Day 3:

Last night marked the end of the group stage of ESL One Cologne 2018 as 6 six teams move on to the playoffs. The remaining ones make an exit and surprisingly, some of the top teams are in the list.

The first match of the day was the semi final decider between Astralis and G2. Although both teams had secured a spot in the playoffs, it was still fun to watch the prowess that Astralis had over its opponents. Only two maps were required for Astralis to claim the semi final spot as the team won 19-16 and 16-4 on Dust2 and Nuke respectively.

Group A’s last match concluded with the lower bracket decider between ENCE and Natus Vincere. Although Na`Vi was considered the obvious winner, ENCE didn’t allow an easy win for the CIS squad. ENCE won the first map, Dust2, 16-14 and were almost about to achieve victory in the second map as well.

On the back of some spectacular plays from Simple, Na`Vi survived the second map Mirage, to take it to the final map, Nuke. This is where Na`Vi got the better hand over ENCE and were able to ease past the Finnish players with a 16-7 scoreline.

In Group B, FaZe and Fnatic had to fight for the semi-final spot. A clear advantage was prominent right from the start as FaZe switching the first half with a 14-1 score and closing the map 16-4. Fnatic came back strong and won the second map with a 16-11 score.

In the lower bracket, after winning their respective games against Renegades and North; BIG and MIBR had to face each other for the spot in the playoffs. Contrary to what many believed, MIBR were not able to take out the heavy aggression and tactics from BIG. And despite much efforts and clutch plays from almost every member of MIBR, the team couldn’t close out the game against the underdogs.

The game concluded with 16-9, 9-16 and 22-20 scoreline and that became the sad ending for the newly revived MIBR who couldn’t even pass the group stage at ESL One Cologne 2018.

Devastador GGWP @BIGCLANgg

Obrigado pela torcida de todo o mundo que esteve do nosso lado durante esse dia. Devastating GGWP BIG

Thank for the support of everyone that stood by our side during this crazy day.#SomosMIBR 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/uYhSNEIrxE — MIBR (@mibr) July 5, 2018

With this, ESL One Cologne 2018 moves on to the playoffs while MIBR joins North, Renegades, Cloud9, mousesports, Team Liquid, Boot-DS, Gambit and NiP who are sent home packing. Meanwhile, Fnatic, BIG, FaZe, G2, Na`Vi and Astralis are moving forward to the playoffs with the first match between Na`Vi and Fnatic to commence six hours from now. Stay tuned as we bring you more from the show.

Day 2:

The second day of the show at ESL One Cologne 2018 was packed with even more fun and intensity. Some teams unfortunately ended their run at the event while some made their way to the playoffs.

Group A saw the winners of the first round take on each other in round 2 while the losers fought in the lower bracket. This saw mousesports take on G2 Esports after beating Gambit Esports in the first round of the group. G2 esports came in after defeating Na`Vi and were looking super confident to take on Mouz. And that’s what they did and after a 2-1 affair G2 won the match with scores 16-14, 10-16 and 16-9.

Mousesports fell to the lower bracket where they met the Finnish squad ENCE who came after defeating NiP in the previous round. And there was no stopping them as Mousesports new and improved squad with Snax wasn’t enough to beat them and lost 2-0 to allu and Co.

Next up was Natus Vincere and Cloud9 who met each other in the lower bracket round two after Na`Vi defeated Gambit in the lower bracket. Cloud9 came after being down to Astralis on the first day. While there were moments when Cloud9 looked really good with their strategies, over all, it was a stomp from Na`Vi as they won the game 16-14 and 16-10 in their favor.

The second day of Group B started with the most anticipated match between FaZe Clan and MIBR. While many thought the Brazilian squad would be able to defeat FaZe, the result was unfortunately otherwise as MIBR lost 16-9 and 16-12 on Dust2 and Mirage.

Next up was Fnatic who had to take on BIG in the upper bracket. Fnatic had been looking good after their win against North in the previous round and they performed exactly as expected in the next one. After a 16-10 win in the first map, De_cache, there was no stopping the Swedes who came in the second map, De_train with even more confidence and momentum and won it with a easy 16-4 scoreline

At the end of Day 2, Team Liquid, Renegades, Cloud9 and Mousesports have made an exit from the event while Astralis, G2, FaZe Clan and Fnatic confirm their spot in the playoffs. Both ENCE and Na`Vi are on the edge with the winner between the two moving to the playoffs while the loser going back home.

Day 1:

ESL One Cologne 2018 has started with a bang. The event has been home to 16 world class teams in competitive CS:GO. The stakes are high and the nerve wrecking matches have got us on the edge already.

With only one day into the event, ESL One Cologne is already setting records in terms of viewership and it’s only getting better and better for CSGO fans. In case you’ve missed what happened on the first day at Cologne, here’s a quick recap on the fine stuff from the event.

Group A

Round 1:

Starting off the event was Group A with some of the best teams of the world up against each other in a Bo1 series. The winner moves on while the loser fall in the single elimination lower bracket.

Astralis met up against ENCE eSports from Finland and without much trouble the Danes were able to take out ENCE with a final scoreline of 16-5 on Nuke.

Next up was Ninjas in Pyjamas against the NA powerhouse Cloud9. Both teams were at the event with a stand-in and were kind of in a hit-and-trial period. But it seemed that things were working well for Cloud9 who recently acquired STYKO from Mousesports. NiP struggled to make a mark on what was once the playground map for the Swedes, De_inferno. Cloud9 switched the map with a 12-3 lead and closed out the game without losing a single round in the second game.

Next up was a match between Mousesports and Gambit Esports. Both the teams have been consistent for some time now. Snax’s recent addition to Mouz seemed to be working wonders however, as the team eased past the CIS threat with a 16-8 score on Dust 2.

Then it was the best match of the group, G2 vs Na`Vi. Natus Vincere looked strong coming into the event after their recent win at CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 two weeks earlier. With a 10-5 lead in the first game, Na`Vi had the win in the bag on De_inferno. However, switching sides, G2 had other plans. On the back of some spectacular plays from G2’s Awp star KennyS G2 managed to even the scoreline and after losing a few rounds, they were able to clinch victory with a close 16-14 score.

Round 2:

The upper bracket match up saw Astralis take on Cloud9 with a clear stomp as they won the maps 16-12 and 16-1 on Mirage and Overpass respectively.

Mousesports took on G2 Esports in the second match of Round 2. It seemed like the lack of coordination on Mousesports side was taking its toll and G2 was taking full advantage of it as the team won the series after 16-14 win on Dust2, 16-10 loss on Mirage and 16-9 win on Inferno.

With the wins, both Astralis and G2 have secured a spot in the playoffs while the losers will fight in the lower bracket to stay alive in the tournament.

Group B

Round 1

FaZe Clan was the first team to take on the Chinese squad B.O.O.T-d[S] in Group B. Without any trouble, FaZe were able to take them out with a final score 16-9.

Renegades took on MiBR in the second match of the group and despite MiBR being the clear favorites to win, the team were on the brink of losing. The team got to win after the second game with special mention to plays from Coldzera who allowed MiBR to win the match 16-13.

Fnatic and North were the next teams to lock horns. This was another intense match to watch as neither of the team was able to get the upper hand with one side being dominated by both. In the final round of the match Fnatic narrowly eased past the North and clinched a 16-14 victory.

The next match was between BIG and Team Liquid which many thought would be a one sided affair for the NA squad. BIG however got the better of Team Liquid in the second half and without losing a single round won the match with a 16-7 score on De_dust2.

The round 2 for Group B is set to take place today with MiBR set to play against FaZe Clan. On the other hand, BIG would fight against Fnatic and winners of both matches confirming their slot in the playoffs.

Teams like Na`Vi, Cloud9, Mousesports, ENCE, Boot-dS, Renegades, North and Team Liquid have their backs against the wall as one more loss for them would mean their exit from ESL One Cologne 2018.

Stay tuned as we bring you more from the event on the second day with matches scheduled to start within a few hours.