IEM Kraków 2026: What to watch out for in Stage 2

IEM Kraków sees the big guns come to play as the second group stage commences in Poland’s new premier tournament.

Stage 1 saw many questions answered as Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev’s BC Game advanced to Stage 2.

Stage 2 sees Vitality, Furia, Falcons, Spirit, FaZe, Mouz, NaVi, and The MongolZ enter the Hall of Heroes.

The top teams will be looking to assert themselves against the teams progressing from Stage 1, but after Parivision’s BLAST Bounty victory, their hegemony has been challenged at the top of Counter-Strike.

Spirit’s T-sides

Spirit may have won four Tier 1 trophies in 2025, but they did so with poor T-sides that hindered their ability to dethrone Vitality when it mattered.

In truth, their ability to create space relied so heavily on Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets that it became the only thing holding them up.

Without his input, they looked predictable, slow, and lifeless despite their attempts to bolster their firepower in the second half of the year.

The departure of Leonid ‘chopper’ Vishnyakov from the roster will seek to alleviate that, but Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobiev, not to calling, hasn’t displayed much of a departure from Spirit’s old style.

These things take time, but Kraków is an event where one must deliver, so let’s see if Boris and the boys have been cooking up something worth eating.

1-2 vs. @parivisiongg.

Unfortunately, our journey at BLAST Bounty S1 ends here. We are placed 5-8th.

Thank you for your support! pic.twitter.com/fSbEl6Lk5B

— Team Spirit CS2 (@Team__Spirit) January 23, 2026

FaZe and NaVi search for first wins of 2026

FaZe and NaVi went out in joint-last place of BLAST Bounty after losing their first online matches of the season.

An online loss is, in and of itself, not a reason to panic at the top level of Counter-Strike; online CS is seen as more volatile and is less valued by players.

That is still true of those losses, but they also did not come out of nowhere.

FaZe fell to several low finishes in 2025, with their miracle Budapest run papering over a year of cracks.

FaZe fans will want to believe that the Budapest showing is replicable, reflective of a team which has two of the best riflers in the world in Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken and David “frozen” Čerňanský.

However, in late 2025, Budapest was the only event which really showed FaZe magic at its best.

For NaVi, their story is similar, if less dramatic. The roster was a gatekeeper, rather than a challenger, in 2025. Often getting to playoffs, but unable to do real damage there.

It was only in Budapest where we saw their best, but their best was still not good enough.

Now in a roster which seemingly wanted to make roster changes, but couldn’t, NaVi’s players may be stuck in an unhappy marriage.

That is, unless they can recreate the feeling of Budapest, where they for once looked connected with each other in a 2025 in which they often felt divided.

Vitality and Furia look to return to dominant best

Vitality and Furia looked destined to recreate their late-2025 clashes in another Bo5 Grand Final at BLAST Bounty.

However, defeats to Falcons (with a stand-in) and Parivision prevented the same pattern from emerging at the start of 2026.

In truth, neither team looked at their best even before then, as the online stage saw Vitality and Furia play some disjointed maps against Eyeballers and FUT, respectively.

Furia also struggled to put away a Heroic side that were roundly beaten by GamerLegion in Stage 1 of IEM Kraków.

We shouldn’t be overly dramatic. BLAST Bounty was a warm-up tournament for some of the top teams, but it shows they are not at their commanding best.

However, being at the top is never easy. Everyone will be looking at Furia and Vitality’s matches to look to steal their strats or counter them.

IEM Kraków is the event where that form must come back, or we will be looking at Vitality and Furia’s place at the top of Counter-Strike as a more fragile position.

Falcons back to full strength

Falcons managed a runners-up placement at BLAST Bounty despite being a man down due to Visa issues.

Maksim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin is back, and Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen is expected to return to coaching duties.

Their return is an exciting prospect for a Falcons roster that defeated Vitality in Malta to reach the Grand Final of BLAST.

Falcons looked like the best team in the online portion of the event, avoiding scares like Vitality and Furia.

With kyousuke back in the server, they will feel like they’re able to take another step, and hopefully avoid a sixth Grand Final defeat in a row.

Kraków, we have arrived! 🦅🇵🇱#FalconsAreHere - #IEMKrakow pic.twitter.com/p6XKHTVjGf

— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) January 29, 2026