In the decisive match, Virtus.pro will face SAW in the lower bracket of the IEM Katowice 2025 Play-In. A defeat will mean elimination from the tournament, while the winner will get a chance to make it to the main part of the competition. Both teams have not met each other in the last six months, which adds intrigue to this confrontation.

Current Team Form

Virtus.pro has been showing unstable form. In recent matches, they lost to Vitality, but defeated Complexity in the first round of qualification for BLAST Bounty Spring 2025. In the last match at IEM Katowice 2025: Play-in in the upper bracket against paiN, the team lost 2-0. The team's previous performances at S- and A-tier tournaments leave questions about their readiness to compete at a high level. So far, the team is struggling, but this is not surprising, as they have recently made some roster changes.

SAW, in turn, also experienced difficulties, losing to GamerLegion in their previous match at IEM Katowice 2025: Play-in. In 2024, they won ESL Challenger Katowice, but failed to show significant results at S-tier tournaments. SAW show a strong game on the Nuke map, but they lack stability.

Map Pool

Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro demonstrate high efficiency on Mirage (67% of maps won) and stable results on Anubis (50% of maps won). These maps are likely to be their choice in the match, as they are the ones the team feels confident on. At the same time, the weak performance on Inferno (33%) and Ancient (39%) could be critical if these maps remain in the mappool. Virtus.pro also traditionally avoids Nuke, where their statistics are practically absent.

SAW

SAW have a clear advantage on Nuke (72% of maps won) and demonstrate a strong play on Dust2 (70%). Their success on these maps gives them the ability to impose their game. However, poor results on Ancient (42%) make these maps potentially risky for the team. SAW also show stability on Anubis (64%), which could become a point of strength in the series.

The expected set of maps in Bo3: Dust2, Anubis, Ancient.

Match Prediction

Given the weaknesses of both teams and the significance of the match, we can expect a triple-header series. Virtus.pro have a slight advantage due to their more flexible mappool, but SAW can impose a fight on their strong maps.

Virtus.pro is expected to win with a score of 2:1..

Virtus.pro and SAW fell to the bottom of the bracket after unsuccessful performances in the top. For both teams, this will be the last chance to stay in the fight for the main prize of the tournament and a share of the prize pool. This match will be a test of endurance and ability to adapt to pressure.

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.