Spirit and G2 each win two games on day one of IEM Cologne
Saturday at the IEM Cologne Major set the first reference points: Team Spirit, G2 Esports, FUT Esports and 9z Team began Stage 2 with two straight wins and are now one step from advancing to the next phase. A single win in the three possible remaining games is enough.
Who set the tone on day one
Team Spirit were the most convincing of all. First the Russian roster dismantled BetBoom Team 13:5 on Mirage and then literally steamrolled MIBR – 13:1 on the same map. Total dominance. The main protagonist was, as expected, Danil “donk” Kryshkovets: 44 kills on the day, with a clearly noticeable gap over his teammates.
G2 Esports took a harder road. They beat M80 13:8 on Mirage without major trouble, but the match against Monte dragged on to 22:19 – a true marathon for a best-of-one format. Guy “NertZ” Iluz of Israel racked up 52 kills across two games and was the day’s individual standout. 9z, for their part, dispatched FlyQuest (13:9 on Dust II) and Astralis (13:5 on Nuke), and four players on the team finished with exactly 31 kills each – a statistical coincidence that surely no one planned.
Underdogs under pressure
At the other pole are B8, FlyQuest, paiN Gaming and GamerLegion. The four teams suffered two defeats and now find themselves in a situation where the price of a mistake is elimination: to get out of Stage 2 they need to win three games in a row. In the current format, that means wins in three decisive best-of-three matches, with no room to stumble.
Eight teams – Monte, Legacy, Astralis, TYLOO, BetBoom Team, M80, MIBR and BIG – ended Saturday at 1:1 and enter Sunday in neutral games, where they can neither advance nor fall. They will continue the dispute in later rounds.
What comes next and what is at stake
On Sunday, the big intrigue ignites in the qualification games: G2 face FUT Esports and Team Spirit take on 9z. The winner of each pair secures its spot in Stage 3, where Vitality, NAVI, The MongolZ and five other top collectives that came through the previous phase without losses are already waiting.
The tournament’s total prize pool is $1.25 million. The champion takes $500,000. The grand final is set for June 21 – and there is still plenty of work ahead for the right to play it.
