At IEM Katowice 2025, we are in for an exciting semifinal — Vitality against The Mongolz. Vitality confidently reached this stage through the upper bracket, showcasing excellent form throughout the tournament. The Mongolz, on the other hand, overcame the quarterfinals, where they convincingly defeated Eternal Fire. This match will be decisive for both teams, as a spot in the grand final and a chance to fight for the championship title is at stake. In this article, we will analyze the current form of the opponents, the possible map pool, and make a prediction for the match outcome.

Current Team Form

The Mongolz are showing stable results in major tournaments. Their average rating over the last month is 6.1. At the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, the team confidently passed the Elimination stage with a 3-0 score but was eliminated in the quarterfinals. At IEM Katowice 2025, The Mongolz once again performed admirably, advancing to the playoffs through the upper bracket, although they were defeated by NAVI in the seeding match. In their last five matches, they secured three victories against Eternal Fire, GamerLegion, and Liquid, losing to NAVI and MOUZ.

Vitality have a slightly higher average rating of 6.3. At the BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, they defeated Metizport and Virtus.Pro with identical 2-0 scores. However, in the LAN part of the tournament, they suffered a defeat from Eternal Fire 0-2. At IEM Katowice 2025, Vitality performed very confidently, progressing through the upper bracket, losing only one map against FaZe. Over the last five matches, the team won four — against VP, FaZe, 3DMAX, and VP again, losing only to Eternal Fire.

Map Pool 

The Mongolz are likely to ban the Train map, which they do not play at all. For selection, they would prefer Mirage — a map where they have a 68% win rate over 19 games, or Inferno, their best map with a 75% win rate. Ancient also remains a strong point for the team (67% win rate over 21 matches).

Vitality will likely ban Ancient, where their win rate is 0%, as well as Anubis with a 36% win rate over 11 games. For selection, they will probably choose Nuke (92% win rate over 12 matches) or Dust2 (77% win rate over 13 matches). Mirage, where their win rate is 65%, is also a comfortable map for Vitality.

1. Mirage - The Mongolz's choice
2. Nuke - Vitality's choice
3. Inferno - decider

Match Forecast

Vitality appears to be the favorites in this matchup. Their current form is more stable, and the team shows confident play on key maps such as Nuke and Dust2. However, The Mongolz can put up a fight on Mirage and Inferno, where they are traditionally strong. If the match goes to a third map, the experience of Vitality players may play a crucial role, giving them an advantage. 

Forecast: Vitality 2-1 The MongolZ 

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 schedule and results of the event here.