G2 Esports, PARIVISION, 3DMAX keep winning at IEM Krakow

Field Level Media|published: Thu 29th January, 17:27 2026

A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home. Jordan Woodruff

G2 Esports, PARIVISION and 3DMAX claimed upper-bracket victories in the second round of the play-in stage on Thursday at the Intel Extreme Masters Krakow event in Poland.

The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with 24 teams -- 16 competing in a double-elimination play-in bracket with eight already seeded straight into the group stage.

Play-in matches are best-of-three, with eight teams advancing.

The next stage will split the remaining teams into two groups of eight for double-elimination play involving best-of-three matches. The group winners earn spots in the playoff semifinals, the group runners-up head to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds and the third-place teams go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.

The playoffs will feature a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches until the grand final on Feb. 8, which will be best-of-five.

The championship team will receive $400,000, and the runner-up will get $180,000.

On Thursday, PARIVISION knocked off Aurora Gaming 2-1, winning 13-5 on Mirage, dropping a decision by the same score on Anubis and capturing the match with a 13-4 victory on Dust II. The all-Russian PARIVISION was led by Vladislav "xiELO" Lysov's 37-31 kill-death differential and 1.35 rating, and Ivan "zweih" Gogin's 39-35 K-D and 1.20 rating.

Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dortkardes of the all-Turkish Aurora Gaming posted a 38-36 K-D and 1.09 rating.

G2 Esports edged Team Liquid 2-1 in a dramatic match, winning 13-8 on Mirage, falling 13-6 on Inferno and then triumphing on Anubis 16-14 in overtime. G2 was paced by Nemanja "huNter-" Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 54-47 K-D differential and 1.33 rating. Team Liquid's Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak of Poland posted a 66-41 differential and 1.52 rating.

3DMAX swept BC.Game Esports 2-0, winning on Overpass 13-3 and Anubis 13-4. Lucas "Lucky" Chastang paced the all-French 3DMAX with a 37-13 K-D and 2.02 rating. BC.Game did not have a player with a positive rating.

In Round 1 of the lower bracket, Ninjas in Pyjamas got the better of Passion UA, 2-1, after dropping the opener 13-8 on Overpass. NIP rallied to win on Nuke 13-5 and Anubis 13-10. Ukraine's Artem "cairne" Mushynskyi paced NIP with a 59-42 K-D differential and 1.34 rating, followed by teammate Kacper "xKacpersky" Gabara of Poland with a 50-42 K-D and 1.29 rating.

Passion UA was led by Ukraine's Vladyslav "Kvem" Korol with a 50-47 K-D and the United States' Michael "Grim" Wince with a 51-49 differential. Both players had a 1.12 rating.

FUT Esports swept Legacy 2-0 in the lower bracket, winning 13-7 on Dust II and 13-10 on Ancient. Ukraine's Dmytro "dem0n" Myroshnychenko led FUT with a 45-22 K-D differential and 1.63 rating. Romania's Laurentiu "lauNX" Tarlea contributed a 32-20 K-D and 1.31 rating to the victory.

Also in the lower bracket, paiN Gaming won a battle with B8 2-0, capturing Dust II 16-12 and Mirage 13-10. The all-Brazilian paiN Gaming was led by Joao "snow" Vinicius with a 45-30 K-D differential and 1.35 rating, Lucas "nqz" Soares with a 44-28 differential and 1.33 rating, and Vinicius "vsm" Moreira with a 40-26 differential and 1.32 rating.

Friday's matches:

--Upper-bracket Round 2: Astralis vs. NRG

--Lower-bracket Round 1: GamerLegion vs. HEROIC

--Lower-bracket Round 2: BC.Game Esports vs. Ninjas in Pyjams

--Lower-bracket Round 2: Team Liquid vs. FUT Esports

--Lower-bracket Round 2: Aurora Gaming vs. paiN Gaming

--Lower-bracket Round 2: TBD vs. TBD

Intel Extreme Masters Krakow prize pool

1. $400,000

2. $180,000

3. $100,000

4. $60,000