The moment of truth is coming at IEM Krakow 2026 — the group stage is coming to its logical conclusion, leaving out loud tags. BC teams.Game and NRG, by the way, officially stopped fighting for the trophy, adding to the list of the eliminated.
Of course, the fans’ special attention was focused on Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. His epic return to the IEM series tournaments was cut short in the quarterfinals of the losers — FaZe Clan turned out to be trite stronger. At the same time, NRG, in general, did not win in the fight with Team Falcons.
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BC.Game’s performance at IEM Krakow 2026
Honestly, the BC way.The game at this tournament was like a roller coaster. Yes, the guys confidently flew through Legacy and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Play-In stage, but — and this is important — they just didn’t have enough teeth against Vitality in the upper bracket. The lack of experience in matches of this caliber, apparently, became a decisive factor.
The fight for life in the lower bracket against the FaZe Clan turned out to be hot — the winner took the right to the final dash to the TAURON Arena.
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Dust II: The “Fakes” immediately showed who’s the boss here — 13-8 in their favor thanks to great moves in the mid-rounds.
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Nuke: And here s1mple, by the way, remembered his youth — his performance with a rifle allowed BC.Game to pick up the 13-6 card. Pretty boy, what to say.
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Ancient: The final chord — and then there’s no chance. Red Militia’s defense was solid, 13-3. As a result, BC.The game, in fact, goes home with a 1-2 defeat in the series.
Map-veto error analysis in the NRG vs B8 match
At IEM Krakow 2026, a classic tactical disaster occurred — the NRG team literally gave victory to the Ukrainians from B8, making critical mistakes even at the stage of choosing maps. The Americans, in truth, trapped themselves on Dust II, completing their own peak with a humiliating score of 4:13.
Interestingly, the NRG started the veto stage quite energetically and with a great desire to win. First of all, they got rid of Ancient and Anubis cards, which have recently been causing them nervous tremors due to weak numbers and the aggressive style of their opponents. However, B8, in the process, read the opponent like an open book: by banning Nuke, they forced NRG to take a risk.
Analysis of the map veto NRG vs B8
NRG’s choice of Dust II looked like suicide. Yes, they were counting on an advantage, but in reality everything went to waste.
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CT-side B8: The Ukrainian team simply dominated, finishing the first half with a score of 9:3 — the control of the long and tunnels was absolute.
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Switching sides: After the change of positions, NRG, to be honest, was only allowed for one miserable round.
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Economic collapse: A complete failure in procurement and tactical short—sightedness are the result of ignoring the enemy’s fresh demos.
| Veto Stage | NRG Action | B8 Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Ban | Ancient | Nuke | NRG removed their weakest map, B8 removed NRG’s strongest |
| NRG Pick | Dust II | — | NRG failed their own pick, losing 4:13 |
| B8 Pick | Mirage | Anubis (ban by NRG) | NRG dominated Mirage 13:2 |
| Decider | Overpass (ban by B8) | Inferno | NRG won 13:11, the series went down to the wire |
Why did Dust II become a trap?
Along the way, Dust II seemed like the perfect option for NRG — it’s a classic where pure aim and fast lunges are solved, in which the same oSee usually feels like a fish in water. But — and here’s the most interesting thing — B8 had a filigree preparation. They knew that after the latest patches, the NRG attack on this map had become, in principle, toothless.
Apparently, the Americans forgot to look at the statistics for the last 10-15 matches. B8 has a win rate of 70%+ on the duster against teams with a similar style, and all thanks to the competent Molotov on the MFA. NRG, on the other hand, seemed to live in the past, when Dust II was their comfort zone — a typical mistake for teams that do not keep up with meta-shifts in CS2.
Tactical conclusions based on the results of the departure from the tournament
In general, the situation with the Ancient and Anubis bans is also indicative. NRG removed Ancient first, apparently remembering their past failures in controlling the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Anubis went second — the Americans were afraid of problems with rotations on the water. But in the end, in fact, they just chose the lesser of the evils, which turned out to be fatal for them.
The main conclusion is simple: if you ignore your opponent’s current win rates, you’ve lost before the match even starts. NRG, by the way, could have tried Inferno, but instead chose to take a chance. In the CS2 reality, the map veto is won by those who analyze the last 20 games and face-to-face meetings, rather than relying on a “feel” or old data.
The results of the confrontation between NRG and Team Falcons
The North Americans from NRG, apparently, wanted to repeat their success with Budapest Major, but Krakow met them coolly. First, they were attached by MOUZ, and then by a meeting with Team Falcons, who, by the way, were eager to get clean for the insulting loss from Aurora Gaming.
On the first card, the Falcons literally ran over their opponent in defense — 13-5. But NRG, in general, the guys are not a miss — they staged a real comeback at Ancient, leading 10-2 to a change of sides. As a result, they put the squeeze on the card — 13-11.
The decisive mix on Dust II made the fans sweat — the first half was left for NRG with a two-round advantage. However — and here lies the devil — the Americans’ attack has broken down. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov turned on god mode and, in the process, single-handedly closed the card with a score of 13-9.
Match schedule and predictions for the IEM playoffs
For the survivors of Group B, the war continues. The grid of “losers” is not a place for the faint of heart:
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Team Falcons go hunting against 3DMAX.
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FaZe Clan will clash with MOUZ for a slot in the finals of the lower bracket.
All matches will start on February 3 at 13:00 London Time (BST). Live broadcasts, as usual, are available on ESL’s Twitch and YouTube channels — to miss such a thing, in truth, is a crime against esports.
