IEM Katowice 2022 Playoffs: which teams qualified for Quarterfinal and Semifinal?

IEM Katowice 2022 Group Stage is done and now the CS:GO community awaits for the playoffs, kicking off next week. There are 6 teams that qualified for the final stages of the event. Let's see their seeds and chances. The weekend was full of nerve-wrecking games that could have turned to anyone's side. But at the end of the day, it is Heroic and NAVI who got their places in the semifinals.

On February 25, G2 will face Virtus.Pro, while FaZe will try to stop Gambit in the quaterfinals — something they could have done to NAVI, but overtime on Mirage went in favor of world's top 1 team. Now, the winner of G2 vs VP will advance to semifinals and challenge NAVI, while FaZe vs Gambit's pairing winner will advance to play against Heroic.

All of the teams look promising. Starting from the bottom, quarterfinal participants all have their special tricks to turn to, once they are in a near-death situation. Gambit are stable: they have proven it for the millions of times. Even if they were shaky due to illnesses at the start, they claimed the desired spot and will perform in front of live audience now to prove everyone that they are capable of showing results on LAN.

FaZe showed a real fighting spirit, especially with the match against NAVI, where everything seemed so close. Remember that eco round on Overpass? They outclassed the best players with just pistols in their hands. G2 Esports, with their relatively new members Aleksi "Aleksib" Virrolainen and Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov are tough opponents for anyone. Imagine fans cheering for m0NESY, trying to hype him up for another miracle clutch — and all of that assisted with irreplaceable skills of NiKo Kovac.

Virtus.pro have shown absolute determination going into this event by winning ESL Challenger February. They are now ranked 4th, surpassing G2 Esports, with YEKINDAR and Jame on fire and FL1T feeling comfortable with his new home. Yes, they did lose to Heroic lately, but VP are surely able to correct mistakes and go after another title.

Finally, Heroic seem to be the best Danish side we have now. CadiaN's team is ranked 8th, but this does not tell the whole story. In Katowice they are putting up back to back wins in an exciting manner. Of course, OG, Vitality and Virtus Pro were not at their best this year, but who knows what the future beholds for the Danish quintet.