Another major, another Astralis win. Astralis are the IEM Katowice 2019 Champions after a dominant Grand Finals performance against ENCE. The Danish team went through the entire event only dropping a single map to Renegades in the New Legends stage. While ENCE put up an incredible run all the way from the qualifiers, it wasn’t enough to dethrone Astralis. Here’s more on the IEM Katowice 2019 results.
Astralis – IEM Katowice 2019 Champions
The winners of IEM Katowice 2019 are Astralis once again.
Not only has Astralis now won three CS:GO Major Championships, but they’ve won two back-to-back. They were previously the champions of the FACEIT London Major in September 2018.
Astralis had an incredible year in 2018, winning countless events and rarely losing. Despite their loss in January to Team Liquid at IBP Masters 2019, they continue to prove why they’re the undisputed #1 team in the world.
In fact, with their incredible run of success, many now believe they’re the greatest Counter-Strike team ever. The only other organization to win three CS:GO Majors is fnatic. Likewise, only the old fnatic and Luminosity/SK Gaming rosters have managed two back-to-back Major wins.
Last year, Astralis set CS:GO records as the first players to reach over $1 million in prize money. They’ve also won more events than any other team within a year and dev1ce has more MVP medals than any other player.
There’s no doubt that Astralis are high above their competition, now it’s on other teams to rise to their level.
ENCE Take 2nd at CS:GO Major
While Astralis winning the Major is no surprise, 2nd place team ENCE had an incredible story throughout the major.
The team went through the Challengers Stage 3-1. They then started the Legends Stage 0-2, putting them at risk of elimination. However, they came back to win three Best of 3 series to quality 3-2.
When it came to the final stage, ENCE looked better than ever. They took out both the #2 and #3 teams in the world, Team Liquid and NaVi, in incredible performances.
While they fell short in the Grand Finals, there’s no shame in a loss to the best team in the world. ENCE have established themselves as a true top 5 contender and a team to watch out for in future.