Images: ESL
Big names like FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, and Team Falcons notably failed to make it out of the Group Stage.
The Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) action is heating up at Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2025, as we now head to the Playoffs at the iconic Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland. 
Team Vitality and 
Natus Vincere (NAVI) topped the Group Stage and have earned direct berths to the semifinals, while Shanghai Major champions 
Team Spirit,
The MongolZ, 
Eternal Fire, and 
Virtus.pro (VP) will be starting in the quarterfinals.
And with only eight out of 16 teams in the Group Stage making it to the Playoffs, some big names were bound to miss out on playing in Spodek. This year, the likes of Shanghai Major finalists 
FaZe Clan, BLAST World Final 2025 champions 
G2 Esports, and 
Team Falcons failed to make it out of the Group Stage.
Here's how all the action in the IEM Katowice 2025 Group Stage went down:
Vitality, VP, and Eternal Fire advance out of Group A
With 
Robin “ropz” Kool joining forces with 
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut over the offseason, many expected Vitalty to be one of the biggest contenders this year. The French team have lived up to that promise so far, as they earned a semifinals start in Spodek with a strong run through Group A, dropping only one map en route to locking in their spot in the Playoffs.
Vitality kicked off their Katowice campaign by sweeping 
3DMAX in Inferno (19-16) and Nuke (13-9), which led to a highly-anticipated matchup between ropz and his old team in FaZe. Vitality started the series strong with a 13-3 stomp in Nuke before FaZe struck back with a 13-10 win in Anubis to force a decider. Dust II ended in dramatic fashion in double overtime, with Zywoo's 37 frags allowing Vitality to close out the 2-1 series victory with a 19-16 score.
Vitality then soundly swept VP in Anubis (13-8) and Inferno (13-5) to lock in their spot in the semifinals, with their opponents settling for Group A's second seed and a quarterfinals start.
After losing to VP in their second match of the Group Stage, Eternal Fire bounced back in a big way to grab the final Playoff spot for Group A – denying FaZe a place in Spodek in hands-down the best map of CS2 of 2025 thus far in the process.
But before that, Eternal Fire first had to overcome 3DMAX in a 2-1 reverse sweep, shaking off a 4-13 loss in Inferno to win Anubis 16-13 in overtime and Dust II 13-10. On the other side of the bracket, FaZe survived a thriller against G2, winning the opening map of the series in Ancient (16-13) and closing things out in game three at Nuke (13-8) to face Eternal Fire in the last match of Group A.
Engin “MAJ3R” Kupeli and Özgür “woxic” Eker sparked a dominant series opener for Eternal Fire, recording 20 and 18 frags respectively to give their team the 13-4 win in Anubis. Game two at Nuke was absolute cinema, as Can “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş racked up 49 frags and Eternal Fire outlasted FaZe in triple overtime to claim the 25-22 win to secure the series sweep and a spot in the quarterfinals.
NAVI, MongolZ, and Spirit qualify from Group B
Over in Group B, NAVI emerged as the top dogs to claim a semifinals spot in Spodek. The Copenhagen Major champions notably exorcised their demons in the form of rivals Spirit en route to the Playoffs.
NAVI had a flying start to the Group Stage, routing 
FURIA Esports in Dust II (13-5) and Mirage (13-3) to earn a showdown with Spirit for a guaranteed spot in the IEM Katowice Playoffs. Having lost all but one of their seven matchups with the Shanghai Major champions last year, NAVI were definitely the underdogs in their first showdown with Spirit in 2025.
With that said, NAVI started the series strong with a comfortable 13-8 win in Mirage. However, they failed to complete a comeback from down 6-11 in Dust II as Spirit took the 13-11 win to force the series to a decider. Despite 
Danil “Donk” Kryshkovets dropping 30 frags, NAVI overcame Spirit 16-14 in overtime – thanks in large part to 
Justinas “jL” Lekavičius' clutch heroics and 25 frags – to close out the series and guarantee a spot in the Playoffs.
Only the MongolZ stood in NAVI's way of a semifinals berth, but the Copenhagen Major champions made it look as they routed their opponents in Mirage (13-3) and Ancient (13-9) to get a much-needed leg up in the Playoffs.
Spirit then looked shaken by their previous loss to NAVI in the final match of Group B, as GamerLegion won the opening map of their series at Anubis 13-11 to get within touching distance of the final spot in the Playoffs. However, Spirit managed to right the ship and routed their opponents in Ancient (13-6) and Nuke (13-4) to become the last team to lock in their spot in Spodek.
The IEM Katowice 2025 Playoffs will kick off on Friday (February 7) and will follow a single-elimination format with all matches being a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series. Here's the Playoff bracket for IEM Katowice 2025's main event:
Up for grabs in Spodek will be the lion's share of the tournament's $1 million prize pool. All teams that qualified for the Playoffs are guaranteed at least $40,000 in winnings, but they all have their sights set on the $400,000 grand prize and the right to add their names to the storied list of teams to claim victory in one of the most iconic venues in CS history at Spodek.
