Two interesting clashes are waiting for us in the second day of the quarter-finals stage here at IEM Katowice 2019, as Renegades will take on MIBR at 15:00, while Astralis will face NiP at 18:50.
Renegades vs MIBR – 15.00
Renegades were definitely the biggest surprise package in the first stage of the IEM Katowice Major, going into the New Legends Stage with a 3-1 record. During this run, they did well to beat AVANGAR, NiP and Ence before losing 2-1 at the hands of Astralis. Renegades have prepared very well ahead of this tournament, starting a bootcamp in Poland with three weeks before the Minors began. Their strats have been on point for most of their maps pool so far, and they proved that they can accommodate on the go in their win against Astralis on Mirage.
On the other hand, MIBR haven’t played any official match prior to this Major due to the changes to their roster and coach. They began this tournament with a humiliating 3-16 loss against Cloud9, but looked better and better ever since. The Brazilians went 3-0 from that moment, beating the likes of compLexity, G2 and NiP. Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David has been on fire for MIBR during this tournament, having had the second-highest rating of the second stage with a 1.38 rating.
This seems to be the most balanced game and that’s because of Renegades’ amazing team play at the moment. MIBR have more firepower within their squad than Renegades, but the worrying fact is that they haven’t shown a diverse map pool selection so far. Renegades can count on their good team chemistry, while MIBR will rely on their individual skills.
What an awesome day of Counter-Strike!
There’s way more where that came from! Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 3:30 CET for the pre-show and another set of action packed quarter-finals!#IEM pic.twitter.com/KNHAXZtQZn
— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) February 28, 2019
Astralis vs NiP – 18:50
Astralis went unbeaten overall so far, but they have dropped a map against Renegades during this run. Apart from that, Astralis had a smooth run until this point and although all their players have performed so far, at least three of them have been on fire. Dev1ce is leading the rating charts with 1.40, Xyp9x is third in the standings with 1.25, while the in-game leader gla1ve find himself at 1.22.
Meanwhile, NiP have barely managed to qualify from the first stage of the Major with a narrow record of 3 wins and 2 defeats. They made light work against NRG, HellRaisers and Vitality, but lost against tougher oppositions in the shape of Liquid and MIBR. The legendary player Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg and the young talent Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner have both been in great shape for NiP throughout this tournament, so all eyes will be on this star duo.
Astralis are the better team and probably the best team in the world over the past few months, but NiP seems to be their most difficult opponent. NiP managed to beat Astralis in three of their last seven meetings. They even eliminated Astralis from the BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2018 on home soil.
