Nigma Galaxy beat NAVI to win the 2023 ESL Impact Katowice

The IEM Impact Katowice 2023 has concluded with Nigma Galaxy Female lifting the trophy and creating history by securing back-to-back IEM Impact titles.

After winning the ESL Impact Valencia 2022, Nigma Galaxy, now have a second consecutive ESL Impact championship on their names. Nigma Galaxy, the most accomplished women’s CS:GO team in the world, defeated the all-Polish team NAVI Javelins to win the ESL Impact Katowice. 

Nigma Galaxy previously won the ESL Impact Valencia 2022 title, giving them a two-peat in the ESL Impact series. The Russian squad also won the ESL Impact League’s inaugural and second seasons after defeating Furia Fe in the competition’s championship games, making the Katowice trophy their fourth consecutive Impact trophy.

Grand Final recap

The best-of-three series began on NAVI’s pick of Nuke, but the reigning champions did everything in their power to make the underdogs regret their choice. The Russian side completely annihilated the Polish roster in front of their home crowd, taking a massive 12-3 lead before closing it out with a 16-9 victory.  

The second map, Vertigo, proceeded into overtime with little to distinguish the two teams, but Nigma Galaxy had more resilience to overcome the all-Polish roster in the end, winning the map 22-19 and the series 2-0.

Galaxy’s top player in the best-of-three series, Alexandra “twenty3” Timonina, found her groove on the big stage, earning a 1.29 aggregate HLTV rating and a 57/42 K/D. Despite being under a lot of pressure, she played with conviction and gave a powerful performance on a large stage, displaying her prowess in chaotic situations with a clever playstyle.

Playoffs recap 

The first semifinal match kicked off the event’s last day. putting Nigma Galaxy Fe and FURIA Female up against one another in another knock-out game. In the previous three grand finals of Impact events, Nigma Galaxy had handily defeated their Russian opponents, and this one was no exception.

Nigma made quick work of their opponents on the opening map, brushing them aside 16-11 scorelines before getting slammed by them on the second map 16:10. Star player Ana ‘ANa’ Dumbravă wreaked havoc in the deciding map, picking up a massive 39 kills and an impressive 1.56 rating to boost Nigma to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over their biggest rival.

NAVI, meanwhile, advanced to the championship round after trouncing B4 Female of North America in the second semifinal. They began the series with a 16:7 victory over B4 on their own picked map, Anubis, before capping it off with a 16:9 triumph on Nuke.

Header: ESL Gaming