eSports

Astralis crash out on day two of IEM Katowice 2024

February 2, 2024

Day two of the IEM Katowice 2024 Play-In is at an end. Yesterday, we had shocking results and huge beatdowns, and today was no different, with the biggest elimination of the tournament by far.

Here’s all of the key action that went down on the second day of play in Katowice.

Astralis out at the first hurdle

Credit: Helena Kristiansson | © ESL

Goodness. The team in third place of our IEM Katowice 2024 power rankings are out at the first hurdle. And the worst part? It wasn’t even close. After disappointing against Heroic yesterday, most would have had Astralis as a shoo-in to beat their former IGL gla1ve and his Polish ENCE project. There was no bounceback, no fight, as ENCE struck down Astralis in 2:0 fashion.

For gla1ve, this was personal. After being kicked from the team back in June 2023, he was out to prove the Danes had made a mistake. He did so with style, going 24-5 on the second map in the series and near single-handedly sending his previous team to de_airport.

For Astralis, there’s no time for self-pity. With the Copenhagen RMR just around the corner, they need to bounce back straight away. Anything less than PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 qualification will see some serious questions asked of this expensive Astralis project, which initially seemed to get off to a fairly solid start.

Spirit charge through to Group Stage

Credit: IEM on X.

If today was a test of Spirit’s mental resilience, they passed with flying colors. After not dropping a map to Apeks yesterday, things were looking a little too easy for a donk and sh1ro-led Spirit. Today, it got off to a similar start against The MongolZ, with a 13:2 win making it look simple. But The MongolZ are a solid team, bouncing back with some amazing plays of their own.

The MongolZ managed to drag the second map to overtime, but, after some titling round losses, Spirit managed to overcome the nerves and 2:0 the series. At one point, it looked like a third map was seriously on the cards, but it was a good test of mental strength for a team that hasn’t really struggled yet. After the tie, Spirit now find themselves in the Group Stage of IEM Katowice 2024, where they’ll surely face tougher opposition going forward.

GamerLegion progress after Virtus.pro shock

Credit: IEM on X.

GamerLegion joined the line-up of teams progressing to the Group Stage of IEM Katowice 2024 on day two. The Snax-led team are extremely hot and cold at times, so compared to the consistency of opponents Virtus.pro, most favored the latter to get the job done here. In the end, it was GamerLegion who came out on top in a close 2:1 series, which saw a massive team effort pay dividends. There was no one star massively above the rest – everyone had their part to play to secure this win.

It’s a huge win for GamerLegion, who continue to grind out decent results in the scene. Time will tell if they can go even further in Katowice. Virtus.pro now face Cloud9 in a last-ditch opportunity to secure a place in the Group Stage for themselves.

The entire day two results of the IEM Katowice 2024 Play-In are as follows: