IEM Kraków playoff preview: Status quo or revolution?
IEM Kraków 2026 playoffs begin on Friday with the quarter-final matches commencing at IEM Winter’s new home, the Tauron Arena.
The 22,000-capacity venue is a symbolic shift in ESL’s ambitions for Counter-Strike esports, but on the server, will it just be more of the same?
Mouz and G2 must display improvements in unchanged rosters
The Counter-Strike off-season saw a remarkable lack of action, with very few teams and players being the subject of roster moves.
In that sense, the quest to dethrone Vitality becomes not one of shifting pieces but in refining the pieces that are already there.
That is the case for both G2 and Mouz as they enter their IEM Kraków quarter-final contest.
Dorian ‘xertioN’ Berman described to Esports News UK the adaptations Mouz were making to their game, including increased aggression from other players and more communication from xertioN himself.
For G2, the story is less in the details and more in broad strokes. The roster has existed under Nemanja ‘huNter-‘ Kovač since last summer.
That move came with a victory at BLAST London, but a lack of tactical depth and communication issues meant that was their only trophy of 2025.
Now that the roster has been set and has had time away from the circuit to work on their play, G2 must show more layers to their game.
Both teams have shown aspects of those improvements, despite taking losses to Aurora and Spirit.
Mouz showed strong re-aggression against Falcons, especially on Dust 2, showing their ability to break out of their conservative style.
G2 ran Spirit extraordinarily close in the upper-bracket final, winning on Overpass where the roster was notably weak last year.
A semi-final clash with Vitality is the reward for the winner.
Aurora show improvement with Furia form uncertain
Aurora suffered a painful end to last year, which saw several collapses from the Turkish roster, bringing about the decision to sign Caner ‘soulfly’ Kesici.
While the removal of Samet ‘jottAAA’ Köklü is questionable from a purely firepower perspective, Aurora believe that the player is a better fit for their system.
Engin ‘MAJ3R’ Küpeli said of his new addition, “I think he’s fitting in my system, our system… For now, we beat Mouz and Falcons so it’s a good start for him.”
That improvement balance in the roster may pay dividends against a Furia who still seem to be warming up into 2026.
Following defeat to Parivison at BLAST Bounty, Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Gaļinskis told Esports News UK that they found their form as the tournament went on.
The Latvian stated, “When you come to Kraków, and you play the first game, and you instantly lose against FUT, it’s not a great feeling. But I feel like during the MongolZ game, everything changed, and we kind of started feeling it again.”
Despite finding ways to win and individuals intermittently waking up, Furia’s path to the playoffs was still a dogfight.
The roster’s form is still uncertain, looking far less convincing than the conclusion to 2025, which saw the roster win four events in a row.
So, Aurora’s chance in the quarter-final is definitely real, but if Furia does manage to recapture that form, the opportunity may shrink away from Aurora despite improvements.
Are Spirit and Vitality set for IEM Katowice 2025 rematch?
Vitality’s Budapest Major victory completed one of the most dominant years in Counter-Strike history, with nine trophies to their name, including both Majors.
A run of seven-straight tournament victories for Vitality started at IEM Katowice 2025, where Vitality convincingly defeated Spirit 3-0 in the Grand Final.
A year later, the teams are once again the two favourites to contest for the big-earred trophy which bears both of their names from 2025 and 2024 victories, respectively.
The two sit pretty, already in the semi-finals after winning the upper-bracket deciders with Spirit dropping one map on their way and Vitality dropping zero.
A repeat Grand Final is by no means a guarantee, both teams’ failures at BLAST Bounty show that to some degree, however it is a very likely outcome.
In that instance, it will be the first real test of Spirit’s new dynamics under reinstated now-IGL, Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobiev.
Spirit’s roster revolution was created entirely to dethrone Vitality; that is the mission statement.
Whether they can do that comes back to whether the supporting cast can have impact, which will enable Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets to get the most out of his talents.
Whether Spirit have the tactical depth, or understanding between themselves to take apart one of the most complete and coordinated teams in CS history is a tough measure.
However, after a 2025 which saw the team have the same flaws over and over again, despite drastically different pieces, even a different loss would be preferable.
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