GamerLegion prevailed 2-0 in two tight maps against BIG, advancing out of Stage 1 at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major on Thursday in Germany.
In other matchups featuring teams with 2-1 records, MIBR swept Lynn Vision Gaming 2-0, and M80 downed NRG 2-0.
Three elimination matches featuring teams with 1-2 marks were contested. FlyQuest ousted THUNDERdOWNUNDER 2-0, TYLOO rallied past Sharks Esports 2-1, and Team Liquid topped HEROIC 2-0.
The 32-team, $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event is starting with a 16-team opening stage featuring Swiss System play. Matches consist of a single map except those that will determine elimination or advancement, which will be best-of-three.
The top eight teams from Stage 1 advance to Stage 2, where they will be joined by FUT Esports, Team Spirit, Astralis, G2 Esports, Legacy, paiN Gaming, Monte and 9z Team.
Stage 2 will follow the same format as Stage 1. The top eight teams will move on to Stage 3, where they will be joined by Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, FURIA and MOUZ.
All matches in Stage 3, which also will employ the Swiss System format, will be best-of-three. The top eight teams in Stage 3 qualify for the single-elimination playoffs. All playoff matches will be best-of-three until the final on June 21, which will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $500,000, and the runner-up will get $170,000.
On Thursday, GamerLegion edged BIG 16-14 in overtime on Overpass, then prevailed 13-11 on Ancient. Poland’s Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski propelled GamerLegion with 45 kills and a plus-8 kill-death differential. Belarus’ Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin produced 50 kills and a plus-16 K-D differential for BIG.
MIBR eased past Lynn Vision Gaming 13-5 on Anubis, 13-2 on Inferno thanks to 41 kills and a plus-25 K-D differential from Brazil’s Felipe “insani” Yuji. Lizhi “Starry” Ye notched 23 kills and a minus-3 K-D differential for all-Chinese Lynn Vision Gaming.
M80 dumped NRG 13-6 on Ancient, 13-10 on Inferno behind 35 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential from the United States’ Josh “JBa” Barutt. Another U.S. player, Michael “Grim” Wince, finished with 32 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential for NRG.
FlyQuest took out THUNDERdOWNUNDER 13-10 on Anubis, 13-3 on Inferno. Australia’s Justin “jks” Savage record 38 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential for FlyQuest, while Alistair “aliStair” Johnston and Christopher “dexter” Nong each had 26 kills for all-Aussie THUNDERdOWNUNDER.
Sharks Esports opened with a 13-6 victory on Nuke before TYLOO took the next two maps, 13-5 on Inferno, 13-10 on Anubis. Yi “JamYoung” Yang produced 61 kills and a plus-28 K-D differential for all-Chinese TYLOO. Brazil’s Joao “koala” Pfeffer totaled 42 kills and a plus-6 K-D differential for Sharks Esports.
Team Liquid dumped HEROIC 13-5 on Nuke, 13-11 on Inferno. Guatemala’s Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa, the United States’ Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and Canada’s Keith “NAF” Markovic all had 37 kills for Team Liquid. Denmark’s Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard wound up with 32 kills and an even K-D differential for HEROIC.
The last three Stage 1 matches, all featuring teams with 2-2 records, will be contested on Friday:
–TYLOO vs. Lynn Vision Gaming
–Team Liquid vs. FlyQuest
–NRG vs. BIG
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major Stage 1 standings
T1. B8, 3-0 (advanced)
T1. BetBoom Team, 3-0 (advanced)
T3. GamerLegion, 3-1 (advanced)
T3. M80, 3-1 (advanced)
T3. MIBR, 3-1 (advanced)
T6. Team Liquid, 2-2
T6. NRG, 2-2
T6. TYLOO, 2-2
T6. Lynn Vision Gaming, 2-2
T6. BIG, 2-2
T6. FlyQuest, 2-2
T12. THUNDERdOWNUNDER, 1-3 (eliminated)
T12. Sharks Esports, 1-3 (eliminated)
T12. HEROIC, 1-3 (eliminated)
T15. Gaimin Gladiators, 0-3 (eliminated)
T15. SINNERS Esports, 0-3 (eliminated)
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-11. $15,000
12-14. $15,000
15-16. $15,000
17-19. $10,000
20-22. $10,000
23-24. $10,000
25-27. $5,000
28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC
31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports
–Field Level Media
