A few months ago, Swedish juggernaut Fnatic captured their second major title, a feat previously unheard of. Now the Swedes are on the lookout for a third crown, with plenty of other Legendary teams prepared to throw their weight around in order to keep them away from the big, silver ESL One trophy. Who will end up hoisting it in front of the crowd at the LANXESS Arena?

Nordic favorites in Cologne

No matter how you slice it, the favorites of this event are without a shadow of a doubt Fnatic and Team SoloMid. Throughout the last couple of events, both teams have shown their strength and consistency – despite the slight hiccup at the ESL ESEA Pro League Season 1 finals. Back then it was Fnatic and TSM facing off against each other for a spot in the playoff bracket, not for the championship. Fnatic prevailed and later on went on to beat Cloud9 for the inaugural ESL ESEA Pro League title.

That slip-up was the only real trip the Danish team had to suffer through lately. Almost completely gone are the nervous jitters and chokes the squad was known for at big events. Piling up wins and trophies like hardly any other team in 2015, TSM is on the verge of claiming the top spot in the global CS:GO rankings, even beating out two-time major champ Fnatic. The only thing missing from the Danes’ trophy display is the major title. A few times they came close, but their struggle to close out big-time games against big-time opponents came back to bite them time after time.

Will karrigan be all smiles in Cologne?

Still fresh in the team’s mind might be the series against NiP back at the Katowice major in May, when TSM couldn’t stop the NiP magic from taking over the quarterfinal series, leading to TSM being eliminated way earlier than expected. Since then, the team has been on a roll, with multiple tournament victories and most of them against Fnatic in the grand finals. More recently, the team couldn’t win at the Intel Extreme Masters event at gamescom, with the French EnVyUs beating them to the punch. Four times NV was winning over the Danes, making this major even more exciting.

With TSM in a good spot, Fnatic being on a hot streak and always turning it on for the majors, the two favorites are clearly defined. TSM might struggle against other teams from time to time, but they seem to have the edge in the head-to-head over their Swedish rivals. In the end, a thrilling and intriguing major might be decided by the shape of the brackets and how they play out. Can Fnatic dodge the direct duel? Will TSM lose before ever getting to their rivals? Can another team capitalize off that?

Just as sweet as the first time

TSM being a favorite, despite not having the major title under their belts, might seem unorthodox, but given the most recent results, it’s warranted. Two other previous major champs are sitting in the wings, waiting for their time to come once more. Virtus.pro and EnvyUs have showcased a different approach to the build-up to the major. While VP has stuck with the same five for more than a year now, keeping them through thick and thin, success and misfortune, EnVyUs decided to pull the trigger on two major changes following recent disappointing tournaments. Popular players shox and SmithZz had to leave the French stack, making room for AWP genius kennyS and apEX.

The success of those roster changes was visible immediately at the most recent CS:GO showcase on German soil as EnVyUs demolished the competition at gamescom. Shades of the dominant past were visible in the way the French roster picked apart their opponents – only one single loss out of the nine games played, winning against the best teams on the planet. Four decisive wins over TSM, three wins over mousesports and one against CLG – only dropping the ball once against hometown heroes mouz. The French seem to be back in action and more importantly back to their old selves. Gone are the collapses, gone is the frustration, gone are the long faces after defeat. The sample size for the turnaround of NV might be slim, but fans of the brand and the players can look into a brighter future. With kennyS, a big-time AWP presence returns to the team, apEX is a solid all-around player and the core of the leadership has not changed. If NV can keep up the momentum from gamescom, they will be a force to be reckoned with, just as they used to be at the major stage.

kennyS in the new Envy look

The same can be said for VP, who have been a bit more quiet over the past few months. Taking care of private matters, celebrating a marriage – all those things took priority for the proud Polish team. Still, the last time VP was on the big stage at the end of July they walked off with the trophy in hand. Back then, it was the CEVO Season 7 finals and a 3-1 victory over Na’Vi, while also beating Luminosity Gaming and Cloud9 on the path to the title. They also laid claim to a good third/fourth place at the ESL ESEA Pro League finals with a very narrow and close loss to Fnatic in the semis, a second place throughout the regular season and a second place at the Gfinity Masters in the spring using a ringer – VP is not to be trifled with.

After not having been able to defend the crown in front of their home crowd and instead seeing Fnatic getting the Polish fans’ standing ovation, Virtus.pro is back with a vengeance – back to claim their major trophy. Will we see Virtus.plow again? Can the French pull it together again?

A bag full of surprises

We’ve looked at the favorites and the fringe favorites, leaving four Legendary squads. Some of them are dark horses. Some of them are struggling big time.

Fun returned with gob b

The dark horse tag holds true for mousesports and Na’Vi, who have been on a roll recently. For mouz, the glorious return to relevance in Counter-Strike is a blessing, not only for the organization but also for the German CS:GO scene. Now those fans have something to cheer for again, a team they can pin their hopes on. That also comes with a familiar face to unite the old CS 1.6 enthusiasts and the new CS:GO fans – captain gob b. Ever since he rejoined his old love mouz as a shotcaller, the team has done remarkably better and is now in a position to cause upsets.

At the gamescom event, mousesports was the only team to take a map from EnVyUs. They also destroyed Renegades at gamescom while keeping all their other matches very close. An overtime loss to NV, a 13-16 defeat against NV and a Dust 2 loss against TSM are nothing to be ashamed of as they validate the good trend the team have had ever since the trip to the CEVO finals. Out there in Columbus, they might not have reached the grand finals but they topped their groups against Cloud9 and CLG while only losing to the other dark horse in this batch of Legendary teams – Na’Vi.

mouz is riding in on a wave of momentum

The Ukrainian organization with the tri-national roster of CIS superstars is coming off one of the organization’s most successful stretches in CS:GO – a title at the StarLadder Series XIII over EnVyUs, the championship at the ESWC 2015 over Cloud9, followed a runner-up spot in Columbus for the CEVO LAN. Na’Vi is living up to their name recently, hoping to convert that energy to a good major performance – something the franchise has not done consistently. As one of the few organizations to be present at all five majors, only once during the Swedish winter of 2014 did they actually claim a top four spot. Before that it was a top eight spot twice and a last place in the groups twice. Which Na’Vi is going to show up to ESL One Cologne?

The same question can be asked of the struggling Legends in the mix. Both Luminosity Gaming and defending ESL One Cologne champion Ninjas in Pyjamas have something to prove following shaky results in the most recent past. Luminosity – formerly known as Keyd Stars – might have made it to all the big tournaments recently, but struggled upon arriving. A second to last place in the groups at ESWC and a mediocre 5th/6th finish at the ESL ESEA Pro League – tournaments have not been nice to the Brazilian bunch.

Thumbs up for NiP this major?

For NiP, it was missing the cut for the ESL ESEA Pro League finals while also not having any big tournament results leading up to the major. No matter what, though, NiP has a knack for playing their hearts out when the big lights are on and the pressure gets to other teams. The veteran squad is the only team in history to have reached all five major tournament grand finals, being the bridesmaid twice before finally winning at ESL One Cologne 2014. Now two more bridesmaid appearances have passed – is it time for a second title in Cologne for the Ninjas?

Are you ready for ESL One Cologne?

The biggest CS:GO event in the world is almost sold out, so be sure to secure your ticket while you can to join us for the next Valve major! However, if you can’t make it to the LAXNESS Arena for the finals, you can alternatively watch the games on the big screen of your local movie theater thanks to Esports in Cinemas – can grab your ticket here!

For all the latest information about ESL One Cologne, visit the event’s official website and follow @ESLCS on Twitter.

All of the teams brought outstanding performances, giving the roaring crowd tons of reasons to cheer. However, there could only be one ESL One Cologne 2015 champion, and in the end that turned out to be none other than Fnatic, the Swedish team having made history big time by earning their third major and first back-to-back major win.

See how things unfolded below!

The semifinals

Team EnVyUs vs. Team SoloMid

• Map one: Cache 16-12
• Map two: Dust2 8-16
• Map three: Inferno 16-9

Virtus.pro vs. Fnatic

• Map one: Mirage 16-6
• Map two: Inferno 14-16
• Map three: Cobblestone 7-16

The grand final

Team EnVyUs vs. Fnatic

• Map one: Dust 2 15-19
• Map two: Cobblestone 7-16

If you missed any of the matches, check out our YouTube playlist with all of the VODs.

Thank you for an outstanding event!

ESL One Cologne 2015 was the world’s biggest CS:GO event yet. With top teams, thrilling matches and an incredible crowd, tons of wonderful memories were made and emotions shared.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the LANXESS Arena and tuned in online. Thank you to all the great teams who performed on the big stage. Thank you to everyone who made this out-of-this-world event happen – and see you at the next one!

Can’t get enough of CS:GO? Be sure sure to follow @ESLCS on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest updates about ESL CS:GO events and more!

The format of the playoffs is a single elimination best-of-three and despite all teams giving their best, none of the matchups lasted until game three. It was Team EnVyUs, Team SoloMid, Virtus.pro and Fnatic who swept their opponents without dropping a match and who will have a face-off in today’s semifinals.

The results

The quarterfinals unfolded as follows:

Team EnVyUs vs. Natus Vincere

• Map 1: Inferno 16-13
• Map 2: Mirage 16-10

Team SoloMid vs. Team Kinguin

• Map 1: Dust2 16-6
• Map 2: Overpass 16-8

Virtus.pro vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

• Map 1: Train 16-14
• Map 2: Inferno 16-5

Fnatic vs. Luminosity

• Map 1: Train 16-5
• Map 2:  Mirage 16-14

The new ESL One champion gets crowned today!

Today, we find out who wins the Valve major and lifts the ESL One trophy. Join us for the the greatest finals the world has seen – it all begins at 11:45 CEST! To stay updates with all important information, be sure to follow @ESLCS on Twitter, Facebook and visit the official website of ESL One Cologne.

The matches

Yesterday’s deciding matches unfolded as follows:

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Time for the playoffs!

The eight best teams will perform at the LANXESS Arena in today’s quarterfinals: Fnatic, Virtus.pro, Team SoloMid, Team EnVyUs, Team Kinguin, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Luminosity Gaming. Everything kicks off at 10:45 CEST – tune in here for all the action, and be sure to stay up to date by following @ESLCS on Twitter, Facebook and visiting the official ESL One Cologne website!

Four quarterfinal slots were up for grabs yesterday and were subsequently claimed by the big favorites of the tournament: Team SoloMid, Team EnVyUs, Virtus.pro and Fnatic. The remaining teams have been reshuffled in a group redraw and will continue their fight for the playoffs today.

The matches

Yesterday’s matches unfolded as follows:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

The battle resumes today!

The group stage continues today after the redraw with the decider and elimination matches, with four additional teams to join Virtus.pro, TSM, EnVyUs and Fnatic in the quarterfinals and continue their battle for the ESL One championship title at the LANXESS Arena.

The redrawn groups are as follows:

Group E

• Natus Vincere
• eBettle
• CLG

Group F

• Cloud9
• Team Kinguin
• Team Immunity

Group G

• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Titan
• Renegades

Group H

• Luminosity Gaming
• mousesports
• FlipSid3 Tactics

Tune in for more CS:GO!

The ESL One Cologne group stage resumes today at 11:45 CEST – tune in here to see more exciting CS:GO action and the battle for the playoffs!

It’s still possible to join us at the LANXESS Arena for the finals, so be sure to get your ticket! You can also watch the games on the big screen of your local movie theater thanks to the Esports in Cinemas project – find more information and tickets here.

To keep up with all the latest ESL One Cologne action, follow @ESLCS on Twitter and check out the event’s official website.

Jason Kaplan

“The tournament couldn’t be more cutthroat, with three teams from North America, two from Oceania and eleven from Europe. Everyone is looking to see who will be crowned the new champion, but the team I’m looking forward to seeing in action most is EnVyUs for a couple of reasons.

With shox and SmithZz having been traded with Titan and apEX and kennyS coming onto the EnVyUs lineup, it has changed the way both of these teams play. For Titan, kennyS was seen as the guy who had to step up in the past if they wanted to win games. Now, in this new roster with so many individually skilled players, he doesn’t have to be the one to do that. What also makes him joining the team so deadly is the fact that Happy can AWP at a top level as well. Whoever is feeling confident can run the AWP and this allows them to be unpredictable. We have seen a lot of top teams with two capable AWPers – Fnatic with jw and olof, VP with pasha and neo, TSM with device and cajunb, etc. This makes teams really hard to stop once they get a stable economy going and can afford the double AWP setup.

apEX seems to have been unleashed, playing a more comfortable style of entry fragging which has allowed him to excel. You pair him with kennyS and you have a very scary team. I would expect EnVyUs to get top four at least, but I expect them to be in the finals.”

Jason Kaplan enjoying CS:GO

Alex “Machine” Richardson

“Oh man, there is so much to be excited about at the coming major. Fnatic are coming into this as both defending champions and only team to hold two major titles. On the other hand, their previous grand final counterparts Ninjas in Pyjamas are coming to Cologne with a surprisingly lacklustre few months under their belt. However, then there are the two new French rosters after the shuffle, leaving a very fresh-faced EnVyUs and a motivated Titan, both of which I look forward to seeing after the preparations they’ve made.

While most eyes are locked on the European favorites, North America and Oceania are not to be ignored, most notably Cloud9, who have recently been much more recognised as a valid threat after rising off the back of the two roster swaps. Behind them sit CLG and Renegades, who both showed good signs of growth and development, but CLG more so with close-cut losses versus EnVy and TSM. I expect to see the Danes fight tooth and nail both for their shot at a major final but also being the sole Danish side at the major after an upsetting finish for both Dignitas and SK in the qualifiers.

Kinguin, the group of outstanding individuals who have been thrown together and as of late posting good wins against the top four both online and offline, are most definitely a team I wouldn’t be surprised to see making progress in the playoffs.

With all these names dropped, I haven’t even begun to mention Na’Vi, Virtus.pro and Titan – the list goes on! There are far too many teams and individuals I’m looking forward to seeing in action on the big stage.”

Lauren “Pansy” Scott

“This is probably the toughest major to select a top three for for me. There are so many teams who could shine – Fnatic, the current reigning champions, are still tipped as being ahead of the bunch, but with TSM not too far behind, Virtus.pro and EnVy biting at their heels, this is going to make for one hell of an event.

Let’s not forget those were the favorites here – the list of teams who could upset is just as long. If I HAD to make a prediction, I think the most logical would be Fnatic making it to the finals, TSM not too far behind and then third going to whoever turns up on form.

There is almost no way to predict this perfectly, but that’s also the beauty of it. The teams have kept their cards close to their chests – no one knows what they are going to bring to this event, but it’s the one everyone wants to win.”

ESL One Cologne is almost here!

There’s still time to join us at the LANXESS Arena for ESL One Cologne 2015! Tickets are almost sold out, so be sure to secure yours here. If you can’t make it to Cologne, you can also watch the finals on the big screen of your local movie theater thanks to the Esports in Cinemas project – get your ticket here!

For all the important updates about ESL One Cologne, be sure to visit the event’s official website and follow @ESLCS on Twitter.
 

Joe Miller

“I’m massively excited for ESL One to start – this major promises to be one of the best to date! The new ‘redraw’ system in the group stages means that the initial group draws will be somewhat countered as we go through the first stage.

With that said, the obvious candidate for picking up the title is Fnatic. They are without a doubt the strongest team on paper currently, with TSM slowing down the pace and EnVyUs making roster changes. I do however think that the time between Intel Extreme Masters gamescom and ESL One Cologne will be the biggest sign as to whether TSM can step it up again and compete with Fnatic.

Speaking of Intel Extreme Masters, the new-look EnVyUs had their first outing as the new lineup and looked absolutely on fire throughout the event. They managed to beat arguably the second best team in the world – TSM – three maps in a row to win the event despite only having a couple of weeks to train the new lineup. They have been bootcamping at the ESL studios since Intel Extreme Masters  and are bound to make a splash come the event itself.

The great thing about the event is the number of teams on the fringe that could come in and beat all three of the teams that I mentioned above. Na’Vi, Cloud9, Mousesports, Virtus.pro, Kinguin – these are just a few names that could pull off upsets.

The eyes of every CS:GO fan will be on Cologne come Thursday, and I for one cant wait to see who comes up big and who flops out in the group stage.”

Leigh “Deman” Smith

“This major will probably be the most competitive to date – you’ve got so many teams who have won tournaments throughout 2015 attending that it’s very hard to predict a clear favourite. Add to that the new group redrawing that’s happening at the end of day one and it throws in a very unpredictable factor.

So you need to look at the obvious choice: Fnatic. They are the only team to hold two majors and look to be the favorite to make it three – but this will be their toughest test yet. They’ve struggled to beat out TSM in best of three’s over the last few months and it’s quite possible they could meet before the finals once again.

Speaking of which, TSM would have been a clear choice. However, their recent struggles at both APM and Intel Extreme Masters have shown cracks in their armor. Their performance has clearly dropped a little since their exams last month, which opens up possibilities for the newly formed EnVyUs, who looked unbeatable at Intel Extreme Masters last week.

We also can’t forget NiP, who’ve been in every major final to date, not to mention the ever-present Virtus.pro and Na’Vi as well as the rise in performance from Cloud9. This really is going to be one of the toughest majors yet. Everyone has been bootcamping and preparing for weeks – it’s going to be awesome to watch.”

What are your predictions for ESL One Cologne? You can test your knowledge of the scene by participating in ESL Fantasy – assemble your perfect roster and win prizes here!

ESL One Cologne is nearly sold out so be sure to grab a ticket and join us at the LANXESS Arena for the biggest CS:GO tournament the world has seen. If you can’t make it, check out the Esports in Cinemas project, which is making it possible to watch the ESL One Cologne finals in the comfort of your local movie theater.

To stay up to date with everything ESL One Cologne, follow @ESLCS on Twitter and visit the event’s official website for all the important information.

Team EnVyUs is among those teams, and will be fighting for their first major title. We sat down and chatted to Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer about the team’s roster changes as well as the upcoming event.

ESL: Hello! Let’s start with the ESL ESEA Pro League finals. What’s the team’s mood like after the tournament?
Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer: We’ve had a new roster since the LAN after ESEA, so right now we are just training hard in bootcamps to achieve our goals.

ESL: You faced Cloud9 twice in the finals and lost both matches -­ were you surprised by their great form and performance?
Happy: Not really – they were a rising team, they rely heavily on anti-strats and analysis, so I’m not that surprised. We were in a slump and they were kind of a coup de grace for us. Now that the dust has settled, we will see what happens with the results.

ESL: You just recently made roster changes by swapping players with Team Titan. What was the motivation behind letting go of SmithZz and shox as well as acquiring kennyS and apEX?
Happy: There was a long list of problems that lasted for a long time. At some point, we couldn’t go back to being a real team and something had to happen or the team would have just melted. Getting fresh blood with people like kennyS and apEX is a great thing. As long as they want to learn and play as a team, I know we can achieve a lot of great things together. As always, it will depend mostly on how they want to improve themselves as players within a team. They have the qualities found among the very top elite teams – the rest is just work and dedication.

ESL: What do the new players bring to the team?
Happy: It’s pretty simple. apEX brings a moving-forward type of energy and entry-fragging power. KennyS is obviously the main AWPer, and he can destroy any other top-tier AWPer in the world – so there is that in our bag.

ESL: The next major is ESL One Cologne, which you are invited to. How are you planning to prepare for the event?
Happy: We are bootcamping at the ESL studios in Cologne. Even if it rains a little too much, we are practicing and will try to have the deepest map pool possible prepared in time for the major. As always, let’s pass the group stage phase first and we’ll see what happens next.

ESL: Apart from the invited veterans, we will also see teams who’ll make it through open qualifiers. Do you think they might cause any upsets?
Happy: I don’t know – I’m focused on my group. I guess Titan is still a contender for upsets and I also see Kinguin, who can definitely upset us.

ESL: Reigning ESL One champions Fnatic seem unstoppable, having just won the ESL Pro League, and may be the first team to win two majors in a row. How do you plan on stopping them?
Happy: Well, safe to say they will probably make it at least to the semifinals, if not the grand final itself. I don’t really know much about Fnatic as we didn’t really practice against them, but when we do, they still seem pretty good, which is remarkable after so much time and success. If we play against them, it will be a brawl, I think – we’ll see. It will only be our second event as the new EnVyUs.

ESL: What are you looking forward to the most at ESL One Cologne?
Happy: I guess I want to prove that NV can climb the world ladder, that we have a chance at winning any tournaments we attend, like we used to a few months back. I’m really eager to see how the new team reacts under pressure against big opponents in a major settings.

ESL: Do you think European domination will prevail at the event?
Happy: Well, we can agree that the only team in the competition outside Europe is Cloud9, so even if they’re good, there’s still only one team that can do damage. One match failed in the brackets and you’re out, so I guess yeah, Europe will still “dominate” for some times.

ESL: Thanks for chatting with us and good luck in Cologne! Do you have any shoutouts to make?
Happy: Thanks to team EnVyUs, Monster energy drinks, Gaems, DXRacer, Scuf Gaming and Astro. Thanks also to Mike and our manager Jordan, thank you for the interview and see you soon in Cologne.

If you want to see Happy and his team compete at the LAXNESS Arena in the world’s biggest CS:GO event, there are still tickets available – grab yours here! In case you can’t make it to the finals, Esports in Cinemas is also giving you the chance to watch the games on the big screen of your local movie theater – find your nearest venue and get a ticket here!

To stay informed about ESL One Cologne, be sure to visit the official website of the event and follow @ESLCS on Twitter.

Since then, a lot has changed and Australia isn’t as exotic as a CS:GO competitor as it used to be, but the magic around the boys from Down Under is still fascinating fans everywhere. Whenever the Australian teams enter a tournament, the fans are responding to them, giving them support and hoping for a statement win of the Australian boys. Will ESL One Cologne be the place to write another chapter in the history of Australian CS:GO?

Will Team Immunity prove immune to their competitors?

For the first time in the history of the majors, the Oceanic state will not only send one of their competitors to compete, but two. With the entire Asian region receiving a qualifier for the first time, teams from China, Korea, India, Mongolia, Malaysia and Vietnam have tried to write their own little chapter of history in the CS:GO scene, only to be trumped once more by the Australians. In the end, it was Renegades and Immunity to clinch the spots – the favorites prevailed.

For Immunity, it will not be the first trip to Europe for a CS:GO tournament, but it will be their biggest. The first major participation of the young team around ingame leader SnypeR is another milestone for the team, that is spending their time in the shadow of the big Renegades. After two more or less unsuccessful trips to London, Immunity is packing their bags for the third time. This time with a lot more to prove.

MVP Karnal vs. Immunity – Asian Qualifier Semifinals Map 1

The honeymoon phase for the new kid’s on the block is over, now the mean and cold business of results is coming their way. An upsetting win against Team Liquid during the FACEIT League Stage 1 finals in May of this year is the only notable results for Immunity, outside of their domestic performances. In their own region only Renegades, formerly known as Vox Eminor, is triumphing over the Immunity squad – on the global scene it’s a different ballgame. During the Gfinity tournament, not a single map went the way of the Australians, while FACEIT had at least the 2-1 success over Team Liquid to show for.

MVP Karnal vs. Immunity – Asian Qualifier Semifinals Map 2

Against the best of the best from Europe and North America, Immunity looked out of sorts and overwhelmed, causing them to go down hard against the likes of EnvyUs, Cloud9, Virtus.pro, Titan, NiP and Fnatic. Sadly for them, that is exactly the list of teams they will have to face in the ESL Studios and the Lanxess Arena in a few days – improvement has to be made.

Momentum was gathered in the Australian Cyber League 2015 held in Sydney, as well as the flawless run through the Asian qualifier for ESL One Cologne. Immunity is on the up and up, but can that positive trend continue during the group stages? Once more they are tasked to face Cloud9 and Virtus.pro, with and eager and hungry mousesports team waiting in the wing to defend their home turf in Germany. Is Immunity powerful enough?

The Gold Standard from Down Under

Before the world even heard of Immunity, there was Vox Eminor. The first ever team from Australia to burst onto the major CS:GO scene and wreak havoc. That clumsy pun set aside, the mates from Down Under took over the scene by storm, partially because of their stellar performance on the battlegrounds, partially because of their lovely and positive approach to the game, the community and their ingame communications. Their friendly banter in Katowice, joking about an eco in a deciding round, poking fun at themselves for being pumped after securing the third round to push the score to 3-15, or their “They are everywhere, mate” shotcall in a 1v5 situation – the Aussies now called Renegades are a bunch of loveable and great CS:GO players.

SPUNJ sporting the Aussie flag as always

Sadly, so far, that drive, attitude and skill hasn’t translated into a good outing at a major international LAN competition, as SPUNJ and Co. have flirted with upsets left, right and center, but were mostly denied on the finishing stretch. In their three previous major performances, the team could never make it past the group stage, only being able to win one of their seven played Bo1 games on the biggest stage.

Still, they are a promising bunch of players, struggling to get their home region the recognition and pride it rightfully deserves. The ping disadvantage, lack of solid practice partners and other regional issues aside, Renegades have rarely looked to make excuses. They’ve remained positive, kept their passion for the game and continued to improve bit by bit.

In their home region, they are the most dominant force, even crushing Immunity on a regular and very decisive basis. So qualifying for this major was merely a formality and now the big test comes along once more. After the close debut against LDLC in a 13-16 showcase just one year ago in Katowice, the Australian brand stayed on the radar and was inserting itself more and more into the western eye. Last year’s outing in Cologne ended in a crushing 1-16 defeat against Titan, but they’ve rallied back, worked on themselves and made it out to Katowice again, while also visiting  London and Montreal for big offline events.

Havoc with his team in Katowice

From both those stops, they emerged strengthened with victories against Team Liquid and CLG under their belt, while also tying a Bo2 series with the European juggernauts of Fnatic and NiP in May of 2015.

Their last outing on the international stage was also in Cologne, just last week for the IEM showcase at Gamescom. Two wins against SK Gaming, and crushing losses to mouz and TSM were the result of that adventure in a unique format.

The question is how the Australians deal with those results. If they chalk it up as a learning experience, go through the replays and pick apart their rivals strategy, while also getting rid of jetlag, the IEM outing could have more positives than negatives. If they see it as a regress, the mojo of the Aussie hope might be broken right before one of their biggest events. Will they turn into the Renegades of Funk or can they rally back and emerge victorious from a tough group?

Join us for the biggest CS:GO event in in the world!

Be sure to join us at the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, Germany, for the greatest CS:GO event the world has seen! Visit the official website to get your ticket for the public viewing of the group stages, the ESL One Cologne finals and the After Show Party, and head over to the Esports in Cinemas homepage to grab a ticket to watch the ESL One Cologne finals live at your local movie theater!

For more information about ESL One Cologne, head over to the event’s official website. For the latest CS:GO news, be sure to follow @ESLCS on Twitter and Facebook.

The groups

After having determined the team lineup, the time has come to reveal the groups – each consisting of two Legend and two Challenger teams – and see who will be facing who in the first round of the tournament.

Group A

• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Team SoloMid
• Renegades
• Counter Logic Gaming

Group B

• Team ENVYUS
• Luminosity Gaming
• Team Kinguin
• FlipSid3 Tactics

Group C

• Fnatic
• Natus Vincere
• Titan
• Team eBettle

Group D

• Virtus.pro
• mousesports
• Cloud9
• Team Immunity

The format

The group matches will be played in a double-elimination best-of-one format with the two top teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. There is, however, a small twist to way in which the group stage will be finalized.

After all the groups have been played out up to and including the winners’ match but before the elimination and decider matches, the groups will be redrawn, with the quarterfinals to be seeded to ensure that teams won’t end up facing a team they’ve already played against until they reach the grand finals.

The single-elimination best-of-three quarterfinals will then be played out as normal, with the teams continuing through the group stage by facing their newly drawn opponents.

Join us in Cologne!

ESL One Cologne will be the biggest CS:GO event the world has seen as well as the next Valve major, and will feature the very best teams from around the globe. Be sure not to miss this amazing event and join us at the LANXESS Arena on August the 22nd and 23rd – get your ticket here!

Can’t make it to Cologne for the finals? You can watch them on the big screen of your local movie theater thanks to the Esports in Cinemas project – learn more about it and grab your ticket here!

Finally, although we cannot accommodate spectators at the studio where the group stages will be being played, we still want to invite you to the ESL studio in Cologne where you’ll be able to watch the matches ive with fellow CS:GO fans – you can find tickets for this here.

To stay informed about ESL One Cologne, visit the official website and follow ESL CS on Twitter.