IEM Sydney 2023 Day 1 Review | NAVI in the Balance, Vitality Sent Home

It’s been an eventful day one at IEM Sydney 2023, as the Counter-Strike 2 esports era gets underway. We’ve seen teams already secure their Playoffs place, and teams heading home already. So what exactly went down on the server? Let’s take a look at day one of IEM Sydney 2023.

Vitality Sent Packing

Vitality, the number-one ranked team in our IEM Sydney 2023 power rankings, have been eliminated in last place. It was an ugly performance throughout, losing first to BetBoom Team, and then to FaZe Clan.

Things were looking promising for Vitality to at least survive another day in Sydney, after taking the first map against FaZe. However, a reverse sweep amidst impressive mental resilience from FaZe condemned Vitality to some soul-searching as we move into the new game. After losing legendary coach zonic to Falcons recently, Vitality have had a few weeks to forget.

NAVI Survive Despite Stand-In

Even with coach B1ad3 filling in on the NAVI roster for s1mple, NAVI managed to stay alive for tomorrow at IEM Sydney 2023. It’s no slight on B1ad3, who was doing his best despite the circumstances. However, his IEM Sydney NAVI players certainly had to compensate for his fragging output, with both b1t and jL putting in highlight reel performances at times.

The IEM Sydney NAVI journey began against Apeks, resulting in a 13:9 win in the best-of-one format. However, MOUZ proved to be a step too far for the NAVI roster, who now drop into the Lower Bracket of IEM Sydney 2023’s Group Stage. Still, it could be worse – they could be joining Vitality on the long journey home already.

MOUZ and BetBoom Team Qualify

It was a day to remember for MOUZ and BetBoom Team, both of which have already secured their place in the IEM Sydney 2023 Playoffs. BetBoom Team’s run is remarkably impressive, edging out Vitality before dominating the Snax-led GamerLegion in 2:0 fashion. Our IEM Sydney 2023 preview had Vitality vs BetBoom Team as the match to watch on day one, which proved to be prophetic.

MOUZ’s run was similarly promising. After defeating hometown heroes VERTEX Esports club 13:2 in the opener, they showed no mercy to NAVI in their clash, winning the best-of-three 2:1. Considering they had youngster Nexius standing in for Jimpphat on short notice, it’s an impressive result.

For more on tomorrow’s matches, check out our IEM Sydney 2023 match times guide!