The History and Past Winners of IEM Katowice

Major or not, IEM Katowice is one of the biggest events on the CS2 calendar, and these are all the winners of the prestigious event.

Katowice is the home of the Counter-Strike esports. The city hosted the second CSGO major in 2014 and it has remained a hallmark event every year since. Many pros consider it equal to a major, if not surpassing them in terms of prestige. Only its sister event in Cologne can be compared in terms of importance. With IEM Katowice rolling around like clockwork every year, it’s nice to know exactly which teams have taken the crown.

Here are all the winners of IEM Katowice, from the CSGO era to CS2.

All the winners of IEM Katowice from 2014 to 2024

Here are all the winers of IEM Katowice in order along with some info about how they won.

• 2014 – Virtus.pro
• 2015 – Fnatic
• 2016 – Fnatic
• 2017 – Astralis
• 2018 – Fnatic
• 2019 – Astralis
• 2020 – Natus Vincere
• 2021 – Gambit Esports
• 2022 – FaZe Clan
• 2023 – G2 Esports
• 2024 – Team Spirit

2014 – Virtus.pro

In 2014, the legendary Virtus.Pro team pulled off the impossible. The roster went undefeated throughout the entire tournament, only dropping one map to an Olof “olofmeister” Gustafsson-led LGB. In the finals of just the second-ever major, Virtus.Pro dismantled the legendary Ninjas in Pyjamas roster to win the tournament.

2015 and 2016 – Fnatic

In 2014, Fnatic established its dynasty at IEM Katowice. After the first IEM Katowice, the team acquired Olofmeister and Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson, but had never reached the expected heights of such a roster. Fnatic dismantled any team it played against and, until the finals of the tournament, didn’t drop a map. The finals against NiP would be the toughest series it played, but Olof and his team were able to come away with the victory to win IEM Katowice and the major. Fnatic also won in 2016, despite releasing Markus “pronax” Wallsten and playing with Dennis “dennis” Edman instead.

2017 – Astralis

In 2017, the world met an amazing-looking Astralis at IEM Katowice. Astralis had always been an amazing team but had suffered several upsets and never seemed to get past the playoffs. However, after hiring a sports psychologist, the team was ready to go. The team had a near-flawless group stage with only a single loss to Brazillian team Immortals. It entered the playoffs as the second seed and dominated Navi and Heroic before winning the grand finals 3-1 over FaZe Clan.

2018 – Fnatic

Despite having a different roster, Fnatic still regained its title as the winner of IEM Katowice 2018. Jesper “JW” Wecksell, Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, and KRIMZ were still on the roster, making them three-time champions. No one imagined Fnatic would win Katowice, yet the squad went undefeated all throughout the group stage to quickly advance into the playoffs. From there, it convincingly took down Team Liquid and managed to narrowly take eliminate FaZe to win the tournament.

2019 – Astralis

With 2019 came one of Counter-Strike’s most dominant eras ever. Astralis had been terrorizing the entire scene and to no surprise dominated at IEM Katowice 2019. The team dominated every opponent it faced before facing off against ENCE, which was coming off a historic Cinderella run. Astralis, however, 2-0’d the Finns to take home the major title for the second time.

2020 – Natus Vincere

While this was unknown at the time, IEM Katowice 2020 was one of the last events before the online era. The entire event revolved around superstar AWPer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev. While Natus Vincere looked alright in groups, the team was a complete beast in the playoffs. It utterly destroyed every team it faced and brutally took down G2 in the grand final.

2021 – Gambit Esports

Gambit Esports was a shock winner for IEM Katowice in 2021. The squad performed very well online leading up to the event, but fans doubted if it would translate to LAN success. Despite a shock loss to Evil Geniuses in the opening round, the Eastern Europeans bounced back to deliver a dominant playoffs run. The grand final against Virtus.pro was slow and methodical, ending in Gambit’s first ever Katowice crown.

2022 – FaZe Clan

Despite reaching the grand final multiple times, 2022 marked the first real victory for FaZe in Poland. The squad entered as a favored contender, but health concerns benched two different players throughout the event. However, Justin “jks” Savage stood in for both, and his performance eveetually earned him a permanent spot on the roster. A perfect playoffs run ended with FaZe earning the winner’s prize of $400,000 at IEM Katowice 2022.

2023 – G2 Esports

G2 once again entered Katowice as a huge favorite, and this time, it would actually capitalize on that potential. Fresh off a massive win at BLAST Premier World Final 2022, all eyes were on young AWPer Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, who had just finished his rookie year. G2 hit the ground running, winning every single match clean until the grand final, where it finally dropped a single map to Heroic. Despite the stumble, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and his troops sped toward the crown with abandon.

2024 – Team Spirit

Spirit was the breakout team of 2024 largely fuled by the meteoric rise of Danil “donk” Kryshkovets. The rising superstar was still finding his footing at the top level, and Katowice was his chance to win a major trophy early in his career. Starting in the play-in phase, donk rose to the occasion to deliver an insane performance, beating top teams left and right on the path to the podium. A 3-0 over FaZe sealed the deal and earned the young Russian a huge trophy just eight months into his career.