After almost being eliminated in the group stages Gambit Gaming absolutely crushes through the brackets of IEM Katowice and sweeps both Azubu Teams for another IEM victory and $15,500.
Moscow 5 rose to stardom in their first tournament almost exactly one year ago prior to IEM Katowice at IEM Kiev. On January 20, 2013 Gambit Gaming once again rose against all odds and showcased that they were indeed one of the best, if not the best team in Europe.
After being completely destroyed in the group stages in the opening match of Katowice, Gambit Gaming sought revenge against Azubu Blaze. Having survived based on a timed victory faster than MYM by a couple of minutes, Gambit Gaming moved on to face Azubu Frost on Sunday's playoff matches. Even though the world was betting against them Gambit Gaming came out of the gates with intensity. Alex Ich making decisions that would shock viewers around the world, whether it was a diving under a tower with a teleport, or doing an insane 5 man dragon at around 10 minutes.
Frost was no match for Gambit Gaming even with Madlife's most feared champion Blitzcrank. Alex Ich grabbed Kha'zix for himself, while Azubu Frost managed to grab Amumu, Evelynn, and Blitzcrank. The tradeoff ended poorly for Frost due to the comp that GG chose to just bypass the tanky frontline of Shy's Singed and CloudTemplar's Amumu. With Alex leading the charge, both Diamondprox on Xin Zhao and Darien on Renekton, runs past to kill the squishier back line. No member of the team slacked in this matchup and each carried their own weight against the feared Azubu Frost.
With one Azubu team down, the sister team was the only team left standing between Gambit and revenge. Coming into the game on momentum and out seeking for blood, Gambit Gaming did just that. With Alex Ich on Evelynn and again using a similar comp against Frost, Gambit Gaming did a four man dive under tower for some blood. Ed Ward came out of the fight with 3 out of the 4 kills in the opening fights. The aggression of Gambit caused Azubu Blaze to crumble under the pressure and eventually GG out of game 1.
Blaze could not figure out how to slow down the freight train known as Gambit Gaming on a collision course against them. Opting to go for a powerful protect the Vayne type of play in game 2 didn't have much effect as Gambit came down upon every obstacle in the way with fury. Whether it was a Shen ult or Kayle ult, Gambit attacked without any concern for anything but revenge. The pressure was too much for Blaze and the flames of despair soon fell upon them, thus giving Gambit Gaming the debut they were looking for.
Gambit Gaming closes out IEM Katowice with an impressive showcase and showed that the slight slump at the end of 2012 was just a resting period for them, and a beast still rages deep inside. What we saw today was the return of how M5 looked at their debut, now Gambit Gaming shows the same promise that M5 did.
IEM Season VII Katowice
1. Gamit Gaming - $15,500
2. Azubu Blaze - $8,500
3/4. Azubu Frost / Fnatic RC - $4,500
MVP of IEM Katowice - xPeke of Fnatic RC
