Portuguese squad SAW have been crowned champions at ESL Challenger Katowice 2024. This marks a historic first ever international LAN win for them. They defeated B8 2-0 in the grand final.
SAW clinched the ESL Challenger Katowice title after a commanding 2-0 victory over B8 in the grand final.
SAW wins their first ever international LAN trophy!
This victory was a big surprise. In a tournament, filled with many top tier teams, SAW was seen as an underdog. The event also marked their offline debut with André "Ag1l" Gil.
The Portuguese squad entered the event in Poland under challenging circumstances, having recently lost Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing and coach Danny "BERRY" Krüger just two weeks earlier. These unexpected changes came on the heels of SAW's surprising semi-final run at IEM Cologne, which also saw them rise into the top 10 of the world rankings, just ahead of the Perfect World Shanghai Major Europe RMRs.
SAW did not drop a single map throughout the entire event. In the grand final, they met Ukrainian squad B8.
B8 struggled to find their footing throughout the series, as Ricardo "roman" Oliveira’s outstanding form from the previous rounds carried over into the final. However, it wasn’t a one-man show, as SAW's entire lineup outplayed B8 right from the start.
B8 beat Brazilian side pain in the semi-final 2-1, whilst SAW cruised past hometown heroes Monte 2-0.
B8 were the favorites for many, especially due to not having had a recent roster change, unlike SAW. But the grand final quickly told a different story.
B8 only won one T-round on their own pick of Ancient. Their second came off an incredible clutch by former Natus Vincere player Andrii "npl" Kukharskyi:
What a 4K from @npllcs #ESLChallenger pic.twitter.com/AVHS9tc5gI
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 27, 2024
SAW were not impressed and clinched the map 13-3.
Nuke was a similarly one-sided affair. B8 just could not get going at all.
E so mais um force, nada de mais. https://t.co/0xSoa4dzoE pic.twitter.com/rCqw2ZXsHN
— SAW (@sawggofficial) October 27, 2024
A pistol round win for B8 was quickly nullified by SAW's force-buy response, and they closed out the map 13-5 shortly thereafter.
Below, you can see the moment SAW closed the deal:
O momento da conquista em Katowice. pic.twitter.com/87i2WlN9lm
— SAW (@sawggofficial) October 28, 2024
This was an incredible run by SAW. Not losing a single map throughout the entire event, and only losing 8 total rounds across 2 maps in the grand final.
YOUR #ESLChallenger KATOWICE CHAMPIONS - @sawggofficial @MUTiRiS_csgo @rmn_csgo @storu__ @ewjerkz @ag1LLL pic.twitter.com/sNm6r2HuSh
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 27, 2024
What a win for the Portuguese squad. Do you think they can keep this level up and qualify for the Shanghai Major? Even without arrozdoce?