The first prestige event of 2023 has arrived

2023's first prestige event has already begun, and the competition is strong. Friday marks the beginning of IEM Katowice's playoffs, giving us plenty of opportunity to reflect on what has occurred thus far. Both Cloud9 and FaZe, who were unable to advance through Group A's fierce competition, joined FURIA in reserving early flights home. However, the "group of death" had little effect on G2, who extended their winning streak to 17 maps by winning another six.

Heroic were dethroned from the top place in the rankings by G2 this week, but they still looked strong in Group B thanks to a standout effort by Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard and Rasmus "sjuush" Beck. Felipe "insani" Yuji, a Brazilian 18-year-old who won his first-ever LAN tournament with a 1.27 rating, rose to prominence during the play-in to the competition.