INTZ and Riot Squad qualify for IEM Katowice 2020 Closed Qualifier
The first IEM Katowice 2020 open qualifier has come to an end, seeing INTZ and Riot Squad earn the first two spots in the closed portion of the event.
INTZ were the first to ensure their berth following a 2-0 victory over the new-look New England Whalers lineup, consisting of the former Ascent MDL roster. The Brazilians quickly climbed to an early 9-3 lead on their opponent's pick of Inferno, with Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue's side clawing back with three final rounds to give themselves a chance at a comeback.
That opportunity was quickly shut down as Ricardo "boltz" Prass and company kept the pressure up following the side swap, taking the map 16-8. INTZ's map pick of Train saw New England Whalers fare no better, leaving INTZ to notch a 10-5 lead at the half before claiming a 16-6 victory to close out the series.
New England WhalersINTZ| New England Whalers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
27 - 34 | -7 | 63.0 | 60.9% | 0.82 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
23 - 38 | -15 | 67.6 | 52.2% | 0.74 |
 Marc-Andre 'NiSMO' Tayar |
24 - 39 | -15 | 61.9 | 56.5% | 0.73 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
23 - 37 | -14 | 56.8 | 58.7% | 0.70 |
| Lucas 'Fiziq' Blow |
23 - 39 | -16 | 50.6 | 56.5% | 0.65 |
| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
50 - 21 | +29 | 101.4 | 84.8% | 1.68 |
| Ricardo 'boltz' Prass |
41 - 22 | +19 | 94.2 | 91.3% | 1.52 |
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
38 - 27 | +11 | 91.1 | 82.6% | 1.46 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
29 - 23 | +6 | 67.5 | 65.2% | 1.10 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
29 - 27 | +2 | 74.7 | 78.3% | 1.07 |
Riot Squad went up against Envy and Gen.G killers Just For Fun, a mixteam containing the likes of Matthew "WARDELL" Yu, Anthony "vanity" Malaspina, and Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik. A strong showing from Subroza helped the team edge out a pair of 16-14 wins over the aforementioned squads during the first day of the qualifier, a feat which they were unable to repeat against Pujan "FNS" Mehta's troops.
Riot Squad initially seemed in control of the proceedings as they ran up a 6-3 lead on the CT-side of Mirage to kick things off, but Just For Fun showed resilience as they clawed back into the half with the final six rounds to take the lead. The momentum of the map quickly shifted back into Riot Squad's favor once they were in control of the pace on the offense, seeing the team give up only three rounds on the road to a 16-12 win.
Double kills from vanity and Subroza on the CT pistol put Just For Fun in position to take an early lead on Inferno, but a triple kill from Jonathan "Jonji" Carey in the ensuing round helped Riot Squad to recover a 3vs5 and regain their footing. From there, the majority of the half remained in control of the MDL squad, yielding an 11-4 scoreline at the break.
A spree of four rounds gave Just For Fun the opportunity to close the gap as their T-side got underway, but once Riot Squad had rifles in their hands, control of the map once again shifted into their favor. vanity's side were only able to add two more to their tally before Riot Squad took the map over the line, bringing the series to an end with a 16-10 win.
Just For FunRiot Squad| Just For Fun |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew 'WARDELL' Yu |
41 - 36 | +5 | 83.9 | 74.1% | 1.18 |
| Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik |
41 - 38 | +3 | 82.9 | 57.4% | 1.06 |
| Anthony 'vanity' Malaspina |
33 - 38 | -5 | 72.6 | 63.0% | 1.02 |
| Rahul 'curry' Nemani |
28 - 41 | -13 | 63.8 | 68.5% | 0.82 |
| Matthew 'no_one' Congdon |
27 - 39 | -12 | 56.2 | 64.8% | 0.74 |
| Riot Squad |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
46 - 39 | +7 | 92.9 | 68.5% | 1.27 |
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
41 - 32 | +9 | 88.0 | 72.2% | 1.24 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
37 - 36 | +1 | 84.2 | 75.9% | 1.19 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
41 - 30 | +11 | 67.5 | 72.2% | 1.17 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
27 - 34 | -7 | 63.2 | 66.7% | 0.91 |
Having secured themselves spots in the IEM Katowice 2020 Closed Qualifier, INTZ and Riot Squad will look to prepare for their best-of-five offline clash this Friday, with the winner earning a spot in ESL Pro League.
