G2 are the first Big Event champions of 2023 with a 3-1 victory over HEROIC in the grand final.

G2 are the IEM Katowice champions after defeating HEROIC 3-1 in the grand final. Cousins Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač lifted the trophy together, a momentous occasion in particular for the younger of the Kovač cousins who has played the IEM Katowice grand final three times before finally lifting the iconic trophy in Poland.

This title is Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage's second IEM Katowice in a row after raising it as a stand-in with FaZe in 2022, which makes the Australian the first player to win it back to back since 2016 and the first player to ever do it with two different teams.

The international squad won the title without losing a single series and only dropping one map along the way, in the best-of-five grand final, extending their ongoing win streak to 12 matches

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21:03 - G2 are the IEM Katowice champions!

G2 16-7 HEROIC

G2 did not choke on the attack and won the half fashionably, giving up a single round on the way to lifting the trophy in Katowice with all players pulling their weight to the 3-1 victory.

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	20 - 12	+8	91.5	1.39
Justin 'jks' Savagejks	18 - 12	+6	76.3	1.31
Rasmus 'HooXi' NielsenHooXi	19 - 14	+5	97.5	1.30
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	18 - 13	+5	87.7	1.26
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipovm0NESY	16 - 11	+5	69.7	1.25

HEROIC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaardjabbi	17 - 19	-2	78.7	1.05
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	18 - 17	+1	70.4	1.03
Rasmus 'sjuush' Becksjuush	9 - 17	-8	62.7	0.78
René 'TeSeS' MadsenTeSeS	12 - 18	-6	63.5	0.74
Martin 'stavn' Lundstavn	6 - 20	-14	47.0	0.48

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20:59 - cadiaN pushes smoke to win 2vs2

G2 14-7 HEROIC

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller denied a plant after walking through a smoke and got the final kill in a 2vs2 to keep his team alive in Katowice.

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20:56 - G2 inch closer to victory on Ancient

G2 14-6 HEROIC

G2 are continuing to pound HEROIC on the attack as the Danes squandered another opportunity with weapons. The international squad has put an eight-round lead on the board and only needs two more to lift the trophy in Poland.

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20:49 - Kovac cousins decimate Heroic in second pistol round

G2 10-6 HEROIC

NiKo and huNter- downed all enemies in a 4vs5 afterplant situation with three and two kills, respectively, to hit double digits.

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20:46 - Heroic keep it competitive at the half

G2 9-6 HEROIC

G2's Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen did the heavy lifting for his team with 16 kills as he and his squad got up to a 9-4 lead to run away with the half, but a determined HEROIC squad hit the all-important six round barrier to keep things tight at the switch.

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20:38 - G2 almost blunders retake

G2 7-4 HEROIC

Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, who only had three frags before the 11th round, opened with two kills on B. cadiaN went around the map and planted in a 1vs4 on A, which G2 took a long time to figure out and nearly blundered before defusing in time.

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20:32 - Both teams call timeouts

G2 5-4 HEROIC

G2 did not manage to extend their early lead and bowed to HEROIC's impetus, who tied it 4-4, prompting Jan "⁠Swani⁠" Müller to call a timeout. It proved effective and after a defense to regain the lead, it was HEROIC's time to take some time to talk between rounds.

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20:28 - jabbi clutches to get Heroic on the board

G2 4-2 HEROIC

Both teams brawled down mid in the first gun round leaving Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard up against the B defender after planting on A, but NiKo could not make the flank work and was taken out in the 1vs1. HEROIC two rounds later with the Danish youngster continuing to be a thorn in G2's side.

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20:22 - Series resumes on Ancient after extended break

G2 2 - 0 HEROIC

G2 win yet another pistol round as game resumes on Ancient after an extended break with doubles by HooXi and NiKo, even refusing a plant. jks then aced against the pistol buy to further the early lead to 2-0.

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19:48 - Heroic win Inferno to stay alive in Katowice, break G2 streak

G2 11 - 16 HEROIC

HEROIC, fully in charge of procedures in the second half of Inferno, took G2 from 10-10 to 11-16. This ends G2's 21-map streak and resets their counter on Inferno which was up to 9-0. The score in the series is now 2-1 in favor of the HooXi-led squad as the two teams prepare for the fourth map of the series — HEROIC's second pick —, Ancient.

19:39 - Heroic put G2 up against the wall

G2 10 - 13 HEROIC

HEROIC are close to breaking G2's map streak as they hit 13 rounds on Inferno. Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund was twice a key player for his team in back-to-back rounds by gaining space on the B site to kill unaware rivals as they rotated into position.

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19:32 - Inferno even after 20 rounds

G2 10 - 10 HEROIC

Neither of HEROIC or G2 have been able to take hold on an Inferno match that has gone back and forth with both teams tied at the 20 round mark. The Danes called a timeout going into the final third.

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19:25 - G2 win fifth pistol round in three maps

G2 8 - 8 HEROIC

G2 cut a B pinch in half with two kills on banana, stopping the attackers that made their way to CT spawn on their tracks and pinning them between the defenders on each site, which gave the international squad the tie.

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19:16 - m0NESY double gives G2 back-to-back rounds

G2 6 - 8 HEROIC

No team was able to win back-to-back rounds since HEROIC's initial streak but a close encounter by m0NESY who peaked into two players in boiler and killed them both with the AWP did it for G2.

HooXi then aced against an eco to make it three on the trot which became four after a successful A hit to close out the half.

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19:10 - G2 lose round to timer

G2 3 - 8 HEROIC

As happened to HEROIC on the attacking side of Mirage when they lost a round to the time, it was now G2 who blundered trying to enter the A site. René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen downed one player and jks, after trading, picked up the bomb with only three seconds left on the clock as cadiaN hid to win the round.

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19:02 - Heroic blunder against forcebuy, stop rush to hit back

G2 2 - 7 HEROIC

huNter- downed two players in a forcebuy and stole a round from HEROIC, but a fast play in the ensuing round came up short as stavn opened with two kills of his own to keep things going in favor of his team.

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19:00 - Heroic hold strong early on Inferno

G2 1 - 6 HEROIC

G2, who hold a 9-1 record on Inferno in the past three months with victories over FaZe, Natus Vincere, BIG, Outsiders and Liquid on the map, have been struggling to find an opening in the Danish squad's defenses.

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18:55 - First gun round goes to Heroic

G2 1 - 4 HEROIC

A strong B hold by TeSeS, who got two kills and lived long enough for reinforcements, was crucial for the Danes to keep their early lead in the first gun round on Inferno.

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18:51 - G2 take the lead on Inferno, Heroic hit back in second round

G2 1 - 1 HEROIC

G2 made a B hit count despite losing all players as HEROIC eliminated all Terrorist with no time to defuse the bomb with four kills by cadiaN. The second round, which included USP-S kills by Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck and TeSeS, got the Danes right back on track on the defense.

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18:30 - G2 win Mirage to get within a map of the title

G2 16 - 13 HEROIC

The pause paid dividends and HEROIC brought it back to 13-14, but G2 didn't fold on the attack as entries by huNter- and HooXi in the 28th round secured match point. A 3vs3 B situation then ended up going the way of the attackers as m0NESY, who completely turned around his performance after a slow start, clutched the final 1vs1 against cadiaN to make it 16-13.

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipovm0NESY	21 - 14	+7	65.7	1.26
Justin 'jks' Savagejks	18 - 17	+1	71.6	1.07
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	19 - 18	+1	72.7	1.04
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	19 - 17	+2	73.8	1.02
Rasmus 'HooXi' NielsenHooXi	10 - 23	-13	42.2	0.62

HEROIC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	25 - 14	+11	84.8	1.34
Martin 'stavn' Lundstavn	20 - 19	+1	94.9	1.17
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaardjabbi	16 - 18	-2	57.2	0.96
René 'TeSeS' MadsenTeSeS	12 - 17	-5	52.7	0.90
Rasmus 'sjuush' Becksjuush	16 - 19	-3	50.4	0.86

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18:17 - G2 leap ahead on Mirage

G2 14 - 10 HEROIC

G2 hit fifth gear on the T side and took control of the map with strong mid takes to set the pace. HEROIC, out of steam, folded under the relentless pressure from the attacking side. The map is now slipping from their grip as they call another timeout.

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18:08 - G2 take lead on Mirage for first time

G2 10 - 9 HEROIC

G2 chained seven rounds in a row from the final three in the first half to the first four on the second half to take the lead on Mirage for the first time, setting themselves up to possibly keep HEROIC at bay and marred with economic troubles on the defense.

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18:00 - m0NESY, struggling on Mirage, downs four in pistol round

G2 7 - 9 HEROIC

G2's star AWPer, m0NESY, has not been his regular self in the series, blundering several plays and generally not being an influential force — particularly on Mirage where he had five kills to his name in the first half. That changed in the second pistol round of the ongoing map as he downed four to secure it in his team's favor.

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17:53 - G2 soften slow start on Mirage

G2 6 - 9 HEROIC

G2 started to win hard-fought rounds, including a 2vs2 situation defuse by HooXi on the A site with cadiaN and stavn stuck behind smokes, to bring the score back to within three before the switch.

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17:45 - Heroic blunder late execute

G2 2 - 8 HEROIC

HEROIC exploded onto the A site with 15 seconds left in the tenth round, but were unable to get the bomb down on time and ended up losing it despite ending in a 3vs1 situation.

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17:37 - Heroic steadfast on the attack

G2 1 - 6 HEROIC

The Danes secured six rounds on the attack out of the first seven, proving proficiency on their comfort pick and making a strong case in the early rounds with cadiaN and stavn both hitting hard out of the gate.

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17:32 - G2 on the board in first gun round

G2 1 - 3 HEROIC

G2, known for their proficiency in forcebuys, were not able to stop HEROIC from going up 3-1, but were successful in defending in the first full buy round to tally their first round of on Mirage.

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17:25 - Heroic win their first pistol round of the series

G2 0 - 1 HEROIC

HEROIC ushered in Mirage on the attack with cadiaN and TeSeS getting doubles in a successful B hit.

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17:08 - G2 win their map pick to go 1-0 in the series

G2 16 - 12 HEROIC

G2 came out the victors in an incredibly close Nuke. HEROIC led for much of it and had chances to deal killing blows, but crumbled in the final rounds against superlative individual actions from the international squad's players. Their streak on Nuke is now 11-0 and they won from their largest T-side deficit 5-10, to 16-12.

Up next is HEROIC's first pick of the series, Mirage, a map in which G2 have shown proficiency and will fight tooth and nail to widen their gap.

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	23 - 18	+5	103.1	1.41
Justin 'jks' Savagejks	22 - 20	+2	89.2	1.16
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipovm0NESY	17 - 16	+1	62.2	1.06
Rasmus 'HooXi' NielsenHooXi	15 - 16	-1	49.9	0.95
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	17 - 19	-2	66.9	0.94

HEROIC	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllercadiaN	19 - 19	0	87.3	1.09
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaardjabbi	19 - 19	0	71.4	1.03
René 'TeSeS' MadsenTeSeS	16 - 18	-2	64.3	0.94
Martin 'stavn' Lundstavn	18 - 19	-1	65.8	0.93
Rasmus 'sjuush' Becksjuush	16 - 22	-6	69.3	0.76

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17:00 - G2 take a two round lead

G2 14 - 12 HEROIC

huNter- retook the B site with three kills to complete an ace, after which G2 won another close retake on the B site to get ahead by two.

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16:55 - Wild back-and-forth as Nuke reaches late stage

G2 12 - 12 HEROIC

G2 brought it to an 11-11 tie before losing to a low-investment buy, but then it was youngster m0NESY who got an impressive final kill on cadiaN in the 24th round to keep things even.

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16:46 Teams trade blows in fast-paced game

G2 9 - 11 HEROIC

HEROIC got their first of the half on the board thanks to a triple kill by stavn, including two sprays through smoke, but G2 hit back to continue in hot pursuit on the scoreboard.

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16:40 - jabbi denied 1vs2 clutch in second pistol round

G2 6 - 10 HEROIC

jabbi found himself in a 1vs2 after plant situation on the A bomb site, but was swiftly taken out with a headshot from a bullet out of m0NESY's USP-S.

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16:34 - Heroic ahead at half-time

G2 5 - 10 HEROIC

HEROIC maintained their lead late in the first half, hitting double digits while keeping G2's economy in check. jabbi sat atop the scoreboard with 14 kills at the switch.

This is G2's worst Terrorist half on Nuke in their 10-0 run on the map.

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16:26 - A G2 that had gone flat win forcebuy

G2 5 - 6 HEROIC

G2 only managed three kills in three rounds and fell behind by two rounds, but a fast play in the forcebuy and two quick kills on A kept the international squad close.

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16:20 - jabbi is already showing strong form in the final

G2 4 - 4 HEROIC

jabbi got three opening kills and an assist on the fourth attacker in the eighth round of play to keep both teams neck and neck.

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16:18 - G2 maintain early lead

G2 4 - 3 HEROIC

G2 denied jabbi a 1vs3 clutch to keep their lead after losing three in a row after HEROIC's first full buy round.

16:13 - Heroic get on the board

G2 3 - 1 HEROIC

HEROIC's leader and AWPer cadiaN downed three players in the first buy round to get his side on the board.

16:08 - The series is underway!

G2 1 - 0 HEROIC

The grand final is now live on Nuke, G2's first map pick. The last time these two teams clashed the map was played with a 16-6 scoreline in favor of NiKo and company.

A wild pistol round went the way of the attackers, G2, with HooXi downing three players as both teams ran at each other with full aggression.

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15:48 - The veto is in

The expected five maps are in. Both teams picked to their strengths and there were no shenanigans around the newest addition to the pool, Anubis, which was banned by HEROIC.

1. G2 removed Overpass
2. Heroic removed Anubis
3. G2 picked Nuke
4. Heroic picked Mirage
5. G2 picked Inferno
6. Heroic picked Ancient
7. Vertigo was left over

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15:45 - jabbi leads MVP race

jabbi leads the MVP race going into the grand final with an iimpressive 1.38 rating at the event so far, but G2 quartet is following with hopes of standing out.

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15:22 - The first Big Event grand final of 2023 will take place between the two most in-form teams in the world

HEROIC and G2, the top two teams in the HLTV team ranking, are set to face off in the IEM Katowice grand final, a best-of-five affair that will conclude with the first Big Event champion of the year crowned at the Spodek Arena.

The two teams have had clean runs through the group stage and went straight to the tournament’s semi-finals. HEROIC faced Natus Vincere and G2 faced Liquid, and both favorites dismantled their opposition in one-sided 2-0 affairs.

G2 could become back-to-back Big Event winners in Katowice

The last time G2 and HEROIC faced each other was at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the BLAST Premier Fall Final quarter-finals. The series went to the Danes, 1-2, after which they went on to lift their first Big Event trophy on LAN.

The rise of G2 was consolidated at the next event following the Fall Final, the BLAST Premier World Final in Abu Dhabi, UAE, the last Big Event of 2022. The squad led by HooXi lost their opening series to FaZe but clawed their way back to lift the trophy and have not been defeated since. Their incredible form has not gone unnoticed and they are the bookie favorites against HEROIC, boasting an 11 match win streak which is made more impressive by them all being best-of-three series and only one map was dropped in the process — they now have a 19 map winstreak tied for second-best ever with the Natus Vincere of 2021.

G2’s core of NiKo, huNter- and m0NESY will be vying for the IEM Katowice title for the second time in row, as they made the grand final in 2022 shortly after signing Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and m0NESY at the beginning of the year. They were taken down by FaZe in three close maps, for whom current G2 rifler jks was standing in and reviving a stagnant career, which means that the Australian rifler could become the first back-to-back IEM Katowice champion since Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell, Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist, Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer and Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson did so with fnatic in 2015 and 2016.

jabbi is having a breakout tournament at the elite level and is currently leading the IEM Katowice stat leaderboard with an impressive 1.38 rating (with no map below 1.19 so far). In-form players abound in the grand final, the top 10 highest-rated players in the standings is littered with HEROIC and G2 players. jks (1.26) and NiKo (1.25) are closely followed by huNter-, m0NESY, sjuush, and cadiaN, all sporting 1.19 ratings.

Then there is the question of the veto, as both teams have diverging strengths but can possibly play toe-to-toe on some of the other's picks. Analyst Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez points out the importance of stealing an enemy's pick in such a competitive final, but adds that there are real options of a decider in what could be a hotly contested series.

Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck Age: 24 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 926 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.64 BIG #14 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeNils 'k1to' GruhneJosef 'faveN' BaumannKarim 'Krimbo' Moussa Fatih 'gob b' Dayik Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač Age: 27 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 1535 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.66 Justin 'jks' Savage Age: 27 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 1249 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.63 Jesper 'JW' Wecksell Age: 27 Team: EYEBALLERS Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 2097 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Outsiders #5 Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliAleksandr 'KaiR0N-' AnashkinPetr 'fame' Bolyshev Dastan 'dastan' Akbayev HEROIC #2 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' BeckJakob 'jabbi' Nygaard Richard 'Xizt' Landström Liquid #4 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJosh 'oSee' OhmMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Damian 'daps' Steele Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Age: 25 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 1075 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.65 Natus Vincere #6 Oleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovIlya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyValeriy 'b1t' VakhovskiyAndrii 'npl' Kukharskyi Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy Casper 'cadiaN' Møller Age: 27 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1576 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.63 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 25 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 1693 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.67 Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov Age: 17 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 331 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.59 fnatic #11 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonDion 'FASHR' DerksenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' Merriman Jamie 'keita' Hall Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard Age: 19 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 878 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.66 Jan 'Swani' Müller Age: 27 Team: G2C Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson Age: 28 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1858 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.64 FaZe #3 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenHåvard 'rain' NygaardRussel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenRobin 'ropz' KoolHelvijs 'broky' Saukants Robert 'RobbaN' Dahlström Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist Age: 29 Team: EYEBALLERS Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 2035 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen Age: 27 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 0.86 Maps played: 866 KPR: 0.58 DPR: 0.68 René 'TeSeS' Madsen Age: 22 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 933 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.67 Martin 'stavn' Lund Age: 20 Team: HEROIC Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1215 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Age: 31 Team: FaZeB Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1566 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.65 Mathieu 'Maniac' Quiquerez Age: 32 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 837 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.67 G2 #1 Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNemanja 'huNter-' KovačJustin 'jks' SavageRasmus 'HooXi' NielsenIlya 'm0NESY' Osipov Jan 'Swani' Müller