ESL Impact Katowice Group Stage preview

ESL Impact Katowice, the first event of 2023 for the women’s circuit, is set to enter the playoffs stage. Three teams—NAVI Javelins, Nigma Galaxy, and Furia Female—have made it to the semifinals and one more from HSG Female and B4 Female will join them, as soon as their decider match gets over.

Nigma Galaxy came into the event as the favorites in Group A and their performance so far hasn’t disappointed the fans even for a bit. They showed no signs of weakness against Saints in the opening match, smashing its opponent’s back-and-forth from the get-go to secure a handy 6-5 victory on Inferno. The team rode the wave of momentum and cruised through a 16-8 victory over B4 Female on Vertigo to book their slot in the playoffs, proving once again why they were titled the world’s best women’s team of 2022.

NAVI and FURIA survive the group stage battle to make it to the playoffs

NAVI Javelins, the second team to make the playoffs, first demonstrated their prowess versus CLG Red by winning 16-11 on Ancient. The all-Polish team then defeated FURIA with a decisive 16-6 score. The team’s success at the competition was attributed mainly to Wiktoria “vicu” Janicka and Angelika “Angelka” Kozowska.

The match between the Brazilian powerhouse FURIA.fe  and the Russian team Pandas Fearless came to an abrupt conclusion as FURIA won the opponent’s choice of map, Anubis handily, before thrashing them on Nuke to advance to the playoffs. With ratings of 1.46 and 1.42, respectively, Izabella “izaa” Galle and Olga “Olga” Rodrigues were the tips of the spear in the final best-of-three series map, propelling their team to a magnificent 2-0 triumph.

There is still one more playoff spot available for grabs. The deciding match will pit HSG fe against B4, the team they previously faced and lost to in an overtime battle on Vertigo. Following the deciding match, the competition will move on to the Playoffs, where the four teams will engage in a single elimination bracket competition for a chance to take home a big part of the $100,000 prize pool and the first ESL Impact championship of the year.

Nigma Galaxy and FURIA Female will square off in the first semifinal encounter on Sunday, February 12, with the winner advancing to the championship match. On the same day, the Polish roster of NAVI Javelin will face the winner of the HSG fe vs match in the second semifinal.

Header: ESL Gaming