Katowice’s group stage has blown the scene wide open.

We thought Vitality would be here. We thought donk might have a 1.20 rating on his big event debut, not 1.62 (!) We thought gla1ve and ENCE would have made their short trip home during the play-in.

But it would be boring if everything went to plan. Even if it means ZywOo and donk’s meeting will have to wait until the Major.

For now, we have NEO vs TaZ as coaches of G2 vs FaZe, two international heavyweights ready to duke it out for the spoils of the win and the applause of Spodek.

Then dycha and hometown heroes ENCE face the ‘snakes’: his former teammates maden, Snappi, and SunPayus who made the switch to Falcons.

Awaiting them in semis are CS2’s most nailed on talents. siuhy is too obvious with his potential, leading a MOUZ that is even younger than the ultra-young 2023 roster after reigniting Brollan’s career.

And you know who we’ve left out: donk has survived every test he had thrown at him.

First LAN? MVP. First Big Event: 1.62 rating, cautioned for trash talk, and Valve nerfing his exact style of play.

You fear that the only thing that can stop donk is something he is yet to face: A hostile crowd.

But there’s no evidence that anything has ever fazed this lil Siberian 17-year-old. Can Spodek really break him?

It’s not all about him either. We haven’t even mentioned sh1ro’s supreme consistency, zont1x’s Magisk cosplay, magixx’s nack for impact, and the system of chopper and hally.

Spirit have gone from challengers to favourites. A whopping 55% of pick’em players think they will win the event.

But if history is anything to go off, the script exists to be re-written. Could Spirit, after a meteoric rise to the top, be next to be knocked off their perch?

Tune in this weekend to find out.