The IEM Katowice 2025 Play-In has officially begun, with sixteen teams looking to secure their place in the Group Stage beginning later this week. After day one of the event, we’ve already seen a massive upset, a few thrashings, and two teams securing their place in the Group Stafe of IEM Katowice 2025.
So what exactly went down during the opening act? Let’s look at some of the highlights.
Heroic secure Group Stage slot
Credit: IEM on X.
Heroic came into the day as underdogs against Astralis, who have looked strong in recent weeks. The Heroic CS2 roster drama from late last year added some extra spice to the affair, with Heroic needing to prove they could go it without two of their previous stars, jabbi and stavn. Prove it they did, edging out Astralis 13:11 in a match that teetered on a knife’s edge.
Their day wasn’t finished there. Later in the day, they managed to comfortably beat BIG 2:1 to secure a Group Stage place at IEM Katowice 2025. For Heroic, every single player played their part on the day, proving this new project is certainly not dead on arrival.
Apeks get donk’ed
Has there ever been much hype about a young talent before? If his win at BetBoom Dacha 2025 didn’t impress you, then this should have. Spirit’s donk, the 17-year-old prodigy seen as the next great rifler, announced himself at IEM Katowice 2025 in stunning fashion, top-fragging as his team took down Apeks 13:0 in a total wipeout.
It didn’t even feel fair, like the two teams were playing two separate games entirely. Even better, donk was screaming across the hall after every round, just letting Apeks know exactly what the new kid on the block is all about.
We could wax lyrical about donk all day, but we don’t have to. His performance on the server does all the talking he needs. Can he keep it up into the next day? The MongolZ will be his latest test.
Credit: ESLCS on X.
Credit: IEM on X.
Prior to IEM Katowice 2025, you’d be forgiven for not knowing exactly who Rebels are. Winners of ESL Mistrzostwa Polski Autumn 2025 under the PALOMA banner, Rebels are a local team in Poland. On day one of IEM Katowice 2025, they pulled off what we’re 99% sure will be the upset of the tournament, beating Cloud9 13:10 on Mirage.
Credit to Rebels, the team bottom of our IEM Katowice 2025 power rankings – they played some great CS, shutting down any chance of Cloud9 ever taking the map. They looked confident in their play, even if they later struggled in a best-of-three against Eternal Fire.
But for Cloud9, this is the latest in a string of defeats that really calls into question their persistence with a no-AWP experiment. At what point do they accept it and make a change? This could be rock bottom, falling to the plucky underdogs here.
Those were the highlights, but these are the full results from day one of IEM Katowice 2025:
- Cloud9 10:13 Rebels
- Eternal Fire 13:1 BetBoom Team
- Rebels 0:2 Eternal Fire
- Heroic 13:11 Astralis
- ENCE 9:13 BIG
- Heroic 2:1 BIG
- FURIA 14:16 The MongolZ
- Team Spirit 13:0 Apeks
- GamerLegion 13:10 M80
- Rooster 4:13 Virtus.pro
