At the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland, we saw some amazing top-tier Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports action from the best teams in the world, competing for glory and their share of the huge $1 million prize pool. At the current Dollar to Rand exchange rate, that's roughly R18.5 million. Here's what went down if you couldn't watch the action unfold live.

Tournament organizer ESL didn't hold back. Top-tier talent entertained fans, and the best CS2 teams competed from 7 to 9 February in the IEM Katowice 2025 playoffs.

You can watch the video below to learn what happened during the IEM Katowice 2025 playoffs, with choice clips from the grand finale, or you could continue reading...or both!

In the Quarterfinals matches, The MongolZ took out Eternal Fire with a 2-0, while Team Spirit made quick work of Virtus.pro with a 2-0 to claim spots in the Semifinals.

At IEM Katowice 2025's Semifinals matches, Team Vitality eliminated The MongolZ in style, and Team Spirit put an end to NAVI's run, as both teams advanced after 2-0 clean sweeps.

In the IEM Katowice 2025 Grand Final, Team Vitality clashed with Team Spirit in what turned out to be quite a one-sided affair. Led by Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, Team Vitality didn't give Team Spirit any room to move, repeatedly shutting down their star player, Danil "donk" Kryshkovets.

Team Vitality won Dust2 (13-6), then Nuke (13-5), and then Mirage (13-11) to clean sweep Team Spirit at the IEM Katowice 2025 Grand Final to lift the coveted trophy and earn the lion's share of the prize pool at $400,000.

Congratulations go out to Team Vitality for wrecking Team Spirit in the Grand Final. As the cherry on the cake, star AWPer Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut picked up his 21st MVP award from an S-Tier event!

Header image via ESL.