Outsiders knock OG out in Katowice to keep playoff dream alive

OG, with Casper "⁠ruggah⁠" Due acting as a last-minute stand-in, exit the $1,000,000 tournament in 9-12th place.

Outsiders' campaign through IEM Katowice continues after the Russian squad eliminated OG, who were notably playing with coach ruggah in place of Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan, following a 2-0 victory with wins on Inferno (16-9) and Overpass (16-12).

The IEM Rio Major champions made full use of OG's weakened lineup and now move forward to the do-or-die Group B lower bracket final, where they will battle it out against the winner of Complexity versus fnatic on Tuesday at 19:30 for a chance to earn one of the final Spodek Arena berths up for grabs.

Read more flameZ to miss upcoming IEM Katowice match; coach ruggah to step in

The loss also consigns OG to a 9-12th place finish in Katowice. While a slight improvement on their 13-16th performance in 2022, the squad will lament not being able to go further after originally posting three wins on the trot to begin their campaign through the Polish event in convincing fashion.

Unsurprisingly, OG suffered greatly from the loss of their Israeli star to illness, a fact that left the side fighting an uphill battle before the game even started. ruggah struggled to go toe to toe with the world-class individuals of Outsiders in the server, although in the end it was Maciej "⁠F1KU⁠" Miklas who sat at the bottom of the scoreboard, ending the series with a woeful 0.52 showing and even having his worst-ever LAN performance on Inferno (0.38).

Jame continues to perform in Katowice, sporting a 1.50 rating versus OG

The two teams paid a visit to Inferno, OG's pick, to start the series, where the European combine immediately shrugged off their roster woes and climbed to a 4-3 lead on the T side thanks to strong fragging output from Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković and Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov. Alas, this initial burst of success from OG proved to be more or less all the squad could muster for the remainder of the half, with the side putting just one extra round on the board by the break, unable to find an answer for Outsiders' impenetrable site holds and masterful utility usage.

Outsiders continued to pile on the pressure once on the T side. A flawless hit of the A site in the pistol round set the tone as the majority-Russian roster marched ever closer to map point, 14-5. OG earned themselves some respite on the back of a two-round spree, but this just served to prolong the suffering as Outsiders wasted little time in closing out the map, a 1vs3 from Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev summarising the map perfectly to gift his team a 16-7 victory heading into their map pick.

OG got off to a hot start at the outset of Overpass, a triple kill from degster in the pistol round setting the stage as the European outfit raced to a commanding 7-2 lead on the CT-side. It took heroics from Aleksandr "⁠KaiR0N-⁠" Anashkin for Outsiders to get back in the conversation, the Russian squad prevailing in a back-and-forth skirmish midway through the half to eat away at the deficit and bring the scoreline back to a more workable 6-9 at the interval.

OG reached double digits at the beginning of their T-side effort after nabbing their third pistol round of the series, but Outsiders quickly responded with conviction. Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali's men, armed with just pistols, cut down OG's attempted hit of the B site in the ensuing round, flipping the game on its head and stealing the momentum away for themselves. From this point onward, Outsiders laid down the law, a stalwart CT-side enabling the side to concede just two more rounds en route to an overpowering 16-12 showing, eliminating nexa and co. and keeping their playoff dream alive in Poland.

IEM Katowice 2023Best of 3 OGMatchpage 0 2 7th February 2023 Outsiders 7Inferno 16 12Overpass 16

OG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nemanja 'nexa' Isakovićnexa	36 - 35	+1	85.2	1.11
Abdul 'degster' Gasanovdegster	36 - 34	+2	65.9	0.95
Adam 'NEOFRAG' ZouharNEOFRAG	31 - 39	-8	83.5	0.92
Casper 'ruggah' Dueruggah	15 - 36	-21	37.8	0.56
Maciej 'F1KU' MiklasF1KU	17 - 43	-26	39.8	0.52

Outsiders	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	45 - 22	+23	83.8	1.50
Petr 'fame' Bolyshevfame	39 - 23	+16	70.7	1.27
Aleksandr 'KaiR0N-' AnashkinKaiR0N-	35 - 30	+5	79.9	1.24
Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevFL1T	36 - 31	+5	76.5	1.08
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	30 - 30	0	74.4	1.06

fnatic #11 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonDion 'FASHR' DerksenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' Merriman Jamie 'keita' Hall Maciej 'F1KU' Miklas Age: 19 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 695 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Petr 'fame' Bolyshev Age: 19 Team: Outsiders Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 583 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.66 OG #10 Nemanja 'nexa' IsakovićAdam 'NEOFRAG' ZouharShahar 'flameZ' ShushanAbdul 'degster' GasanovMaciej 'F1KU' Miklas Casper 'ruggah' Due Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Casper 'ruggah' Due Age: 34 Team: OGC Outsiders #5 Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliAleksandr 'KaiR0N-' AnashkinPetr 'fame' Bolyshev Dastan 'dastan' Akbayev Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 24 Team: Outsiders Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1254 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.55 Aleksandr 'KaiR0N-' Anashkin Age: 19 Team: Outsiders Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 227 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.72 Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković Age: 25 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1333 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.64 Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan Age: 19 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 472 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.67 Complexity #18 Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' KemeryHåkon 'hallzerk' FjærliMichael 'Grim' WinceJustin 'FaNg' Coakley Tiaan 'T.c' Coertzen Abdul 'degster' Gasanov Age: 21 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 769 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.60

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