ViCi and Winstrike have successfully made it to the 2-1 club of the New Challengers stage following victories over Cloud9 and Ninjas in Pyjamas, respectively.

A triple kill from Andrew "⁠kaze⁠" Khong kicked off ViCi's CT side performance on a positive note, landing the Chinese side the first pistol of Inferno. The underdogs were efficient in their efforts to push back the offense, as Cloud9 were only able to sporadically secure rounds over the entire first half, struggling greatly to further their position on the aggression. Difficulties persisted for Cloud9, allowing for a commanding 11-4 half in favour of ViCi.

ViCi successfully bested their North American adversaries

Success was seen for Cloud9 in the second pistol, however the team was economically reset after a pistol-buy A hit from ViCi marked disaster for the North American representatives. An economy in tatters meant that the opportunistic ViCi were able to extend their lead to map point at a 15-6 surplus. Cloud9 managed to claw a single round in their favour, only for a B hit in round 21 to put Inferno to bed, as another upset was seen at 16-6 for ViCi.

IEM Katowice 2019 Challengers StageBest of 1 Cloud9Matchpage 6 16 14th February 2019 ViCi 6Inferno 16

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha	21 - 18	+3	97.1	1.13
Fabien 'kioShiMa' FieykioShiMa	9 - 16	-7	52.3	0.62
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	7 - 20	-13	61.3	0.53
Jordan 'Zellsis' MontemurroZellsis	10 - 18	-8	48.1	0.52
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	5 - 21	-16	39.0	0.35

ViCi	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Andrew 'kaze' Khongkaze	22 - 10	+12	98.4	1.76
WingHei 'Freeman' CheungFreeman	22 - 10	+12	107.9	1.69
ZhiHong 'aumaN' LiuaumaN	20 - 12	+8	87.6	1.42
WeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongzhokiNg	16 - 11	+5	89.4	1.36
Zhuo 'advent' Liangadvent	13 - 10	+3	63.7	1.18

Winstrike's CT side kicked off to a successful start, as the Russian squad secured the first pistol round on Train after an aggressive push from Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov revealed Ninjas in Pyjamas's intentions. Having established themselves financially, the CTs proceeded to shut down the terrorists' advances with consistency, falling in all but two rounds in the earlier stages of the map. Aurimas "⁠Kvik⁠" Kvakšys proved to be pivotal in his team's success in round 13, punishing unfortunate bomb positioning, as well as securing a 4k. The momentum kept rolling for Winstrike, producing a 12-3 CT half for the Russian side.

Against the odds Boombl4 led his men to a 2-1 record

The Swedes kept themselves in the match after switching over to the defence, fending off a fast A hit from Winstrike, albeit after the Ts secured a bomb plant. A couple additional rounds were accrued by Ninjas in Pyjamas, immediately succeeded by economic struggles as a result of a reset. This proved fatal for the match-up favourites, as they fell in four consecutive rounds, dropping to the 1-2 pool following 6-16 loss.

IEM Katowice 2019 Challengers StageBest of 1 Ninjas in PyjamasMatchpage 6 16 14th February 2019 Winstrike 6Train 16

Ninjas in Pyjamas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest	19 - 17	+2	70.4	1.14
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT	11 - 21	-10	75.7	0.74
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis	11 - 20	-9	57.0	0.63
Jonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonLekr0	9 - 20	-11	56.3	0.47
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ	6 - 19	-13	42.4	0.45

Winstrike	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Aurimas 'Kvik' KvakšysKvik	30 - 12	+18	132.8	2.09
Kirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovBoombl4	20 - 12	+8	107.3	1.61
Georgi 'WorldEdit' YaskinWorldEdit	18 - 8	+10	72.8	1.44
Jan 'wayLander' RahkonenwayLander	15 - 10	+5	67.6	1.26
David 'n0rb3r7' Danielyann0rb3r7	12 - 14	-2	71.5	0.95

The New Challengers stage 2W - 0L TYLOO NRG ENCE Renegades 2W - 1L Vitality Winstrike ViCi AVANGAR 1W - 2L Ninjas in Pyjamas G2 Vega Squadron Cloud9 0W - 2L Grayhound Spirit fnatic FURIA Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov Age: 20 Team: Winstrike Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 459 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Winstrike #28 Georgi 'WorldEdit' YaskinJan 'wayLander' RahkonenAurimas 'Kvik' KvakšysKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovDavid 'n0rb3r7' Danielyan Andrew 'kaze' Khong Age: 24 Team: ViCi Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 420 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.62 Cloud9 #8 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistFabien 'kioShiMa' FieyWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaJordan 'Zellsis' Montemurro ViCi #35 Zhuo 'advent' LiangWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongZhiHong 'aumaN' LiuAndrew 'kaze' KhongWingHei 'Freeman' Cheung Ninjas in Pyjamas #14 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Aurimas 'Kvik' Kvakšys Age: 23 Team: Winstrike Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 582 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.71