Team Vitality, AVANGAR, and ENCE Esports secured their spots in the New Legends stage today at the IEM Katowice Major by taking wins off of ViCi Gaming, TyLoo, and Winstrike.
The trio of teams ended their time in the New Legends stage with 3-1 win-loss records, taking three of the eight qualifier spots for the next portion of Valve’s $1 million tournament. They join NRG Esports and Renegades as contenders moving on from the New Challengers stage.
Related: NRG and Renegades advance to the New Legends stage at IEM Katowice
In Vitality’s match vs. ViCi Gaming, 18-year-old star Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut came alive toward the end of the game and carried Vitality to a massive win in triple overtime at 25-22, dropping 41 kills and winning two clutch situations in the process. The French then narrowly took Nuke to secure the 2-0 sweep vs. ViCi.
AVANGAR also completed their own 2-0 scoreline in the following match vs. TyLoo, winning Cache and Inferno in two tight scorelines.
ENCE vs. Winstrike, on the other hand, wasn’t very “EZ 4 ENCE.” The Finns took Dust II, but had a weak showing on Mirage, before finally going the distance with Winstrike on Train. At first, it seemed as though ENCE would win 16-1, but the CIS underdog almost pulled off a crazy comeback. From 14-1 to 15-13, it was similar to the comeback they had vs. Mousesports under the Quantum Bellator Fire name at the ELEAGUE Boston Major last January.
Round four
2-1 matches
Team Vitality vs. ViCi Gaming
- Vitality won Inferno 25-22
- Vitality won Nuke 16-12
AVANGAR vs. TyLoo
- AVANGAR won Cache 16-12
- AVANGAR won Inferno 16-14
ENCE Esports vs. Winstrike
- ENCE won Dust II 16-11
- Winstrike won Mirage 16-7
- ENCE won Train 16-13
IEM Katowice returns tomorrow at 6am CT with three 1-2 elimination matches. Those games will feature Cloud9 vs. FURIA Esports, G2 Esports vs. Fnatic, and Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Vega Squadron. The winners of those matches will then play in the 2-2 decider matches on Sunday, Feb. 17 for the last two spots in the New Legends stage.
