IEM Katowice Playoffs & Standings
G2, Dominated Their Group and Took Out BIG, FaZe, and NAVI

The first $1 million CS:GO esports major event of 2023 is well underway, and the six best teams have booked their spot in the IEM Katowice playoffs!
The playoffs run from Feb. 10 to 12 in front of a live audience at the iconic Spodek Arena. Groups A and B winners directly qualified for the semifinals of IEM Katowice 2023, while the runners-up of each group and third-place teams will play in the quarterfinals as high-seed and low-seed, respectively.
Group Stage Results and Overview
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Complexity 2-1 Fnatic
Outsiders 2-0 OG
Heroic 2-0 Vitality
Liquid 2-1 FaZe
G2 2-0 NAVI
Outsiders 2-1 Complexity
Monday, Feb. 6
Heroic 2-0 OG
Outsiders 2-1 NiP
Complexity 2-1 MOUZ
Vitality 2-1 Fnatic
FaZe 2-0 IHC
Liquid 2-1 Spirit
Sunday, Feb. 5
Heroic 2-1 Complexity
Fnatic 2-1 Outsiders
G2 2-0 FaZe
NAVI 2-0 Liquid
Saturday, Feb. 4
NAVI 2-0 C9
G2 2-0 BIG
FaZe 2-0 Spirit
Vitality 2-0 NiP
Liquid 2-0 IHC
OG 2-1 MOUZ
The strongest team in Group A was G2, who dominated the group and took out the likes of BIG, FaZe, and NAVI on their way to get a direct ticket to the IEM Katowice playoff semifinals. The Ukrainian team NAVI made it from the second line to the playoffs, which started with two wins over Cloud9 and Team Liquid, but lost to G2 Esports in the group’s grand final and received a place in the playoffs.
The last playoff participant from group A was the North American Team Liquid, which, after falling into the lower bracket after losing to NAVI, outplayed Team Spirit and upset FaZe, making it to the quarterfinal.
The winner of group B was the Danish team Heroic. They defeated Complexity Gaming, OG, and Vitality in the group stage to reach the semifinals of the IEM Katowice playoffs. The second team of the group was Team Vitality, which, after beating Ninjas in Pajamas and Fnatic, lost to Heroic to advance to the quarterfinals.
The third slot in the playoffs from group B went to the Outsiders, which, despite the initial loss to Fnatic, turned it around and dominated Ninjas in Pajamas, OG, and Complexity. They then booked themselves a ticket to the quarterfinals of the competition.
Qualified for the IEM Katowice playoffs
- Heroic
- G2 Esports
- Vitality
- Natus Vincere
- Team Liquid
- Outsiders
G2 beat NAVI to secure first place in group A and a spot in the semifinals. At the same time, Heroic defeated Vitality in the upper final of group B and took the other semifinal spot. The other quarterfinalists, alongside Vitality and NAVI, will be Liquid and Outsiders.
Format and Schedule
The format of the IEM Katowice playoffs places the teams in a single-elimination bracket, meaning that teams that lose are out of the event. Therefore, all matches are best-of-threes except for the grand finals, which is a best-of-five.
The four qualified teams will play the two quarterfinal matches on Friday, Feb. 10. The quarterfinals will see Liquid take on Vitality and Outsiders take on NAVI. The semifinals of the IEM Katowice playoffs will take place on Saturday, Feb. 11. Lastly, the final two teams will play a best-of-five grand final on Sunday, Feb. 12.
The winner of the IEM Katowice playoffs will earn $400,000 and qualify for IEM Cologne 2023, which starts between the end of July and the beginning of August.
IEM Katowice Playoffs Betting and Matchups
Going into the IEM Katowice playoffs, G2 has yet to lose a map in 2023—not once when they fought NAVI four times in the Spring Groups, not once when they fought FAZE 2 times in February. If you’ve been watching IEM Katowice, you know why they’re the talk of the town at the moment.
Everyone’s on point, especially Nikola “NiKo” Kovač. It seems they have all the momentum in the world and will be the biggest favorite going to the Playoffs.
While we have seen our fair share of upsets leading to the IEM Katowice playoffs, NAVI and G2 are nearly guaranteed finalists. Both teams will fight tooth and nail to lift that Katowice trophy.
Outsiders and Team Vitality are still the wildcard picks, while Heroic, who hasn’t faced NAVI or G2 since BLAST Premier: World Final 2022, could surprise esport bettors with a nice little payout.
Here are the teams competing in the IEM Katowice playoffs and their esports odds of winning the tournament:
- G2 (+250)
- NAVI (+250)
- Heroic (+400)
- Vitality (+500)
- Outsiders (+700)
- Team Liquid (+900)
Like we said above, G2 and NAVI have the best odds to win the whole thing, but seeing a team like Outsiders at +700 seems like an absolute steal.
Here are the quarterfinal matchups and their respective odds of winning:
NAVI (-159) | Outsiders (+132) |
Vitality (-141) | Team Liquid (+117) |