With the IEM Katowice, the first major “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” tournament of the year has started the play-ins. BIG secured qualification for the main round on the first day of the game.
“We’re happy. We didn’t make it that far last year,” said BIG player Nils “k1to” Grühne in an interview after the game. “We can win against anyone, but we can also lose on a bad day. We just have to play like we did today.”
In the Blast Premier Spring Groups, BIG just missed qualifying for the final tournament. At the IEM Katowice, on the other hand, the team showed itself to be in good form early on.
After a comfortable win against Complexity, BIG also won against the Brazilian top team Furia 2:1 (11:16; 16:9; 16:9). k1to in particular made the difference with a stellar performance on the final map.
With Sprout, a second German organization also started in the play-in phase. The team exchanged blows closely against OG, but narrowly lost out in overtime. On Thursday, Sprout cannot afford to make any mistakes against Evil Geniuses.