Team SAW from Portugal came to IEM Cologne 2024 with a lot of potential, and it turned out to be true. They defeated BIG in the second round of the upper Play-in grid, thus securing their place in the main stage.

Pre-match facts

For SAW this tournament was their first appearance at IEM Cologne and they managed to qualify for the main stage, which is a great result. It was also the first time the teams met this year, which added to the interest of watching.

Already on the map selection, SAW had some kind of priority, as on two out of three maps, they had a higher winning percentage than BIG.

READ ALSO: BERRY: "We can make upsets happen"

Match Details

The first map of the match was Anubis, where BIG had 0 wins in 3 maps and they were considered an outsider. But despite that, they started the map confidently and ended the half in their favor with a score of 7-5. In the second half they just brought the game to perfection and won with a score of 13-7.

The second map was Ancient, where SAW started the game confidently and won the half with a resounding 10-2 score. BIG failed to come back into the game and SAW won 13-5. The third map was Inferno where BIG managed to take the first half with a close score of 7-5 in their favor. But SAW rallied after winning the pistol round and managed to take 5 rounds in a row, after which BIG could not come back and SAW won with a score of 13-11.

The best player of the match was Michel "ewjerkz" Pinto, who had a great series, finishing with a 7.5 rating. Also of note was the play of Jon "JDC" de Castro, who despite the loss finished the game also with a good rating of 6.5.

READ MORE: OG benched k1to in their CS2 lineup

Further development

For SAW, this win was a big success as they became the first team to advance to the main stage of IEM Cologne 2024. In turn, BIG fall to the lower grid, where they will play the winner of Team Falcons|ALTERNATE aTTaX to advance to the main stage of the tournament.