Sunday, February 17, signified the end of the New Challengers stage at the IEM Katowice Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major. So, here are the teams that are moving on to the New Legends stage.
The New Challengers stage marked the beginning of the major event and with a new format in place, a number of shocks were sure to occur – creating a new batch of teams to move on into the New Legends stage.
In one of the first surprises, Australian team Renegades completed the stage with a perfect 3-0 record – defeating AVANGAR, Ninjas in Pyjamas and ENCE. After failing to qualify for the FACEIT London Major, North-American squad NRG also finished the stage with a 3-0 record – picking up wins over Winstrike Team, TYLOO and ViCi Gaming.
The two unbeaten teams were joined by Finnish hotshots ENCE, French upstarts Vitality, Swedish legends Ninjas in Pyjamas, CIS hope AVANGAR, G2 plus former Major winners Cloud9 in all moving on to the next stage.
However, one of the biggest shocks came in the form of Fnatic failing to make it over the first hurdle. The Swedish team, which has competed at all 14 major events, were eliminated after losing to G2 in a 1-2 elimination match-up.
In order to qualify for the next major, rumored to be hosted by StarLadder in Berlin, Fnatic will have to compete in the stacked European Minor event – in what will be completely new territory for the organization.
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The Swedes exited the tournament at the first stage alongside TYLOO, ViCi Gaming, Winstrike Team, Furia, Vega Squadron, Team Spirit and Grayhound Gaming.
Team Spirit and Grayhound Gaming were the two teams to finish the event with the dreaded 0-3 record as the pair failed to win any of their games – with Spirit falling to ENCE, Vega Squadron, and Furia while Grayhound were beaten by Cloud9, Vitality and Fnatic
Final Standings
| Position | Teams | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | NRG | 3-0 |
| 1-2 | Renegades | 3-0 |
| 3-5 | Vitality | 3-1 |
| 3-5 | AVANGAR | 3-1 |
| 3-5 | ENCE | 3-1 |
| 6-8 | NiP | 3-2 |
| 6-8 | G2 | 3-2 |
| 6-8 | Cloud9 | 3-2 |
| 9-11 | Winstrike Team | 2-3 |
| 9-11 | TYLOO | 2-3 |
| 9-11 | ViCi Gaming | 2-3 |
| 12-14 | Furia | 1-3 |
| 12-14 | Fnatic | 1-3 |
| 12-14 | Vega Squadron | 1-3 |
| 15-16 | Team Spirit | 0-3 |
| 15-16 | Grayhound Gaming | 0-3 |
The attention of the CS:GO world will now turn to the New Legends stage as powerhouse squads such as Astralis, Team Liquid, MIBR and FaZe Clan all enter the fray.
The next stage kicks off on February 20 as fans will be able to watch the action up close at the International Congress Centre in Katowice.