Matchups set for IEM Katowice group stage

Cloud9 and Natus Vincere will face off in their first best-of-three since the BLAST Premier World Final in December 2021.

The matchups and groups for the top-16 stage of IEM Katowice have been set following the conclusion of the Play-In, in which the biggest shock was the elimination of FURIA at the hands of IHC. The Mongolian team successfully advanced to the main stage of the tournament alongside the likes of Cloud9, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Complexity, the last of whom secured their own qualification after seeing off ENCE in the lower bracket.

The 16 teams in the main stage have been split into two double-elimination brackets, with the winner of each upper bracket final advancing directly to the playoff semi-finals, and the loser going through to the quarters. Two more spots in the quarter-finals will be available to the winners of the lower bracket from each group, with the six teams then heading to the Spodek Arena to crown a champion from February 10-12.

Cloud9 and NAVI played only one map vs each other in the last 13 months

Group A features a slightly more stacked level of competition, including the heavy-hitters of FaZe and G2 and powerhouses of Natus Vincere and Cloud9. The latter two teams had a fierce rivalry for much of 2021 but met just once in 2022 at the IEM Rio Major, where Cloud9 narrowly came out victorious in a best-of-one. The pair of teams are set to meet for the first time with their new rosters to kick off the main stage of IEM Katowice at 12:30 , while G2 will look to continue their strong run of form as they simultaneously face BIG.

FaZe and Spirit will then duke it out in Group A while Vitality take on Ninjas in Pyjamas in the first match of Group B, followed by an all-European showdown between MOUZ and OG. The final two opening matches from Group B will take place the following day on February 5, and then play will head into the upper and lower brackets for each group — the complete schedule for the remainder of the tournament can be found on the IEM Katowice event page, or in our viewer's guide.

The schedule and matchups for the opening round of IEM Katowice can be found below:

Group A

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2023
04/02/2023	Cloud9 12:30 Natus Vincere	Match
04/02/2023	G2 12:30 BIG	Match
04/02/2023	FaZe 16:00 Spirit	Match
04/02/2023	Liquid 19:30 IHC	Match

Group B

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2023
04/02/2023	Vitality 16:00 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match
04/02/2023	OG 19:30 MOUZ	Match
05/02/2023	Heroic 12:30 Complexity	Match
05/02/2023	Outsiders 12:30 fnatic	Match