Astralis, Tempo Storm and Virtus.pro to playoffs after IEM Katowice day 2

Day two at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2016 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament is over as Group B saw another Brazilian team victorious.

IEM Katowice Group B of the CS:GO tournament started with the Danish team Astralis managed to overcome the French team of EnVyUs. The clash between two of the favorites in the group began horribly for EnVyUs on de_train, being down 03:12. Securing the pistol round and the anti-eco in the second half was holding the team around Kenny "KennyS" Schrub in the game, Astralis eventually regained control to bring it down to a 16:11 finish. The clash between FaZe Clan and E-Frag was a one-sided game, where FaZe managed to secure a 16:05. First game for the second Brazilian team namely Tempo Storm went live against E-Frag on de_inferno. The Bulgarian team managed to win the pistol round as attacker, what followed was a back and forth between both teams. E-Frag managed to take a 09:06 advantage after the first half. The team around Joao "felps" Cabral were not giving up, fighting their way back, eventually pushing the boundaries and getting themselves to match point and ultimately to finish the series with 16:13. In the meantime Virtus.pro was facing Astralis on de_overpass with the Polish team around Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski initially winning the pistol round. Astralis however managed to take away the first gun round, taking away round after round from Virtus. Astralis in the end won with 16:06 and secured a clear 2:0 lead in Group B. The third set of series featured two interesting clashes, as EnVyUs had to play against Virtus.pro and FaZe Clan vs. Tempo Storm. After beating E-Frag in the opening games, both FaZe and Tempo Storm were eager to take their second win in Katowice. FaZe only managed to secure five rounds, managing a comeback in the second half. The 10:10 was the wake up call for the Brazilian team, trying to end the game. Nevertheless, things turned once again but FaZe missed to seal the deal with a 16:14 victory. Tempo Storm were unable to carry the momentum and close it out themselves, which brought us into overtime where FaZe Clan managed to pick up two rounds each and close out the series with 19:16.

Virtus.pro, on the other hand, was back on track, taking a 08:01 advantage over the French team. EnVyUs then managed to stop their opponents by winning three rounds in a row. VP managed to gain advantage once again, securing the lead in the first half. EnVyUs kept hopes alive after winning the pistol round and the two following rounds. The Polish assemble came right back but failed to close out the game. Momentum seemed to shift, but in the end the Polish team stood their ground to scrape a 16:14 success. Astralis kept their momentum on the other hand, rolling over E-Frag on de_mirage with a clear 16:05 win. EnVyUs got themselves back on track with a solid performance against FaZe Clan on de_train, winning 16:12 at the end. Astralis then took down FaZe 16:05 while Tempo Storm topped Virtus.pro 16:09. The Poles of Virtus.pro then had minimal troubles against E-Frag on de_overpass while Tempo Storm managed to accomplish a major upset victory against EnVyUs, sending the French team down to fifth position within Group B. The following series between FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro then would determine who will advance to the playoffs. FaZe came out strongly with a 3:0 lead before VP took their first gun round. FaZe were on the brink of hurting VP's economy by winning but Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski managed to pull off a ninja defuse with the entire enemy team still alive. FaZe then managed to take some rounds themselves, followed by an AWP four kill by Filip "NEO" Kubski. VP took the highly contested and narrow half-time lead, expanding that lead by winning the pistol round and the following anti-ecos. FaZe then took the first gun round before it seemed that the Poles would be able to close it out with their 13:08 lead. FaZe did not give up, fighting their way back to a 13:14 before VP picked up back-to-back rounds. With EnVyUs and E-Frag being eliminated already, it seemed that the game would not be interesting, in the end both teams fighted till the bitter end with two overtimes. The last game of the day was pretty important for both in the series, as the winner would advance directly to the semifinals. Despite the dominant lead on CT-side, Astralis all of the sudden found themselves facing unbeatable Brazilians as the team around Henrique "HEN1" Teles picked up round after round. Sitting at a 14:12 for the Danes, Peter "Dupreeh" Rasmussen brought it to match point with two crucial kills mid round. Astralis managed to overcome Tempo Storm with 16:12.

Thanks to the win against Tempo Storm in the last series of Group B, Astralis advanced to the IEM Katowice semifinals, while Tempo Storm and Virtus.pro will be playing in the quarter-finals. The first series will be between Natus Vincere vs. Tempo Storm at 12:30 CET.

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