The $1 million prize pool event ran through August and was marketed as the “Cathedral of Counter-Strike” by ESL as the organizer promoted the decades-old tournament via iconic moments from past events.
That makes it all the more suiting thatZywOotook the MVP award at the event as Team Vitality brought home the IEM Cologne trophy.
THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD@ZYWOOpic.twitter.com/ev6LDbabX5
Dexerto spoke with Zywoo, as well as Team Vitality’s founders, abouttheir plans with ZywOo, and they expressed their desire to hold onto the player for the next decade. Considering his performance at IEM Cologne, that seems to be the right decision.
Here’s a full recap of the event’s schedule, standings, and how to catch up on prior matches.
How to watch
You can watch the action from the ESL Counter-StrikeTwitchandYouTubechannels to catch up on the VoDs. CS2 streamers likeohnePixelwere also be co-streaming the event, and you can watch the VoDs through their channels as well.
IEM Cologne had a slightly different format thanthe tournaments before it. The event didn’t feature best-of-one matches, as even games in the Play-in stage were best-of-three series.
Stage 1 of the tournament, the Play-in stage, featured 16 teams in a double-elimination bracket vying for eight spots in Stage 2.
Stage 2 featured a double elimination group stage, with two groups of eight teams with invited squads taking on teams from Stage 1. The event culminated in a Playoff Stage where the top three teams from each group face off in a single elimination bracket to crown the champion.
You can find the full tournament schedule and results below.
Day 8: August 16
Day 9: August 17
Day 8: August 18
Day 1: August 7
Day 2: August 8
Day 3: August 9
Day 4: August 10
Day 5: August 11
Day 6: August 12
Day 7: August 13
The teams and players who qualified for Stage 2 of the tournament were invited thanks to winning previous IEM events from this season and placing high on the ESL World Rankings.
Teams in Stage 1 were invited based on their ESL World Ranking and regional ESL rankings. ALTERNATE aTTaX is the only team that qualified for the tournament through an open qualifier.
Declan McLaughlin was a Gaming & Esports Writer on Dexerto’s US team, specializing in Valorant and League of Legends. He has bylines at Upcomer and Inven Global.
