G2, Spirit move into upper-bracket final at IEM Krakow

G2 Esports and Team Spirit advanced to the upper-bracket final of Group A on Sunday at the Intel Extreme Masters Krakow tournament in Poland.

G2 fought past FUT Esports 2-1, and Team Spirit beat Natus Vincere 2-0.

The lower bracket of Group A kicked off with FURIA and Astralis advancing by 2-1 decisions, while in Group B, MOUZ blanked NRG 2-0 and Aurora Gaming outlasted Team Falcons 2-1 in their openers.

The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament started with 24 teams and is currently in a 16-team double-elimination group stage 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 consist of 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 Sunday, FUT Esports opened with a 13-9 win on Mirage but G2 responded with 13-9 victories on Dust II and Ancient. Spaniard Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia led G2 with 53 kills on a plus-14 kills-deaths differential.

The other Group A upper-bracket semi saw Spirit edge NaVi 16-14 in overtime on Mirage, then trounce them 13-3 on Dust II. Russia's Danil "donk" Kryshkovets paced Spirit with 47 kills on a plus-17 K-D.

FURIA rallied past The MongolZ, absorbing a 13-11 defeat on Mirage by winning 16-12 in OT on Inferno and 13-2 on Nuke. Mareks "YEKINDAR" Galinskis of Latvia had 60 kills on a plus-15 K-D for FURIA.

Astralis defeated PARIVISION in three maps, as well. They opened with a 13-11 win on Overpass, fell 16-13 in OT on Dust II and bounced back for a 13-7 clincher on Ancient. Jakob "‘jabbi" Nygaard of Denmark racked up 70 kills on a plus-23 for Astralis.

MOUZ notched matching 13-9 victories over NRG on Dust II and Ancient. Israel's Lotan "Spinx" Giladi led the way with 40 kills on a plus-14.

Finally, Aurora faced Falcons and sandwiched a 13-7 win on Anubis and a 13-8 result on Inferno around a 13-10 setback on Mirage. Turkey's Caner "soulfly" Kesici and Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dortkardes had 52 and 51 kills for Aurora, both on plus-14 differentials.

The tournament continues Monday with six matches:

--Natus Vincere vs. FURIA (Group A lower-bracket semifinal)

--FUT Esports vs. Astralis (Group A lower-bracket semifinal)

--Team Vitality vs. 3DMAX (Group B upper-bracket semifinal)

--MOUZ vs. Aurora Gaming (Group B upper-bracket semifinal)

--BC.Game Esports vs. FaZe Clan (Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal)

--NRG vs. Team Falcons (Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal)

Intel Extreme Masters Krakow prize pool

1. $400,000

2. $180,000

3. $100,000

4. $60,000

5-6. $40,000

7-8. $24,000

9-12. $16,000

13-16. $10,000 -- The MongolZ, PARIVISION, two teams TBD

17-20. $4,500 -- GamerLegion, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, paiN Gaming

21-24. $2,500 -- Passion UA, Legacy, B8, HEROIC

--Field Level Media