We've only finished the first half of the first day of EMS One Katowice and have already experienced nail-biting action, major upsets and extremely gripping games. One of the biggest highlights was definitely a local team 'taking down a Titan'. Here's a chronological rundown of what happened to the groups that powerhouse teams NiP and Titan were supposed to be dominating.

Group A: Seeing Titans falling

1st	Virtus.pro	Advancing to the playoffs
2nd	HellRaisers	Advancing to the playoffs
3rd	Titan
4th	mousesports

Game 1: Although the first scheduled match of the day started after a bit of a delay, the Titan and mousesports game proved all the more exciting for it. Titan, coming into the group as the clear favorite, showed off some great moves against the Germans. With the score at 9-3, a longer pause broke the flow of Titan's game, and mousesports took the chance to catch up and finish the half 10-5. However, shox, who carried his team together with ScreaM, didn't leave them a chance in the second half, and led Titan to a clear victory with a 16-5 scoreline.

Game 2: The second game, played between Virtus.pro and HellRaisers, was a tough fight with a lot of dramatic swings of favor. After HellRaisers secured a head start with a 4 round lead, Virtus.pro overtook them and finished the first half 10-5. However, two comebacks later, Virtus.Pro wasn't able to bring the 15-10 game home, and the first overtime of the tournament was needed to decide the winner. In the end it was TaZ and his team who took the game home by 19-16, thus taking a decisive step towards playing in front of their local crowd tomorrow.

Game 3: The winners' final brought the first big surprise of the event, with Virtus.pro decisively taking down tournament favorite Titan 16-7. With an incredibly impressive performance, TaZ and his team secured their ticket to the playoffs much earlier than anyone expected. Right after the match, TaZ was asked which team he would like to play. His response was a clear-cut "NiP" as they "would love to destroy them".

Game 4: The losers' match saw a very strong HellRaisers allowing mousesports only a slim chance, ultimately closing out the match 16-9. Although HellRaisers gave some sloppy rounds to their opponents, they also showed a lot of potential and clearly dominated the matchup.

Game 5: The last game of Group A was an unlikely one as it saw tournament favorite Titan in a must-win position in order to move out of the group and onto the playoffs. On de_inferno, HellRaisers finally showed what the big names of their lineup were capable of, playing a tight and hard-fought game against Titan. With a 14-9 lead, things got exciting when they dropped a two on one, giving Titan a chance of turning the game in their favor. In a thrilling finish that almost went to the final round, HellRaisers managed to ultimately secure victory, eliminating two time EMS One champions Titan on the very first day.

Group B: NiP show up in strong shape

1st	Ninjas in Pyjamas	Advancing to the playoffs
2nd	LDLC.com	Advancing to the playoffs
3rd	3DMAX
4th	Vox Eminor

Game 1: NiP and 3DMAX were given the honor of being the opening match following Group A's slight delay, and GeT_RiGhT took this chance to do the best he could, topping the scoreboard and leading NiP to a clear and undisputed 16-5 win. After ending up second in front of their home crowd at DreamHack Winter, the Ninjas quickly showed everyone what they came to Katowice for.

Game 2: In the second game, Vox Eminor was much less of an easy fish for LDLC to fry, contrary to what many predicted. After the first few rounds, the Australians led the game 7-2 as Terrorists on de_inferno, in what looked to be a potential upset. Yet LDLC woke up and finished the first half 8-7, ultimately culminating in a close 16-13 scoreline with LDLC taking home the hard-fought victory.

Game 3: The beginning the winners' final between NiP and LDLC started off as an even game, with both teams scoring five rounds and neither of them having the upper hand. The stalemate lasted into the eleventh round, where NiP finally got into tournament mode and started taking the match by storm. Only two more rounds were won by the French, who didn't look that pleased with the final score of 16-7.

Game 4: Vox Eminor, meanwhile, had to take on 3DMAX in the losers' match to stay in the tournament. After their performance against LDLC, hopes were high for seeing the Australians pull off another good game. However, after the first half on de_inferno and only six rounds to their name, 3DMAX only gave them one round and conquered the game with a solid Counter-Terrorist play.

Game 5: The final match of Group B saw LDLC and 3DMAX face off to decide who moved on to the playoffs and who was sent home. 3DMAX played a very strong Terrorist side, taking nine rounds from the French and making it an extremely entertaining series to watch. Yet LDLC, having just witnessed the elimination of fellow countrymen Titan, rallied and brought the game home by 16-13, thus following NiP to the playoffs.

Find all details about the events such as brackets, streams and more on csgo-emsone.com.