CS:GO is back for the first time since the start of the new year and the CIS and European Minor championships kicked off today.
In the CIS portion of the IEM Katowice Valve Major tournament series, Winstrike and Team Spirit made their way to the playoff bracket by going 2-0 earlier today. The group stage in the first day of action contained two opening matches and one winners match per group, totaling six matches today.
Related: Road to the IEM Katowice Major: Everything you need to know before the main event
To solidify their spots in the playoffs, Spirit won two Mirage overtime thrillers vs. Nemiga and Syman. Winstrike, on the other hand, took a swift win against Runtime, before going the distance with AVANGAR in three maps, which they closed out with a convincing Train scoreline.
Gambit Esports also received a loss in today’s action, with an upset given by Syman Gaming on Train. This was a surprising feat for Syman to accomplish considering the new Gambit lineup with former HellRaisers star Vladyslav “bondik” Nechyporchuk.
Group A
Initial Matches
- Syman Gaming won Train 16-12 vs. Gambit Esports
- Team Spirit won Mirage 19-15 vs. Nemiga Gaming
Winners’ Match
Team Spirit vs. Syman Gaming
- Spirit won Dust II 16-11
- Spirit won Mirage 22-18
Group B
Initial Matches
- AVANGAR won Dust II 16-5 vs. pro100
- Winstrike won Dust II 16-6 vs Runtime
Winners’ Match
Winstrike vs. AVANGAR
- AVANGAR won Dust II 16-6
- Winstrike won Cache 16-13
- Winstrike won Train 16-7
The CIS Minor continues tomorrow at 3am CT, featuring losers matches involving Gambit vs. Nemiga and Runtime vs. pro100. Then the decider matches of the Minor will see which two teams advance to the playoffs of the event.
