As a seasoned gamer with years of experience under my belt, I must say that the victory of SAW at ESL Challenger Katowice was nothing short of remarkable! Being a fan of the underdog stories, I couldn’t help but cheer for this Portuguese squad that defied all odds. The team entered the event in challenging circumstances, having lost key members just two weeks prior to the tournament. Yet, they managed to rise above the adversity and claim their first-ever international LAN trophy!
In the ESL Challenger Katowice final, SAW secured the championship with a decisive 2-0 win against team B8.
SAW wins their first ever international LAN trophy!
In this surprising turn of events, the less expected team, SAW, emerged victorious amidst a tournament brimming with top-tier competitors. Notably, this was their first appearance in an offline event, featuring André “Ag1l” Gil.
The Portuguese team faced a difficult situation when they participated in the event held in Poland, as they had lost their player Rafael “arrozdoce” Wick and coach Danny “BERRY” Krüger only two weeks prior. This sudden turn of events followed their impressive semi-final performance at IEM Cologne, where they unexpectedly advanced and climbed up the world rankings to be among the top 10 teams, just before the Perfect World Shanghai Major Europe RMRs.
SAW did not drop a single map throughout the entire event. In the grand final, they met Ukrainian squad B8.
In the course of the series, it was challenging for team B8 to find their rhythm, as Ricardo “Roman” Oliveira’s exceptional performance from earlier rounds persisted into the finale. Yet, it wasn’t just about Oliveira; the entire SAW squad outperformed B8 from the very beginning.
B8 beat Brazilian side pain in the semi-final 2-1, whilst SAW cruised past hometown heroes Monte 2-0.
As a gamer, I was counting on my team B8, given their stable roster compared to SAW’s recent changes. However, the grand finale flipped the script on us.
In a single T-round, team B8 managed to secure victory with their own choice of the Ancient map. Remarkably, their second win was due to an exceptional clutch performance by ex-Natus Vincere player Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi.
What a 4K from @npllcs #ESLChallenger
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 27, 2024
SAW were not impressed and clinched the map 13-3.
Nuke was a similarly one-sided affair. B8 just could not get going at all.
E so mais um force, nada de mais.
— SAW (@sawggofficial) October 27, 2024
In a swift turn of events, B8’s victory with a pistol round didn’t last long due to the powerful counterattack from SAW during their force-buy. They went on to end the map decisively with a score of 13-5.
Below, you can see the moment SAW closed the deal:
O momento da conquista em Katowice.
— SAW (@sawggofficial) October 28, 2024
This was an incredible run by SAW. Not losing a single map throughout the entire event, and only losing 8 total rounds across 2 maps in the grand final.
Champions of the Katowice ESL Challenge – @sawggofficial, @MUTiRIS_csgo, @rmn_csgo, @storu__, @ewjerkz, and @ag1LLL
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 27, 2024
A triumph for the Portuguese team! Could they maintain their current form and secure qualification for the Shanghai Major? Can they achieve this even without arrozdoce?
Read More
Sorry. No data so far.
2024-10-28 20:09