In the first round of IEM Katowice 2025, we have a match between Falcons and Eternal Fire. These teams have already met earlier this season, with Eternal Fire securing the victory. In this article, we will examine the teams' form, their map pool, and provide a prediction for the outcome of this matchup.

Current Form of Teams

The average rating of Falcons in tournaments over the past month is 6.0. In BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, the team demonstrated mixed success. They confidently defeated ENCE 2-0 in the first match but then faced difficulties against Eternal Fire, losing 0-2. Despite this, bootcamp and additional preparation might play a key role in the upcoming match.

The average rating of Eternal Fire in S-tier tournaments over the past month is 6.1. The team performed excellently in BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, where they defeated Fluxo and Falcons 2-0. In the LAN part of the tournament, they beat such top teams as Vitality (2-0) and G2 (2-1) but lost in the final to Spirit (1-3). In the IEM Katowice 2025 Play-in, they easily defeated Complexity and then overcame Heroic 2-0, although the match was challenging.

Map Pool

Falcons are highly likely to ban Anubis, which they consistently exclude in previous matches. Their priority pick will most likely be Nuke or Dust2, where they perform well. Inferno will most likely be banned, as the team often avoids this map.

Eternal Fire are highly likely to ban Ancient, which they have banned 30 times already. They will probably pick Inferno (64% win rate in 14 games), as Falcons will ban Anubis. Dust2 might remain as the choice or decider since both teams feel comfortable on this map.

1. Nuke - pick Falcons
2. Inferno - pick Eternal Fire
3. Dust2 - decider

Head-to-Head

This season the teams have already met at the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, where Eternal Fire claimed a confident 2-0 victory. Nonetheless, Falcons have approached this tournament with better preparation due to a bootcamp, making the upcoming game more intriguing.

Match Prediction

Despite better preparation by Falcons, Eternal Fire remains the favorite in this encounter due to their consistency and excellent form in matches against strong opponents.

Eternal Fire 2-1 Falcons

IEM Katowice 2025 takes 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 schedule and results via this link.