fnatic finished out their group stage with a 16-4 win against TheMongolz on de_cache whereas Luminosity pulled off a miraculous comeback against mousesports, 16-14 on de_cbble.
For the next two group stage matches at IEM Katowice's Group A, the Swedish powerhouse that is fnatic prepared to face-off against The MongolZ, the Asian team who so far struggled to make an impression at the event.
In the other game, it was MOUZ battling Luminosity, with the former team standing at a 2-1 record in the groups and desperately needing a win in order to advance whereas Luminosity remained undefeated at 3-0 which included a win over fnatic.
FalleN continues to stun with his AWPing in the rounds that matter
The fnatic vs. The MongolZ game was a generally one-sided affair as a Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson led the way in his team in demolishing the Mongolian players, first with a 13-2 CT-side and then shutting down the game with a final 16-4 scoreline.
IEM Katowice 2016Best of 1 fnaticMatchpage 16 4 2nd March 2016 The MongolZ 16Cache 4
fnatic
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ
26 - 8
+18
121.0
1.92
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW
18 - 10
+8
96.7
1.47
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister
16 - 14
+2
94.5
1.33
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis
15 - 10
+5
80.0
1.33
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha
14 - 8
+6
60.9
1.24
The MongolZ
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Tsog 'Tsogoo' MashbatTsogoo
24 - 17
+7
118.2
1.56
Otgonjargal 'Menace' GanzorigMenace
9 - 18
-9
56.5
0.63
Enkhtaivan 'Machinegun' LkhagvaMachinegun
8 - 18
-10
47.6
0.54
Temuulen 'Zilkenberg' BattulgaZilkenberg
5 - 18
-13
49.8
0.51
Bold 'ncl' Batsuhncl
3 - 18
-15
27.8
0.27
In the other match-up, Luminosity appeared poised to take a victory over MOUZ following an 8-7 lead at the first half (although admittedly less rounds than are sometimes seen on Cobblestone's Terrorist side).
However, with Nikola "NiKo" Kovač putting in a strong performance, the German team powered ahead to a 14-8 lead and looked ready to deliver the Brazilian team their first defeat of the tournament.
With Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and especially Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo being instrumental in key moments late into the second half however, Luminosity edged their way into the game and won 16-14 in the end. mousesports' defeat also included Johannes "nex" Maget mistakenly attempting to plant the bomb in a non-plantable spot on the A-site, which moved the score up to 15-14.
IEM Katowice 2016Best of 1 MOUZMatchpage 14 16 2nd March 2016 Luminosity 14Cobblestone 16
Luminosity
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Fernando 'fer' Alvarengafer
29 - 19
+10
90.1
1.40
Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFalleN
25 - 16
+9
82.8
1.32
Epitacio 'TACO' de MeloTACO
19 - 19
0
73.1
1.02
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera
17 - 22
-5
69.9
0.94
Lincoln 'fnx' Laufnx
11 - 20
-9
57.0
0.72
MOUZ
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo
29 - 20
+9
107.0
1.46
Johannes 'nex' Magetnex
25 - 18
+7
81.8
1.28
Timo 'Spiidi' RichterSpiidi
16 - 22
-6
62.6
0.87
Denis 'denis' Howelldenis
16 - 24
-8
69.3
0.81
Chris 'chrisJ' de JongchrisJ
10 - 17
-7
38.2
0.72
Three more matches remain today with Na`Vi battling TheMongolz, Luminosity playing NiP, and fnatic playing mousesports.
stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter