The Group Stage of IEM Dallas was one of the most surprising we have seen this year. Most of the top favorites qualified for the playoffs but there were also two big upsets.
In group A, a team that everyone expected to get eliminated in the first two matches won the race. 9z entered the competition being ranked 40th and defeated MOUZ, Team Liquid, and Team Vitality to advance to the semifinals. The odds of this happening were probably less than 1%.
Group A
time flies 🥹 https://t.co/iSLGJFk3ho pic.twitter.com/O5j05kYHXY
— G2 CS (@G2CSGO) May 26, 2024
By beating MOUZ in the opening match, 9z indirectly eliminated them because the lower bracket was full of great competitors. MOUZ managed to win against Complexity after losing the first map, but they were unable to repeat this performance against G2 Esports.
In this second match of the lower bracket, MOUZ discovered that NiKo and m0NESY finished among the best five players in the world in 2023 for a reason. Both of them played well and facilitated most of the round wins that ensured the final victory.
In the upper bracket Final, ZywOo and Spinx found themselves unable to carry the rest of the team. They both had excellent stats, but their teammates struggled against 9z’s players.
The lower bracket was won by G2 after a narrow victory against Team Liquid. The scores were 11 – 13 on Dust II, 13 – 8 on Inferno, and 13 – 11 on Nuke. Once again, NiKo and m0NESY were in great shape, but this time they received a lot of help from huNter- and Stewie2K, who replaced HooXi for the duration of IEM Dallas.
Group B
No #IEM Dallas 2024 playoffs for us. GGs @heroicgg. #CS2 #navination pic.twitter.com/ElgrlqO6FR
— NAVI (@natusvincere) May 29, 2024
In group B, Team Spirit had a lot of fun and did not get seriously challenged until the upper bracket Final, which they won against FaZe Clan. In the first round, Spirit defeated FlyQuest 13 – 1. Then came Na’Vi’s turn to lose against them 2 – 0 without putting up much of a fight.
FaZe did much better than both but still lost 0 – 2. The scores were 11 – 13 on Anubis and 10 – 13 on Nuke.
In the lower bracket, HEROIC did something unexpected and won three consecutive matches against strong opponents. What’s more, they did it without dropping a single map and at comfortable scores. It’s worth noting that HEROIC are currently competing with nicoodoz as their 5th player, not with degster.
If they finish the tournament in the top four, they will probably wonder why they rushed to make this roster change.
Header: ESL
