHPOINT, 2020 is sure to be a year witnessing the explosion of CS:GO, a game that is 8 years old yet still maintains its astonishing allure and excitement.