Day two saw the Group B teams get into action to determine who would move on to playoffs at IEM Katowice 2017!
Natus Vincere vs. 
Virtus.pro - de_Train 16:9 (7:8; 9:1)
The day began with a box office encounter between Na’Vi and Virtus.pro, with the latter fresh off the back of their DreamHack Vegas victory. Their domination of the opening pistol saw HenryG stating that "you can't get much more wrecked than that in a pistol round", and that kept on until the fifth, when Na’Vi seemed to wake up and set about getting back into the game via a somewhat surprising force buy win.
While they were unable to follow up on that in round six, Na’Vi took the seventh, and three for s1mple in round eight brought them within two of the DreamHack champs at 3-5, with the next a formality due to VP’s limited economy. At five apiece, Virtus.pro managed to get one back, prompting Na’Vi to call a timeout to try and kill Polish momentum, but VP took the next. Intelligent use of space in the fourteenth saw Guardian pick up the first kill on Neo, with Snax and Taz on clean-up. Pasha had a chance to make it 9-6, but couldn’t get the kills required, and at halfway the game was poised 8-7 in VP’s favour.
Guardian looked after his team in the opening pistol of the second half to bring things level, and the pressure kept coming from the Ukrainians. Taking the nineteenth without loss, and then the next despite s1mple missing some easy shots, Na’Vi forced a timeout from VP.
Byali was last man standing at 13-7, which quickly became 13-8 in favour of Na’Vi, but the young aimbot at least got the bomb down to give VP some economic options, but it was false hope. Eventually, VP picked up their first T-side round to make it 15-, but with Guardian and s1mple sitting atop the scoreboard, and Snax unusually quiet for his part the team from Ukraine were able to close the game out 16-9 and give themselves the ideal start to the tournament.
Cloud9 vs. 
SK Gaming - de_Nuke 16:9 (9:6; 7:3)
The second match of the day, Cloud9 versus SK Gaming, saw the North American squad get off to a hot start on the Counter-Terrorist side of Nuke. Cloud9 looked as if they had claimed ownership of the entire facility, as they held SK Gaming to just one round in the first six, to take a 5-1 lead.
It took a four round deficit before the Brazilians were able to regain some composure, and grind out some rounds to tie the game up at 6-6. SK Gaming’s momentum was halted, however, largely in part due to the outstanding play of Timothy “autimatic” Ta, who lead Cloud9 to a 3 round swing to finish out the half with a 9-6 advantage.
After a lockdown Counter-Terrorist-side pistol round, SK Gaming looked poised to regain control over the match; but Cloud9 would not falter, as they took the following round from the Brazilians after a force-buy. Cloud9’s aggression continued to overwhelm SK Gaming in the second half; the dynamic play of Jake “Stewie2K” Yip, and the rest of the North American squad, proved to be enough to stifle any momentous plans Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and company may have been able to muster up, and finish the match out with a convincing 16-9 victory.
Natus Vincere vs. SK Gaming - de_Overpass 16:12 (7:8; 9:4)
Natus Vincere took on SK Gaming in a highly contested battle on Overpass, where the Brazilians came out swinging to secure a 2-0 Counter-Terrorist side lead. Na`Vi would not let SK Gaming get off to much of a run, securing a round after an excellent play on the B bombsite. This would be the start of a back-and-forth battle of round trading, highlighted by dynamic tactical play from both teams.
When the two squads reached the inevitable fifteen round mark, SK Gaming found themselves ahead of the CIS squad 8-7, after a three round swing to finish out the first half. SK Gaming’s momentum continued into the second half as they secured the pistol round over Natus Vincere; however, a force buy lead by Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev allowed Na`Vi to turn the tides and establish some momentum of their own, as they were able to get out to a 12-9 lead.
Even with a growing deficit, SK Gaming did not lose composure, and thanks to a few brief moments of dominance by Marcelo “coldzera” David and Fernando “Fer” Alvarenga, they were able to tie the game up at 12-12, before succumbing to a scrambling Na`Vi squad, armed with pistols. This round lead to SK’s momentous downfall, as Natus Vincere moved in for the kill, to take the victory 16-12, and start off 2-0 at Katowice.
Heroic vs. North - de_Nuke 19:17 (6:9; 9:6) (4:2)
The next match was a battle of the Danes, where North and Heroic squared off on Nuke, with Heroic getting things underway on the Counter-Terrorist side. Heroic came into the matchup as the underdogs, largely due to the insane amount of combined experience their counterparts at North were equipped with going into Katowice.
Heroic was lead into battle by Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså, who touted an outstanding 93.3 ADR for his team throughout the matchup. Unfortunately for valde’s squad, a remarked run by North allowed them to close out the half 9-6. Though they were down, Heroic were certainly not out by any means.
Heroic dug deep to pick up the pistol round over North in the second half, and established some early dominance by winning the following two rounds to tie the game up at 9-9. The two teams would proceed to trade rounds with one another until the score reached 15-15.
Overtime saw North establish a 2-1 lead over Heroic on their Counter-Terrorist side, but they were unable to secure a single round in the second half, and Heroic took the win, 19-17.
Cloud9 vs. Heroic - de_Cobblestone - 16:7 (8:7; 8:0)
Following an intense battle with North, Heroic were up to bat again, this time against Cloud9. Cloud9’s dominant pistol round victory allowed them to generate some early momentum to get out to a convincing 6-0 lead over the Danes. Heroic, however, were not hesitant to fight back; and being down six without a round to their name, they had nothing to lose. The Danish counter-aggression proved to be enough to stifle Cloud9’s run, and allowed Heroic to tie the game up at 6-6. Cloud9 regained a bit of their composure following the Danish surge to secure the final two rounds of the half, and sit ahead 8-7.
The second half is where things came crumbling down for Heroic; both bombsites became impenetrable for the Danes; with the defensive opposition lead by Timothy “autimatic” Ta, whose performance in this match was supplemented by an outstanding 114.4 ADR, Cloud9 shut out Heroic to take the victory 16-7.
North vs. Virtus.pro - de_Cobblestone - 16:13 (10:5; 6:8)
After a shaky collapse in overtime versus Heroic, North looked to re-establish themselves against Polish heavy-hitters, Virtus.pro. The two teams would square off on Cobblestone, where North would secure the pistol round victory, thanks to an impressive three frags by René "cajunb" Borg. The following two rounds were quickly taken by North, but they were unable to establish any momentum going into the buy rounds; as Virtus.pro evened things up at 3-3 by winning three straight rounds.
Virtus.pro’s aggression and ability to assume map control early in rounds allowed them to get out to a 5-3 lead over the Danes, but an impressive bombsite B defence in the ninth around allowed North to start picking up the pieces. This defence, would be the turning point in the half, as North went on to win the final six rounds of the half, to take the lead over the Polish powerhouse, 10-5.
With all eyes on them, the hometown favourites, Virtus.pro looked to regroup in the second half, and regain control of the match. After winning the Counter-Terrorist side pistol round, VP began to ramp up the plow. Virtus.pro took the next few rounds from the Danes to get within 1, and looked poised to complete their comeback. North, however, had other plans, and went on a plow of their own to reach match point. At 15-9, Virtus.pro were on their heels and fighting with fire. While Wiktor 'TaZ' Wojtas was able to will his team into a four round swing, they ultimately fell to North, 16-13.
SK Gaming vs. Heroic - de_Cobblestone - 16:5 (12:3; 4:2)
Sitting at 0-2, SK Gaming were in unfamiliar territory as they found themselves near the bottom of their group, and ready to square off against Heroic, on Mirage. Heroic had just fallen to Cloud9 on Cobblestone, but prior to that, had made an impressive showing in a victory over their fellow Danish countrymen, North.
Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo’s squad would take to the Terrorist side first, and took control of the game by securing a pistol round victory. The second round was quickly taken by SK Gaming before they fell victim to a stack at the B bombsite, which cost the Brazilians an early round. Heroic continued their pressure on SK into the next round, and forced them into a 2v4 situation, which was handled with ease by the duo of Epitacio “TACO” de Malo and FalleN. While SK Gaming had a 3-1 lead, they were weakened by the impressive anti-eco play of Heroic, and looked to regain a sense of dominance moving forward into the game.
Round 5 was highlighted by a half-buy from Heroic, which caught SK off guard, and allowed the Danes to get within one round of their lead. It was here that the Brazilians began to ramp up the intensity, and held pat throughout the half to take an impressive 12-3 lead.
The second half’s pistol round was dominated by a highlight reel play from Marcelo “coldzera” David, who took down three of Heroic’s players. After securing the subsequent anti-eco round, SK Gaming found themselves on match point, and ready to close things out. A brief surge from Heroic following the match point victory secured two rounds, but only delayed the inevitable. SK Gaming finally closed things out to grab their first victory at Katowice, with a 16-5 win over Heroic.
Virtus.pro vs. Cloud9 - de_Mirage 16:4 (11:4; 5:0)
In the next head to head matchup, Virtus.pro looked to take on Cloud9 on Mirage, where they too hoped to secure their first victory at IEM Katowice 2017. The Polish squad began on the Counter-Terroist side, where they took the pistol round with a solid and strategical hit on the A bombsite. Cloud9 returned the favour in the following round with a force buy, which tied the game up at 1-1. Not wanting the game to slip away from them early, Virtus.pro took to the B bombsite to try and establish some presence before Cloud9 could get set up. After an intense 1v2 situation, Virtus.pro came out on top. Coming off this momentous third round victory, Virtus.pro secured the following two rounds to go ahead 4-1 over the North Americans.
Cloud9 were able to stifle the Poles’ momentum slightly when they took the sixth round to get within two rounds, at 4-2, but Virtus.pro would not let them generate any momentum of their own. Thanks to the dynamic play of the legendary Filip “NEO” Kubski, Virtus.pro stretched their lead to 5, at 7-2. Cloud9 would not make much more of an impact in the first half, as they took just two more rounds, to VP’s five, to finish the half down 11-4.
The second half would not prove to be any better for Cloud9; the North Americans appeared to be all out of juice as Virtus.pro took the second pistol round, and all of the following rounds to find their way to their first victory at Katowice, 16-4.
Virtus.pro vs. SK Gaming - de_Inferno - 16:14 (11:4; 5:10)
Following a first victory for both teams at Katowice, SK Gaming and Virtus.pro were set to go up against one another on Inferno. With the Brazilians taking to the Terrorist side first, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga precisely picked apart the Polish squad with three crucial frags to secure the pistol round. Virtus.pro were sure, however, not to let SK develop any momentum, and took the following anti-eco round. Virtus.pro looked to be in full form throughout the first half, exhibiting organized teamplay and superior tactical strategizing as they made work of the Brazilians. While SK were able to pull a few rounds out sporadically through the half, VP asserted their dominance over the Brazilians to take the half 11-4.
The second half mirrored the first one, with SK managing to secure the pistol round before they were thwarted by Virtus.pro in the second round. Behind the tactical prowess of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, SK Gaming went on a run of their own to secure 10 total rounds, and found themselves dialling in on the Polish squad’s lead. While the battle was heated and close, ultimately, Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski and co. were able to withstand the Brazilians’ last stand, to win 16-14.
North vs. Natus Vincere - de_Cobblestone - 16:12 (11:4; 5:8)
Day two’s action continued on with Natus Vincere facing off against North on Cobblestone. After a near ace in the pistol round at the hands of Egor "flamie" Vasilyev, Na`Vi was denied the round victory by North’s René "cajunb" Borg. This pistol round win helped fuel a massive 5-0 run, which was only briefly disrupted by Na`Vi for a two-round span, and capped off at 8-2 before Na`Vi could secure another round.
North continued to pick apart Na`Vi’s Counter-Terrorist setups, and rolled into a comfortable 11-4 lead at the half. North’s first half was fuelled by dynamic play by newcomer Philip 'aizy' Aistrup.
The Danes made sure to secure the second half pistol round to take the score to 12-4, but Natus Vincere made it known that they were not done just yet, as they won the following anti-eco, and the subsequent five rounds to bring the deficit to just three rounds, 12-9. With the pressure of a comeback amounting weighing on their play, North went on the aggressive, and thanks to Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke, stifled Na`Vi’s run to take the score to 13-9.
Na`Vi attempted to make one final run, but in the end, were only able to secure 12 total rounds, and fell to North, 16-12.
North vs. Cloud9 - de_Cobblestone - 16:12 (11:4; 5:83)
North continued on to face Cloud9 on Cobblestone, and they hoped to continue to ride the momentum that brought them success in their previous two games against Virtus.pro and Natus Vincere.
With their confidence at an all-time high, North rolled out to a hot 5-0 start against the North American hopefuls. After stealing just one round, and losing the subsequent one, Cloud9 elected to call a timeout, in order to regroup and hope that North would cool down a little bit. Cloud9 slowly chipped away at their deficit throughout the half, but ultimately, could only secure 4 rounds, and found themselves down 11-4.
While the score didn’t show it, Cloud9 performed fairly well in the first half, and many of their losses boiled down to some outstanding plays by North. The second half showed a different side of Cloud9, who went on a six round run to kick things off, and put some pressure on North. Taking a page out of Cloud9’s first half book, North elected to take a timeout and regroup themselves. This may have been the turning point that North needed, because even though Cloud9 went on to tie the game at 11-11, North held them to just 1 round in the final 8, to win the game 16-12.
Heroic vs. Natus Vincere - de_Overpass - 16:12 (8:7; 8:5)
The next match pitted Natus Vincere against Heroic, on Overpass. The game started off with neither team able to get out to a definitive lead. However, after getting some of the rust off, Heroic began to ramp things up and took off to an 8-4 lead. Na`Vi quickly responded to the Danes’ run with a three round skid of their own, to finish up the half down 8-7.
The second half began with a pistol round victory for Heroic, but again, no team could truly establish an advantage over one-another. After a brief four round run by Na`Vi, Heroic woke themselves up out of their mid-game slump to secure six of the next seven rounds, and take the surprising victory over Na`Vi, 16-12.
Heroic vs. Virtus.pro - de_Nuke - 16:14 (8:7; 8:7)
With day 2 nearing its end, one of the final matches saw Virtus.pro take on Heroic on Nuke. The Polish squad started off hot, taking the Terrorist side pistol round and following anti-ecos to secure a 3-0 lead. Heroic showed, however, that they came to play; come gun round, the Danes swept four straight rounds out from under Virtus.pro to turn the tides of the game with their first lead.
Though they were faltering a bit, Virtus.pro made it difficult for the Danes to generate a good economy throughout their streak, and allowed the Poles to make a play to stay in the game. Unfortunately for VP, a force-buy from Heroic caught the Polish squad off guard and subsequently turned into a 4 round swing, bringing Heroic to an 8-4 advantage over VP. In the final rounds of the half, Pawe? "byali" Bieli?ski made sure that the Danes’ lead did not get insurmountable, as they secured three rounds to finish the half down 1, at 8-7.
The second half saw Heroic this time with the pistol round advantage, but they could not generate the same momentum that VP did, as they failed to secure the following two rounds, and found themselves down 10-9. A coordinated team effort from Heroic lead to a six round swing to put the Danes out ahead once more, this time at match point.
Even facing match point, the hometown heroes, VP, would not lay down for Heroic. The Poles rangled together a series of rounds to bring the score to 14-15, but ultimately, a well-timed bombsite A execute lead to the demise of Virtus.pro, who fell 16-14 to Heroic.
SK Gaming vs. North - de_Cobblestone - 16:8 (9:6; 7:2)
SK Gaming, who were left with little to play for at the end of the group stage, went head to head against North on Cobblestone. North looked poised to continue its dominance early on, as they started off with a convincing 5-2 lead on the Brazilians. However, Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo’s team would not simply lay down, as they made things interesting with a surge of their own, to get out ahead of North 9-6 at the half.
SK Gaming were feeling it as they entered the second half, as they held North to just three rounds on their way to a 16-8 victory. While the win was more or less meaningless in terms of event contention, SK Gaming showed that they are still able to compete with the best, even after a poor showing earlier in the day.
Natus Vincere vs. Cloud 9 - de_Mirage - 16:6 (10:5; 6:1)
Natus Vincere went up against Cloud9 on a rather uneventful Mirage matchup, which saw Na`Vi get out to an early 5-0 lead, and remain dominant through the first half to get up ahead of the North Americans, 10-5.
In a concentrated team effort, where no one and everyone shined at the same time, Na`Vi made work of the North American squad, who appeared to be running on empty after a long day of Counter-Strike.
Natus Vincere held Cloud9 to one round in the second half to take the victory 16-6, and move on to the playoffs.
