IEM Katowice 2019: NiP, G2, and Cloud9 advance on the final day of the Challengers stage

After a very stressful series, NiP gaming defeated ViCi gaming 2-1 and advanced to the new Legends stage.

The series started on NiP's map pick of Train where the Swedish side had shown a lot of weaknesses in their loss to Winstrike. This time around it was a different story altogether. NiP came out all guns blazing and defeated ViCi gaming comfortably 16-7.

It was now ViCi gaming's turn to shine as they outfoxed the Ninjas 16-12 on inferno and tied up the series 1-1 with Mirage as the final map.

Although in a losing cause, f0rest pulled off one of the most sublime aces you will ever see.

.@f0rest with the ace versus @ViCi_Gaming 🇨🇳📺 https://t.co/qPXmjuyftn#GONINJAS #CSGO #IEM pic.twitter.com/cntcV6iwUs

— NiP 🇸🇪 @ #IEMKatowice 🇵🇱 (@NiPGaming) February 17, 2019

ViCi gaming kept the Ninjas on their toes on Mirage but they eventually came out on top wrapping up the map 16-10 and the series 2-1.

The fairytale run of the Chinese squad was finally put to rest by the Ninjas. Nevertheless, ViCi gaming turned quite a few heads in this major.

They came in as the lowest rank seed, without a coach and were able to defeat Fnatic and Cloud9 before bowing out of the Challengers stage.

In the next game, G2 Esports took on Tyloo. Any game with Tyloo in the mix has excitement written all over it and this game was no different. G2 took a lead of 10-5 on the CT side of Mirage and were looking very comfortable.

Things started to change really fast as the sides switched. With the help of some good CT side setups and a lacklustre performance from G2, Tyloo were able to win 11 out of the next 13 rounds closing out the map 16-12.

Dust2 started with G2 winning the pistol round but the Chinese squad was quick to make a comeback on the second round with a force buy. The match went back and forth as G2 were then again able to steal one round making the score 2-1.

After this point, it was all G2 show till the end of the series. The Frenchmen decimated Tyloo 16-2 on Dust2 before wrapping up Cache 16-7 and taking the series 2-1. They were helped by some terrific performances from their star AWPer KennyS.

Tyloo will have to go back to the drawing board. This event was a bit up and down for them as they did look good in some parts but their weak map pool made them susceptible to BO3s.

The final match of the Challengers stage was between Cloud9 and Winstrike. The first map was a surprise pick of Nuke. Cloud9 had that map as their permanent veto but this time decided to play it.

The map, to everyone's surprise, was a walkthrough for Cloud9 as they came out on top with a 16-7 scoreline.

Overpass was rather a close affair than Nuke as the Russian side stitched 3 rounds together to bring Cloud9 to overtime.

The map was closed out fairly easily by Cloud9 in overtime with the final scoreline of 19-16 and they took the series 2-0. To everyone's relief, Cloud9 finally qualified for the Legends stage saved everyone's already drowning Pickem's.

This series marked the end of the Challengers stage of the major. The eight returning legends will now battle out eight challengers to gain the legends status in this year's first major. The Legends stage starts on 20th February. The final list of teams are :

Ladies and Gentlemen, your contenders in the New Legends Stage of the #IEM Katowice Major Championship!@astralisgg @natusvincere @mibr @TeamLiquid @BIGCLANgg @FaZeClan @HELLRAISERSgg @compLexity @ence @TeamVitality @NRGgg @NiPGaming @avangarkz @G2esports @Cloud9 pic.twitter.com/JsAssnotUv

— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) February 17, 2019

Make sure you comment down below your favourite moments of this stage.