ENCE and G2 Esports pull off a pleasant surprise by winning their groups at IEM Cologne 2023

The IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage is history; we already know the six teams qualified for the playoffs. Cloud9 and Astralis won the last two spots on the last day of this phase after defeating GamerLegion and NaVi. However, it is worth noting that both ENCE and G2 Esports, from being underdogs in this tournament, managed to lead Groups A and B after very pleasant surprises by beating Heroic and Team Vitality.

Undoubtedly, this was a really interesting day for many and disappointing for others. In the case of NaVi, they missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years, which made us see that the team is not yet ready for top-level competitive tournaments. On the other hand, GamerLegion fell by the wayside against a Cloud9 that, without a doubt, is giving a lot to talk about and, above all, without their star player, Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov.

Now, let’s see what happened in the Final of Groups A and B of the IEM Cologne 2023 Group Stage.

ENCE destroy Heroic 2-1

There is no doubt that this ENCE lineup thrives in the most pressing moments, as the international squad managed to destroy Heroic 2-1 against all odds. As a result, ENCE advances directly to the semifinals of IEM Cologne 2023.

It all started in Nuke, ENCE’s map pick, where Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia and Paweł “dycha” Dycha demonstrated a phenomenal level of play to lead ENCE to victory. In the first half, we observed how Heroic took a partial victory by 8-7 on their CT side, which showed us that we would face a balanced duel. Then, when the sides changed, ENCE reacted and put up a spectacular defense to take a great victory by 16-12.

In the second map, Overpass, everything was completely different, as Heroic started extremely strong on their T-side and managed to win the first half with a partial score of 9-6. This in Overpass is gold since we know how complicated the map usually is on the T side. Then, at the change of sides, ENCE could not do much since they only won two rounds to thus give up the second game by 8-16.

Mirage decides it all

Finally, we witnessed an impressive pitched battle on Mirage. In the first half, Heroic could win 8 rounds on the T-side to have a big advantage on the rest of the map. However, ENCE’s offense was very good throughout, and after winning six out of seven rounds at one point in the match, they managed to get 14-12 ahead on the scoreboard. Finally, ENCE achieved an excellent 16-14 victory, thus their direct qualification to the tournament’s semifinals.

.@ENCE ARE GOING TO THE SEMI FINALS OF #IEM COLOGNE 2023!

They manage to take down @heroicgg on the third and final map of the series 💪

16-5 Nuke
8-16 Overpass
16-14 Mirage pic.twitter. com/rpl0wY2Xx6

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 1, 2023

G2 Esports apply a reverse sweep against Team Vitality

Another match that undoubtedly surprised us was between G2 and Vitality, two of the best teams in the world of CS:GO today. While it is true that both lineups are very powerful, let’s remember that G2 Esports was not living a great moment in recent months. However, they applied an excellent reverse sweep to take the victory against Team Vitality and thus advance directly to the tournament’s semifinals.

It all started in Inferno, the map pick of G2 Esports, where we witnessed a crazy match, as both teams played exceptionally well on the T-side. In the first half, G2 relied on great level of Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov to take the victory by 10-5. Then, at the change of sides, Shahar “flameZ” Shushan brought Vitality back to life, and they managed even to score 15-15. Finally, in Overtime, Vitality took the victory by 19-17.

HooXi wakes up G2

Things changed radically in the second map, Vertigo, as this time, G2 Esports had an unexpected hero, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen. In the first half, G2 managed a partial victory by 8-7. However, HooXi surprised everyone by demonstrating exceptional play to lead G2 to a resounding 16-10 victory.

Finally, the teams met in Mirage, where, for the second consecutive map, the score in the first half ended 8-7 in favor of G2. However, at the change of sides, G2’s defense, commanded by m0NESY and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, prevented all Vitality approaches to leading his team to a solid 16-8 victory.

SEMI-FINALS FOR G2 😳@G2esports take down the most recent major winners @TeamVitality 2-1 to already make the #IEM Cologne top 4!

Could it be Katowice & Cologne in the same year? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/5Le4yqzg9V

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 1, 2023

Header: ESL