Eight players saw their IEM Katowice journeys end on Friday as rounds 3 and 4 of the RO24 group stage were played out. In the case of Group D, the advancing and eliminated players were 100% confirmed, leaving only playoff seeding to be decided. The other three groups remained more open in comparison, with the final round of games needed to decide who will make the RO12 cutoff.
While most of the top championship contenders played themselves into a favorable position, Serral and Clem remained in a precarious position after a rough two days of group stage games.
SpeCial stood out as the surprise performer of the group stage so far, going 3-1 (wins vs DRG, Solar, and Elazer) and giving himself a chance to earn the #1 seed in his group. Though the Mexican Terran had enjoyed great success in previous world championship-class tournaments, his performances in 2022 did not suggest he would repeat such feats at Katowice 2023.
The RO24 will continue on Saturday, Feb 11 11:00am GMT (GMT+00:00) with the fifth and final round of group stage play, followed by the first round of the playoffs (round of 12). The tournament will conclude on February 12th with the entire RO8 bracket and onward.