In the playoff qualifying match at IEM Katowice 2025, we are in for an exciting clash between NAVI and Spirit. Both teams approach the tournament in good form: Spirit recently claimed victory at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025, defeating NAVI in the semifinals, while NAVI started the tournament confidently with a win over FURIA. In this article, we will analyze the current form of the teams, map pool, and provide a match prediction.
Current Form of Teams
NAVI's average rating at S-tier tournaments over the last month is 6.2. The team participated in BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, where they confidently defeated Imperial (2-0) and Astralis (2-0). In the LAN part of this tournament, NAVI overcame paiN (2-1) but then fell to Spirit (0-2) in the semifinals. At IEM Katowice 2025, NAVI began with a confident victory over FURIA (2-0), leaving the Brazilians with no chance.
Spirit's average rating at S-tier tournaments over the last month is 6.5. Spirit also participated in BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, where they showed outstanding results, losing only one map over the entire tournament — in the final against Eternal Fire. On their way to victory, they defeated Fnatic, FlyQuest, HEROIC, NAVI, and in the decisive match, they beat Eternal Fire (3-1). At IEM Katowice 2025, Spirit started with a confident victory over Astralis (2-0), demonstrating stable form.
Map Pool
NAVI are very likely to pick Dust2 or Ancient, as these are their strong points. They have an 80% win rate on Dust2 over 15 games and a 75% win rate on Ancient over 20 games. They avoid Train, as they haven't played it since its return to the map pool, and prior to that, Vertigo was their ban, so the change was beneficial for them.
Spirit consistently continue to ban Nuke. Their strong maps are Nuke (72% win rate) and Dust2 (72% win rate), showing confident play on both sides. Their results on Mirage and Ancient are also reliable (63% win rate), but their performances on Anubis are less stable (50% win rate).
- Dust2 — NAVI's choice
- Nuke — Spirit's choice
- Ancient — decider
Head-to-Head
This match-up can be considered a new derby in the world of CS. In 2025, these teams already met at the LAN stage of BLAST Bounty Spring, where Spirit won 2-0, with the second map ending 22-20.
Match Prediction
On paper, Spirit appear to be the favorites. They recently defeated NAVI, confidently won BLAST, losing only one map throughout the tournament, and continue to show excellent form.
However, NAVI are also in good shape. Their confident victory over FURIA at the start of Katowice indicates that the team is well-prepared. Additionally, Dust2 and Ancient seem to be comfortable maps for NAVI.
Nonetheless, Spirit has been performing more consistently in 2025 and have already proven their superiority in a direct match-up. If NAVI fails to secure Dust2 with a comfortable lead, Spirit might close the series with a 2-1 score.
Spirit 2-1 NAVI
IEM Katowice 2025 takes place from January 29 to February 9 in Katowice, Poland. Twenty-four teams will compete for a $1 million prize pool. You can follow the event's schedule and results here.
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