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With IEM Katowice 2025 kicking off on January 29th, Esports News UK asked several UK Counter-Strike hosts and casters (plus one from Australia!) for their predictions for Counter-Strike’s first prestige event of 2025.
Editor’s note: These predictions were gathered before the recent Blast LAN playoffs.
‘I can’t go against the irresistable force of donk and Spirit’ – Travis ‘Trav’ Landaw Mott, caster
Winners: Spirit
It’s incredibly difficult to gauge going into a new season, but I’m going to go with Spirit to win. I just can’t go against the irresistable force of donk on current form, and I don’t think there will be much of a post-major hangover.
Runner-up: Vitality
Vitality to make the finals. I have a feeling that Vitality with ropz are going to be incredibly dangerous earlier on into their cycle, more so than G2 with HeavyGod (despite malbs going into the roles he loves) and Faze with EliGE. Navi will continue to be there or thereabouts, but we haven’t seen championship form since October now. They could easily find that synergy and win just as much as last year, but I’m not sure they’re ready for a trophy again just yet.
Surprise packages: Pain and Heroic
Pain have been floating around the tier 1.5 level for the majority of the last year and fell just short of big event playoffs on a couple of occasions – now I feel it’s only a matter of time before they get over that next hump in their progression. biguzera is still the best IGL in Brazil and with how solid new signing dav1deuS has always been, I’m hopeful that’s the answer.
An honorary mention for Heroic too – people might write them off because they’ve had their stars robbed, but their team is last year’s very impressive Sangal core with a massive upgrade: SunPayus. They have a tough portion of the play-in bracket with another match against Liquid and then Eternal Fire or Complexity, but if they make the main event they should continue to trouble anyone. Both these two did the job at Blast Bounty and could easily kick on from that.
And here are more #IEM predictions from @Ne0Kai, @GrimyRannarr and @FallingDarragh!
— Esports News UK powered by Predator Gaming for IEM (@Esports_News_UK) January 27, 2025
(placed in a separate graphic as we couldn't squeeze everyone into the first one!) pic.twitter.com/q0G6Y17rpq
‘Vitality will reach for the stars’ – Freddie ‘GrimyRannarr’ Pritchard, caster and coach of Belfast Storm
Winners: Vitality
Out of all of the roster moves this silly season, I think that ropz to Vitality is the best. ropz elevates any team and with Vitality he will be working with apEX to cook something truly special. It also works with roles and gives mezii some more space. I really believe they will start the season off reaching for the stars and this event will just foreshadow their success in 2025. There is no bias here whatsoever…
Runner-up: Navi
It would be far too boring to put Spirit second or first, may as well spice it up a bit. Navi were very consistent in 2025 and I think the lack of roster moves will put them above a lot of their rivals for Katowice. I have a lot of faith in this team and I can very easily see them beating a team like Spirit in the semi-finals, for instance.
Surprise package: GamerLegion
Again, no bias here whatsoever… GamerLegion are notoriously cracked with their positive roster moves. PR is a massive player to pick up, but the question does remain for me ‘can he hack it with the big boys?’ I personally think he showed in Mouz Nxt that he can.
The next question is what REZ are we going to be seeing in GamerLegion? Well, with UK coach ash behind him, it will be IEM Oakland v2. Removing volt seems rough but supposedly it is better for roles so that in the long run will benefit GL.
They also have no pressure surrounding them and I don’t think we are going to see a deep run into playoffs, for example, but certainly taking down a big name is very possible.
‘The play-in bracket isn’t too bad for Imperial fe’ – Lucy ‘LucyLuce’ Eastwood, caster
Winners: Spirit
Reigning Katowice and major champions and one of the few teams without any change this season, they’re the obvious favourite to do the repeat.
Runner-up: Vitality
Of all the teams that made changes, Vitality’s addition of ropz is a straight upgrade while not messing with an already well-oiled machine, they’ll hit the ground running.
Surprise package: Imperial fe
Of course, I have to choose Imperial Valkyries! They impressed everyone in their game versus NAVI, and I feel that the play-in bracket isn’t too bad for them. I believe they will be the first women’s team to beat a Tier 1 team and I think it can happen at Katowice.
‘Karrigan reaching the IEM Katowice 2025 final would further cement his legacy as one of the best IGLs’ – Brandon ‘BDog’ Rawlings, caster
Winners: Vitality
Signing ropz will only boost the ceiling of this team. With his ideas and belief that this team can win everything is a scary combination, we saw how good that made him when he first joined Faze. And how can you not support our goat mezii?
Runner-up: Faze
I just want to go with my heart for all of these picks, so imagine seeing karrigan go from the Major final then to leading his team to the final of Katowice! It would further cement his legacy as one of the best in-game leaders of all time. I’m also excited to see what EliGE can do on this team, and wouldn’t it be so fitting to see karrigan v ropz in the final.
Surprise package: Imperial FE
After a brilliant showing against Navi, Imperial fe are back on LAN at IEM Katowice 2025 and historically Imperial have always been better on LAN than online. And honestly, I’m just really excited to watch them play against tier one competition again. I hope they do well!
“I just want to go with my heart for all of these picks, so imagine seeing karrigan go from the Major final to then leading his team to the final of Katowice! I’m also excited to see what EliGE can do on this team, and wouldn’t it be so fitting to see karrigan v ropz in the final.”
BDog
‘I’m going for the back-to-back for the best player in the world’ – Neo ‘Ne0kai’ Caine, host & caster
Winners: Spirit
My choice for Kato is going to be donk and friends. I’m going for the back-to-back for the best player in the world. His form after winning the major hasn’t dipped off at all, and he continues to be a revelation. So far what I’ve seen in Blast Bounty has been nothing short of spectacular.
Runner-up: Vitality
I will go with Vitality because mezii is my goat and I love UK CS!
Surprise package: Gamerlegion
In ash I trust always, but this team genuinely looks super interesting. If we get the best out of REZ this could be an awesome line-up. PR is a superstar in the making for me anyway so I like the look of them.
‘I think the surprise team at IEM will be FlyQuest’ – Harvey ‘Skriv’ Rodgers, caster
Winners: Spirit
I feel that the strongest team moving into Katowice 2025 has to be Team Spirit. They made no changes in the off-season, had donk sweep the awards season (winning at the HLTV Awards) and of course won the major to close the year out. Feels like a no-brainer.
Runner-up: Vitality or FaZe
Second place is a little harder to predict. The field is looking good this year. I love the look of Vitality as a ropz fan, but do feel apEX‘s calling was inconsistent in 2024. FaZe would also be a good shout as everyone is so excited for the EliGE move.
Surprise package: FlyQuest
I’m interested to see more of Complexity, as they dropped out of Blast Bounty pretty fast. But I think the surprise team will be FlyQuest. regali is a really interesting piece that just hasn’t found his feet in the past (the talent is there) and FlyQuest had a pretty good 2024. I think they could easily make the group stages.
Why Vitality will clinch it over Spirit – Tim ‘TIMMO’ Musters, caster and analyst
Winners: Vitality
I’m going on a bit of gamble here. I really like the addition of ropz, I think it’s undoubtedly a net gain in every department, especially considering they’re no longer marred by the relationship issues they had with Spinx. At the time of writing they have only played Metizport where they needed some monster performances from ropz and ZywOo (which they got) to win, but having a 10-2 first half on map one shows the capability this team has.
I think come Kato they could hit the ground running and, should their players show up to the expected level, I think they will clinch it.
Runner-up: Spirit
I think they’re probably the only team that should be coming into this season in the same form they ended the last one in, not having to rebuild or adjust for changes, and the donk performance is enough to take them to the grand final. That being said, at the major it took a massive overperformance from magixx to win which I don’t think is quite so reproducible.
On the other hand, coming off a major win means they have targets on their back and they could become victims of complacency. My other choice here was Navi but I’ve seen more from Spirit so far in Blast Bounty and the major to convince me of Spirit.
Surprise package: Liquid
I think NertZ is a massive upgrade over YEKINDAR. This team has some incredible firepower with Twistzz, NAF, and jks playing incredible last year. You add NertZ and I think this team is cooking. A lot of people have been questioning this move with regards to roles and not having enough selfless players with NertZ not being quite as selflessly aggressive as YEKINDAR, but do people not remember how versatile jks is? The guy won Kato 2022 standing in for FaZe in two different roles across the tournament, for ropz and for rain at one point. Im more than confident they can work it out.
The only question make for me is ultimate, with his aggressive playstyle being figured out by other teams, he fails to find the impact you’d expect of an AWPer. If he can reinvent himself to excel passively as well as aggressively, or perhaps innovate on his aggression, then Liquid will have a scary team that could catch a lot of top teams off guard at Kato, especially considering the instability among the top teams with a lot of them having made roster changes.
“I think NertZ is a massive upgrade over YEKINDAR. This team has some incredible firepower with Twistzz, NAF, and jks playing incredible last year. You add NertZ and I think this team is cooking.”
TIMMO
‘I’d be remiss not to mention The Mongolz after the havoc they wreaked closing out 2024’ – Leyna ‘Affinity’ McQuillin, host and caster
Winners: Spirit
Spirit have started the year off super strong and whilst I think we’ll see a lot more teams back into form after the holidays and break, having hit the ground running leaves Spirit in a great position coming into Katowice.
Runner-up: Faze
I can see Faze coming into their own. Of course, a fairly sizeable and exciting roster change will likely be having its visible growing pains, but it feels like the transition has been going well so far.
Surprise packages: The Mongolz & Imperial fe
I think I’ve got to say The Mongolz. I’ve yet to see them play this year so far, but I’d be remiss to not mention them after the havoc they wreaked closing out 2024. They’re just fun to watch play too, if nothing else.
I can’t go without mentioning Imperial fe (I was told one surprise package team, but I’m hoping they’ll let me sneak this in too). Imperial fe getting invites to the big events under the new system, love it or hate it, that’s the hand we’ve been dealt.
I’ve been watching them for ages now, and they’ve already shown they have what it takes to be competitive at the top level and I can’t wait for them to keep proving that over the year. History makers, trailblazers, and blatantly just fun to watch (and people haven’t seen the true power of ANa yet either). I hope everyone will watch their journey with open hearts.
‘donk. Need I say more?’ – Darragh Harbinson, esports writer
Winners: Vitality
The sheer amount of talent and fragging power on the Vitality roster is astounding. However, fragging power was never Vitality’s issue in 2024. The team lacked cohesion and seemingly wilted when they were put on the back foot. With ropz, I think the team will have less internal tension and better balance within the roles. Besides, it’s ZywOo and ropz? How do the opposition win in the late rounds?!
Runner-up: Spirit
donk. Need I say more? I’m hoping for a titanic clash between the Russian prodigy and ‘the wOo‘ in the final. During the major, donk’s supporting cast really showed up to take them over the line with magixx and even chopper having their moments in support of donk and Sh1ro’s consistent high levels. I don’t see that happening every event, but if it happens at Katowice they will be back-to-back champions.
Surprise package: Eternal Fire
Eternal Fire impressed by making the Pro League 20 final, narrowly losing to Navi, but their major showing was stagnant. I think the jottAAA edition will breathe new life into the roster. Not only that, jottAAA is a marvellous player on an individual level. With Heroic picking up the ex-Sangal core, Eternal Fire did well to secure the young Turkish star.
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Darragh Harbinson is a freelance writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK as well as the likes of UKCSGO, Dexerto and Rush B Media.
