Renegades defeat AVANGAR; ViCi upset fnatic in Katowice

Renegades took down AVANGAR on Train with a 16-8 scoreline, while ViCi shocked fnatic with a 16-9 win on Overpass.

After a 2-0 start on the CT side of Train, Renegades had some trouble establishing themselves early on, AVANGAR putting on the pressure in the first rifle rounds. However, the Australian team turned around a key 2v5 in round six, picking up pace after that.

AVANGAR won two more rounds in the middle of the half (6-4), but once again couldn't follow it up and build momentum after breaking the CT's economy. The battle of the AWPers went the way of Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali in round 13 as he took down Sean "⁠Gratisfaction⁠" Kaiwai, and with that opening, AVANGAR managed to secure six rounds before the end of the half.

Gratisfaction held his own in the AWPing duel on Train

Renegades' pistol round split of the A bombsite saw the majority of their players pushing through B and then the Z connector to pinch onto the outer bombsite, and it worked out perfectly. Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward's team then built on their lead by getting an eco round in early into the half, resetting the economy of the team from Kazakhstan and reaching a 13-7 scoreline. AVANGAR were forced to do their best with limited buys until the end of the game, but they weren't able to hold off against Renegades' well-executed splits and eventually went down 16-8.

IEM Katowice 2019 Challengers StageBest of 1 RenegadesMatchpage 16 8 13th February 2019 AVANGAR 16Train 8

Renegades	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Aaron 'AZR' WardAZR	24 - 14	+10	116.5	1.59
Sean 'Gratisfaction' KaiwaiGratisfaction	20 - 9	+11	59.5	1.35
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostadjkaem	18 - 12	+6	76.4	1.21
Justin 'jks' Savagejks	17 - 14	+3	83.1	1.20
Jay 'Liazz' TregillgasLiazz	10 - 13	-3	55.0	0.97

AVANGAR	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	17 - 16	+1	79.9	1.13
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	17 - 17	0	72.5	1.00
Aidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovKrizzeN	13 - 19	-6	70.3	0.82
Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytovfitch	9 - 19	-10	40.2	0.52
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	6 - 18	-12	34.5	0.47

WingHei "⁠Freeman⁠" Cheung and Zhuo "⁠advent⁠" Liang getting a double each got the underdogs, ViCi, a good start on the CT side of Overpass. fnatic kept on the pressure in the ensuing rounds, but after the Swedes secured their first with a B site push, they were instantly returned upon with a force buy by ViCi. (5-1)

The score was 8-1 in favor of the Chinese side when fnatic finally found a foothold in the match thanks to Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell getting entry kills in back-to-back rounds. fnatic managed to brawl back to a 8-6 scoreline, surviving scary situations and dangerous flanks, before Andrew "⁠kaze⁠" Khong clutched the last round of the half in a 1v1. (9-6)

ViCi kept fnatic on the back foot throughout the match

After losing their second pistol round of the map (11-6), fnatic managed to close out the first rifle round of the second half in their favor and started building some momentum on the defensive side, 11-8. ViCi responded quickly, with kaze and advent's 2v3 cutch getting them on the edge of victory. (14-8) fnatic hold them off for a bit, but fumbled a 4v2 advantage, allowing the Chinese side to complete the upset

IEM Katowice 2019 Challengers StageBest of 1 fnaticMatchpage 9 16 13th February 2019 ViCi 9Overpass 16

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	24 - 17	+7	110.8	1.46
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	18 - 21	-3	93.3	1.03
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	17 - 20	-3	60.8	1.00
Ludvig 'Brollan' BrolinBrollan	16 - 20	-4	77.4	1.00
Richard 'Xizt' LandströmXizt	16 - 20	-4	65.2	0.78

ViCi	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Zhuo 'advent' Liangadvent	25 - 14	+11	88.6	1.51
WeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongzhokiNg	26 - 20	+6	101.3	1.47
Andrew 'kaze' Khongkaze	20 - 17	+3	78.8	1.22
WingHei 'Freeman' CheungFreeman	18 - 19	-1	86.4	1.10
ZhiHong 'aumaN' LiuaumaN	9 - 21	-12	61.2	0.67

The New Challengers stage 1W - 0L Renegades ViCi 0W - 0L Cloud9 ENCE FURIA G2 Grayhound Ninjas in Pyjamas NRG Spirit TYLOO Vega Squadron Vitality Winstrike 0W - 1L fnatic AVANGAR Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 20 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 433 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.57 Aaron 'AZR' Ward Age: 26 Team: Renegades Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 727 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.69 AVANGAR #18 Bektiyar 'fitch' BahytovTimur 'buster' TulepovAidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' Ali Andrew 'kaze' Khong Age: 24 Team: ViCi Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 418 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.62 WingHei 'Freeman' Cheung Age: 19 Team: ViCi Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 471 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.63 Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai Age: 22 Team: Renegades Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 555 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.60 ViCi #35 Zhuo 'advent' LiangWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongZhiHong 'aumaN' LiuAndrew 'kaze' KhongWingHei 'Freeman' Cheung Zhuo 'advent' Liang Age: 26 Team: ViCi Rating 1.0: 0.92 Maps played: 652 KPR: 0.59 DPR: 0.63 Jesper 'JW' Wecksell Age: 23 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 1432 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 fnatic #6 Richard 'Xizt' LandströmJesper 'JW' WecksellSimon 'twist' EliassonFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Renegades #13 Justin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardJoakim 'jkaem' MyrbostadSean 'Gratisfaction' KaiwaiJay 'Liazz' Tregillgas