3DMAX and MIBR will face off in a tense match for the right to advance to the group stage of the IEM Katowice 2025 Play-In. Both teams have their strengths, but this match will determine which of them will continue to fight in the tournament. The match promises to be spectacular and unpredictable.

Current form of the teams

3DMAX has been showing mixed results lately. Their victory over FlyQuest was an important achievement, but their inconsistency against strong opponents such as Heroic and G2 leaves questions about their readiness for matches of this level. The team's main problem is the lack of stability in key moments.

MIBR, on the other hand, demonstrate a high level of play and stability. Their victories over Astralis in the current tournament only confirm their status as a favorite. However, the team surprised everyone by losing to FlyQuest in the qualification for BLAST Bounty Spring 2025. The Brazilian team continues to improve their game, demonstrating excellent training on all maps.

Map pool 

3DMAX's Map pool look weaker. Their strongest map is Inferno (80% winrate), but even there they often face difficulties. Mirage and Ancient remain vulnerable with 0% and 36% winrate, respectively, which gives opponents a lot of freedom of choice. However, they have several other good maps - Dust 2(76% winrate) and Anubis (55%).

MIBR has a much wider and more powerful mappool. They perform well on Ancient (74%) and Inferno (63%), which makes these maps their strong suit. Even on Nuke and Anubis, where their performance is slightly lower, the team demonstrates stability and good coordination. Thanks to this, the Brazilians have an advantage before the start of the series. However, there are also weaknesses, namely: Mirage(19%) and Dust2.

The expected set of maps in Bo3: Ancient, Anubis, Nuke

Face-to-face meetings

3DMAX and MIBR have met once in the last six months. In that match, which took place at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, MIBR confidently won with a score of 1-0. This result indicates a serious advantage of the Brazilian team, which is likely to be evident again in this match.

Match Prediction

Given the form of the teams and maps, MIBR is a clear favorite in this match. Their stability and wider selection of maps allow us to predict a 2-1 victory for the Brazilians. However, 3DMAX can put up a fight, especially on their favorite maps.

Prediction: 2:1 in favor of MIBR.

This match will be an important test for both teams in the fight to reach the group stage of IEM Katowice 2025. MIBR is the favorite, but 3DMAX will try to surprise their opponent. In any case, fans will see a tense and interesting match that will demonstrate who deserves to continue playing at this prestigious tournament.

IEM Katowice 2025 will take place from January 29 to February 9 in Katowice, Poland. Twenty-four teams will compete for a prize pool of $1 million. You can follow the event's schedule and results through this link.