G2 Esports beat Heroic to be crowned IEM Katowice 2023 champions

That’s it! The first big tournament of the year, the IEM Katowice 2023, says goodbye after spectacular matches and a more than deserving champion: G2 Esports.

Today, February 12, G2 Esports was crowned champion of IEM Katowice 2023 after defeating Heroic in the grand final with a hard-fought 3-1. There is no doubt that it was a heart-stopping final, where both teams showed their full potential, but the current #1 team in the world continues to prove that today there is no one who can stop them.

G2 Esports champion of IEM Katowice 2023

There is no doubt that there was no other team more deserving of this championship trophy than G2 Esports. This team has been the one with the most consistency, performance, and spectacular level of the players composing it. Of course, heroic was a worthy rival, but, at the moment, no team can stop the onslaught of this team that is getting bigger and bigger.

It was a tremendous final, very well disputed by both teams; each player gave their best to try to lift the champions trophy and take home the $400,000 in prizes. First, however, we have to highlight the performance of Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač and Justin “jks” Savage, both of whom carried G2 in this grand final with a rating of 1.23 and 1.20, respectively, according to HLTV.

Grand Final Recap – G2 Esports vs. Heroic

First map – Nuke

It all started on the right foot for G2 Esports, a team that came into this grand final with 19 consecutive map wins. After an incredible first half where Heroic was able to take a 10-5 lead, huNter- took the claws out of the CT side and, with 133.3 ADR and a rating of 2.0, took care of the comeback of his team to finish with a favorable score of 16-12.

Yes, just as you see, G2 allowed Heroic to go just two rounds on the T-side in Nuke, and it all looked like it was going to be a sweep for the #1 team in the world.

Second map – Mirage

On Mirage, things were the same as on Nuke. Heroic came out like a lion looking for its prey and got 9 T-side rounds in the first half. However, they were not as effective at switching sides, and with wunderkind Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov leading the charge for G2 Esports, they were able to turn the score around again to finish with a 16-13 victory.

Third map – Inferno

Things started to change on the third map. Heroic had a complicated first half on the TC side, with many complications when stopping G2’s attacks.

However, on the T side, they felt like fish in water, and with collective work, as usual, this team and René “TeSeS” Madsen at the head managed to take the victory 16-11, keeping them alive in this grand final.

Fourth map – Ancient

Finally, we reached the fourth and last map of the grand final, Ancient. A very tactical map where strategies are a fundamental part of the teams’ victories, especially on the T side.

G2 Esports started the CT side map well, winning four of the first five rounds. Then Heroic could decipher G2’s defense at times, and with three consecutive victories, they managed to put the score at 4-4. From that point on, each round was extremely tightly contested, to the point that three in a row ended with G2 defusing the bomb.

With the 9-6 change, Heroic had faith in the CT side and could withstand the attacks of G2, but this could not be. huNter- took the floor and commanded each of the offenses of his team for a spectacular 7-1 partial that gave them the victory in the grand final.

This is the second consecutive top-level tournament win for G2 Esports, as their winning streak began at the BLAST Premier World Finals 2022 in December. While their string of consecutive map wins was cut short at this grand final, the team still has a record of 12 series wins in a row.

G2 Esports once again proved that they are the best team in the world with their victory at IEM Katowice 2023. They showed remarkable resilience in the grand final and managed to overcome an outstanding performance by Heroic to secure the title – Congratulations to G2 Esports on their victory!

Header: G2 Esports | Twitter