After four years apart, Intel Extreme Masters reunites with Sydney in 2023–and it’s wearing a new look. With the playoffs underway, which international team will be crowned with the first major title in CounterStrike 2?

People were eager to see how CS2 looked on LAN, and we started to get a sense of that during the group stage.

Players used utility in ways the top-tier of CS has never seen before. It wasn’t just teams blowing open smokes with HE grenades (which casters and community alike couldn’t find a universal term for), but smokes were also fair game as they aren’t quite the safe haven they once were. Guns that haven’t seen the light of the meta in years—were suddenly viable. Glory to the P90!

Some of the teams that one would expect to do well carrying over from CS:GO made it through to playoffs, namely recent ESL Pro League winners MOUZ. The EU team dispatched of the locals VERTEX in unceremonious fashion during their opening best of one, before going on to beat a Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev-less Natus Vincere to qualify for the arena. There, they relegated BetBoom—seemingly one of the fastest adapting teams for CS2–to a quarter-final play-off start. MOUZ as a result have booked themselves a direct ticket into the semi-finals.

Australian representation is going to be minimal in the first CS2 Oceanic arena, with only Justin “jks” Savage making it to the stage with G2, where he will face the winner of BetBoom and Complexity in a semi-final that is sure to get the Sydney crowd excited. Christopher “Dexter” Nong’s Fnatic bowed out in the Group B lower semi-final to Monte, whereas VERTEX and Grayhound—despite pushing several teams to the end of regulation—ended in last place, losing in straight sets.

Ence and Faze were the other two teams to make the playoffs. Faze did it the hard way, losing their opening best of one before eliminating world class Vitality and Navi in the lower-bracket of Group A, before claiming their revenge in one of the first rematches of CS2 against GamerLegion.

The finals action kicks off on Friday at the Aware Super Theatre in Sydney, with the remaining six teams to battle it out for the lion’s share of $250,000 in front of a passionate Aussie crowd.

We’re covering everything at IEM Sydney 2023 Playoffs; streams, schedule, rosters, and more.

IEM Sydney 2023 Stream

If you can’t make it to the Aware Super Theatre this weekend, don’t worry: the IEM Sydney 2023 finals will be streamed live on Twitch. VODs for the A and B streams from the Group Stage are available on YouTube.

IEM Sydney 2023 Playoffs Results

IEM Sydney 2023 Playoffs sees 6 teams play in a best-of-three knock-out format with the top seed from Group A, G2 and Group B, MOUZ securing a spot in the Semifinals. Quarter finals on Friday will see BB vs Complexity kick us off followed by ENCE vs FAZE.

Sunday’s best-of-three finals are just within reach now for these teams.

IEM Sydney 2023 — Quarter-finals Schedule & Results (Day 1)

IEM Sydney 2023 — Semi-finals Schedule & Results (Day 2)

IEM Sydney 2023 — Grand Finals Schedule & Results (Day 3)

IEM Sydney 2023 Rosters

Following some changes at the eleventh hour thanks to Visa issues and other hiccups during the group stage, sixteen teams have dropped to six—our play-off teams have been locked in.

Sadly, we won’t be seeing any of the Australian teams over the weekend but Australia’s own Justin “jks” Savage is still out there to cheer on.

• SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
• PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
• PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
• PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
• PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
• Source: https://snowballesports.com/2023/10/19/iem-sydney-2023-coverage-hub/