ESL One Cologne 2016,Counter-Strike – ESL https://esl.com Feel the passion for esports Fri, 10 Jun 2022 15:54:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://esl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ESL-Favicon-green-512-150x150.png ESL One Cologne 2016,Counter-Strike – ESL https://esl.com 32 32 Our favorite moments of ESL One Cologne 2016 https://esl.com/article/our-favorite-moments-of-esl-one-cologne-2016/ Mon, 18 Jul 2016 07:04:04 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/our-favorite-moments-of-esl-one-cologne-2016/ It's not just the plays that make an unforgetable event. Here are some of our favorite moments of ESL One Cologne 2016.

]]> When an epic event like ESL One Cologne happens, it more than just outstanding plays that make it unforgettable. It’s also the things that happen outside of the matches that build the atmosphere and add to the wonderful memories. Here’s some of our favorite moments from ESL One Cologne 2016!

Thank you to everyone who joined us in person or tuned in to ESL One Cologne! You can already start planning for next year’s iteration of the event. Until then, be sure to check out ESL One New York and Intel Extreme Masters Oakland to get your CS:GO fix sooner.

To keep up with all CS:GO action at ESL, follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook.

]]> Top plays from ESL One Cologne 2016 https://esl.com/article/top-plays-from-esl-one-cologne-2016/ Fri, 15 Jul 2016 09:14:07 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/top-plays-from-esl-one-cologne-2016/ The players at ESL One Cologne 2016 delivered tons of fantastic plays that made us yell in excitement - here's some of our very favorite ones.

]]> ESL One Cologne 2016 is now behind us but the amazing plays we witnessed during the event are still vivid in our memories. We’ve gathered some of the very best plays of the major in one place for your viewing pleasure. Let’s relive the hype together!

See you at our next CS:GO events!

ESL One Cologne 2016 might be over but you can already start planning for next year’s iteration of the event! Until then, be sure to check out ESL One New York and Intel Extreme Masters Oakland to get your CS:GO fix sooner.

To keep up with all CS:GO action at ESL, follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook.

]]> Inside the group of death: ESL One Cologne group D preview https://esl.com/article/inside-the-group-of-death-esl-one-cologne-group-d-preview/ Thu, 07 Jul 2016 16:03:14 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/inside-the-group-of-death-esl-one-cologne-group-d-preview/ With one day to go until the beginning of ESL One Cologne, we take a look at the four teams competing in Group D, their chance of getting passed the group stages, and more!

]]> ESL One Cologne is the second Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major to feature a US$1,000,000 prize pool, whilst also featuring teams from across Europe and the Americas, 9 of which are the top 10 ranked teams in the world. With a grand US$500,000 up for grabs for first place, the ever growing community will be glued to the action to see which team prevails over the rest of the competition.

The format for ESL One Cologne has seen no changes since the last major tournament, MLG Columbus, earlier in the year. During the group stages, teams will play in best-of-one matches, two wins sending you to the playoffs, and two losses sending you home. However, the decider group matches will be played in a best-of-three format.

By Thursday next week, we will know which eight teams, from the four groups, will be heading to the famous LANXESS Arena, that hosted the incredible finals of ESL One Cologne 2015, for the playoffs. The playoffs are to be played with a single elimination, best-of-three bracket.

Leading up to ESL One Cologne, we will look at all of the sixteen competing teams descending into Cologne as they look for success at the ninth ever major tournament for CS:GO. In the final preview, we will be discussing the proclaimed ‘Group of Death’ or Group D.

SK Gaming

Ever since CS:GO became a beloved eSports title on the world stage, European teams have been at the forefront of major success. However, with an increase in talent and opportunity, the time have changed, and now, Luminosity, a team from South America, are now among the best teams in the world.

After a wave of Swedish domination at the top of the CS:GO world rankings, it’s easy to say that the Luminosity era is well underway as the Brazilian side find themselves as the number one ranked team in the world. Their journey to the top began at the end of last year after an unexpected second place finish at the FACEIT Stage 3 finals. Since then, Luminosity have competed in a plethora of international tournaments, and consistently placed within the top four of mentionable events, excluding a major hiccup at DreamHack Masters Malmö, causing them to finish 9th-12th.

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Earlier this year, Luminosity became the first American team to ever hoist a major trophy over their European competitors after a ridiculous display of individual skill, team chemistry and the ability to get the job done, regardless of the situation that they are in. In the grand final of the major, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and his four teammates trailed 6-0 against Natus Vincere on their map pick, de_mirage, but in the following rounds, their execution was in tip top condition and the Brazilians managed to turn things around. Much like other intense matchups, the first map went into overtime where the South American side closed out the map 19-17 before putting together a dominating 16-2 performance on de_overpass to claim the major title. Therefore, with the fashion that they did it in, MLG Columbus is arguably Luminosity’s greatest example of how they have risen to competitive success in just a few months.

At some point or another during the group stages of ESL One Cologne, Luminosity will face off against G2 Esports, a team that gave the world number one side a run for their money at the ESL Pro League Season 3 finals as they drove them to overtime on the final map in the grand final. Toledo, the IGL for Luminosity, is beyond aware that this rematch is imminent and will be putting in the extra work to ensure that they are ready for everything that the European side throw at them.

It’s obvious to say that Luminosity will be feeling the pressure to produce a similar performance against their opponents, but with the veterans in peak form, it is highly unlikely that we won’t see them in the grand finals. With that being said, we should maybe look at re-evaluating that statement after the group stage, depending on their performance, and the other fifteen competing teams.

Fnatic

After Fnatic had been eliminated from MLG Columbus by Astralis in the quarter-finals, it come to light that Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer had been playing with a restraining wrist injury, but the legendary character Kjabjer is, he opted to continue playing and help his team guarantee a spot at the next major with a top 8 finish. The results in their quarter-final match, 16-10 on de_overpass and 16-5 on de_cache, help us come to the conclusion that the Swedish side may have just been happy to sacrifice another major championship to prevent any further injury, but still knowing they were guaranteed a spot at ESL One Cologne.

During Kjajber’s time away from the mouse and keyboard, the Fnatic lineup had to use two different stand in players. Initially, the Swedes brought in Niclas “PlesseN” Plessen as a substitute, but after a number of subpar performances, Plessen was swiftly replaced by John “wenton” Eriksson. As a stand-in player, Eriksson did manage to hold his own, and was well and truly a part of the 3rd-4th finish at the ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals, before losing to G2 Esports in the semi-finals.

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Getting closer to the time of ESL One Cologne, the community began to wonder whether Kjajber would actually be fit to play, but on June 13, 2016, Fnatic announced their star player’s return to competitive play ahead of ELEAGUE’s Group D. Going into the Group D matches, pundits, and the rest of the community, were sceptical as to what the Swedish side would be able to achieve, but after their first couple of matches, we knew 2015’s best player was back on form after his injury. By the end of the week, the Swedish lineup had defied all odds by topping ELEAGUE’s Group D with a total of 15 points from the six matches played, five wins and one loss.

After their strong performance with their original lineup, it will be very interesting to watch the tournament live and see how things will play out in the ‘Group of Death’ with G2 Esports looking for their next opportunity to prove that the ESL Pro League Season 3 finals was not a one-time thing.

FaZe

Since their investment in CS:GO at the beginning of the year, acquiring the ex-G2 lineup, FaZe have been through a variety of ups and downs, with team changes and very poor results, as they are yet to place inside the top four at any event. With that being said, since the addition of Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey from Team EnVyUs, who brings a lot of experience, there has been some improvement in FaZe’s performance.

If we look back to before the roster change, Mikail “Maikelele” Bill for Fiey, FaZe put together a string of group stage exits at two consecutive events: IEM Katowice (7th-8th) and MLG Columbus, only defeating an inexperience Splyce side, finishing 9th-12th. The change in lineup was made just a couple of days before DreamHack Masters Malmö, where the Europeans finished 13th-16th, but it would be unfair to take that event into consideration as to how the team would play with Fiey not quite settled in his new role.

The first event that the European side had competed at with proper preparation was the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier, and being one of the few teams to finish with a 3-0 qualification record, you could tell that their practice was finally paying off. At the conclusion of the major qualifier, the FaZe lineup had to quickly catch a flight to Atlanta, Georgia for ELEAGUE’s Group D, featuring the olofmeister returned Fnatic, Team Dignitas and TSM.

In their first matches of Turner’s ELEAGUE, they came up against Team Dignitas who had recently lost their star player, Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye. If we’re being honest, it was inevitable that FaZe would dominate in this matchup as they won 16-5 and 16-6. Progressing through the week, the European lineup only lost to Fnatic, and managed to put together an impressive 5-1 record, all things considered. This performance has guaranteed themselves a spot at the ELEAGUE playoffs where they will face off against a number of top teams from the other five groups.

Looking to Cologne, which starts tomorrow, I honestly can’t see this FaZe side getting passed the group stages regardless of the new experience and skill that Fiey has brought to the table. This ‘Group of Death’ includes three of the five teams featured within the top five best teams, and with the way that they are all currently performing it’s just not practical to think they will move on to the playoffs at the LANXESS Arena. However, this is CS:GO and you just never know what could happen.

G2 Esports

With great help from Richard “shox” Papillon and Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, G2 have finally started to become the team that they once were, and are, again, becoming one of many fan favourite sides to lift the next major trophy. Their recent run of top form includes a five map, battle to the death grand final against Luminosity at the ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals, and more recently, the European side fended off all competition in the round robin stage of ELEAGUE’s Group B, compiling a monumental 6-0 record. Nobody can deny that these results are not impressive, but in reality, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for G2.

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So, what do I mean by that? Well, let me spell it out for you. From watching just a few of G2’s matches, we can see that, recently, their game has been built around Papillon and relying, maybe a little bit too much, on his ability to single-handedly dominate matches, and turn things around when they find themselves in a sticky situation. More often than not, the French veteran does what is needed to be done, but if that is the mentality the side has going into a major tournament, where they won’t be taken for granted after recent results, it’s unlikely that we will see them advance out of the groups.

With that being said, G2 could be waiting to show off some of their new tricks with the strict training programme that G2’s manager, Jérôme “NiaK” Sudries, has introduced, which definitely seems to be paying off after recent results at ELEAGUE, and a first place finish at ECS Season 1 Finals, taking down Luminosity, now SK Gaming, in their rematch after  a grand final loss at the ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals.

In a previous article, I went into more detail on the current G2 Esports lineup, their road to ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals, their next steps, and more – read here. (http://www.eslgaming.com/article/g2-could-just-be-getting-started-2884)

The action begins tomorrow!

If you haven’t been able to grab yourself a ticket for ESL One Cologne, you can tune into the livestream, but it that’s not possible, be sure to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook to make sure you don’t miss any updates.

Also, remember to check out our in-depth ESL One Cologne 2016 survival guide for all the information that you need.

]]> ESL One Cologne preview: inside group C https://esl.com/article/esl-one-cologne-preview-inside-group-c/ Wed, 06 Jul 2016 18:43:31 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/esl-one-cologne-preview-inside-group-c/ With less than a week to go until the beginning of ESL One Cologne, we take a look at the four teams competing in Group C, their chance of getting passed the group stages, and more!

]]> ESL One Cologne is the second Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major to feature a US$1,000,000 prize pool, whilst also featuring teams from across Europe and the Americas, 9 of which are the top 10 ranked teams in the world. With a grand US$500,000 up for grabs for first place, the ever growing community will be glued to the action to see which team prevails over the rest of the competition.

The format for ESL One Cologne has seen no changes since the last major tournament, MLG Columbus, earlier in the year. During the group stages, teams will play in best-of-one matches, two wins sending you to the playoffs, and two losses sending you home. However, the decider group matches will be played in a best-of-three format.

By Thursday next week, we will know which eight teams, from the four groups, will be heading to the famous LANXESS Arena, that hosted the incredible finals of ESL One Cologne 2015, for the playoffs. The playoffs are to be played with a single elimination, best-of-three bracket.

Leading up to ESL One Cologne, we will look at all of the sixteen competing teams descending into Cologne as they look for success at the ninth ever major tournament for CS:GO. In our penultimate preview, we have Group B.

Team Liquid

A run of highly disappointing international results for Team Liquid, after their very promising third place finish at the MLG Columbus major, has left the once best North American side with a patched up, quickly put together roster for ESL One Cologne until Jacob “Pimp” Winneche officially joins the Liquid roster once his contract with SK Gaming concludes, at the beginning of July.

In Germany, Team Liquid will be going head to head with highly prepared teams in comparison to their own preparation with limited time playing as a full roster in an offline environment. To be exact, this side has only played in the ECS Season 1 Finals, where they finished sixth, and before hand, they only had a couple days of bootcamping. With that being said, this roster features players with undoubted levels of individual skill, and that could really play in their favour against their opponents, alongside the vague strategies that will have to be quickly implemented.

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With only one change in the roster that competed at MLG Columbus, Josh “jdm64” Marzano for Eric “adreN” Hoag, it will be interesting to see whether the American side will be able to pull off another miraculous result, or if the internal team issues that Aleksandar “s1mple” Kostyliev initially caused brew up leading to a new level of turmoil. Regardless of what happens, in my eyes, ESL One Cologne will be a learning curve for the new roster and it should give the team an indication of what they require Winneche to do in the future.

Putting it simply, Liquid really has nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Virtus.pro

Although Virtus.pro are one of the longest lasting CS:GO sides without change their competitive results have not been up to the standard that they once were. Granted, throughout the majority of 2015, the Polish side were having a fairly good season with a number of top finishes, and two titles under their belt: ESL ESEA Dubai Invitational 2015 and CEVO Professional Season 8 Finals. However, during the transition into the 2016 season, the Poles world got flipped upside down, and they went into a slump.

Following their two good results in November, the team took it upon themselves to take a break from competitive play, not practicing as a full roster for weeks at a time, but since that period of time away from the competitive scene, Virtus.pro have not been the same, crashing out of their next two tournaments, DreamHack ZOWIE Leipzig and IEM Katowice, from losses to teams like mousesports, Team Dignitas, and Tempo Storm. It’s also worth mentioning that their online performance has been no better as in the ESL Pro League Season 3, the Polish side finished in last place with a 4-18 record, and at one point, they were sitting at 0-8.

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Despite all of the poor results that VP have faced throughout this year, there have been some moments of greatness. The European side managed to pull a title out of the bag at the first StarLadder i-League Invitational with a best-of-three series win over former world number one side, Natus Vincere. As well as this, recently, the Polish side competed in ELEAGUE’s Group F, and to our surprise, it turned out to be a successful week for the Poles as they finished with a 4-2 record, only losing to Gambit and Team EnVyUs. This allowed them to finish second, behind Team EnVyUs, and they will now get the opportunity to compete in the playoffs of the ELEAGUE tournament.

With the group that Virtus.pro will be playing in at ESL One Cologne not being the hardest, and just performing well at ELEAGUE, this could be the chance that the veterans have been waiting for to show the CS:GO community that they still have some life in them, they still can be an ‘elite’ team, and they should not be taken for granted.

mousesports

Throughout 2016, the predominantly German side have had put together a mixture of average to poor results, including, 9th-12th at MLG Columbus, 5th-8th at DreamHack Masters Malmö, and a comfortable qualification at the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier with wins over Fluffy Gangsters, Cloud9 and G2 Esports.

Regardless of the poor results that mousesports have had earlier in the year, things could be looking up for the German side with the introduction of Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović, their new coach. Trifunović was first implemented for a trial run during the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier and ELEAGUE’s Group E, where their results, and overall performance, have seen major improvements. As it stands, mousesports sit in second place in Group E, behind Natus Vincere, one of the top teams competing at ESL One Cologne. We now begin to wonder whether mousesports has found what they needed in Trifunović?

Although mousesports have never been passed the group stages at a major tournament, they have, on a number of occasions, shown us that they have the ability to compete with a number of the teams that feature in the top 10 of the world rankings. Whether they can do that again, I do not know, but what I can tell you is that, with this group and their new coach, there is a high chance that we could see them in the playoffs, and we are just days away from finding out.

Team EnVyUs

Team EnVyUs are another organisation in the CS:GO space that first made a name for themselves in Call of Duty, but since their initial investment in Counter-Strike, picking up ex-LDLC side after their DreamHack Winter 2014 win, they have seen a great level of success. At the beginning of 2015, the French side were on fire, taking back-to-back championships home: Gfinity 2015 Spring Masters I and SLTV StarSeries XII Finals.

With that being said, the EnVy lineup slowly began to fade away after a number of poor results at CCS Kick-off Season Finals, Gfinity 2015 Spring Masters 2 and ESL Pro League Season 1 Finals. This change in performance sparked the French shuffle of Summer 2015 where Richard “shox” Papillon and Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux would transfer over to Titan for Kenny “KennyS” Schrub and Dan “apEX” Madesclaire. The changed lineup would go onto win a major tournament, DreamHack Cluj-Napoca, but then the downward spiral of success would begin.

Just less than a month after their major win, Team EnVyUs were one of the eight teams to compete at FACEIT League 2015 Stage 3 Finals at DreamHack Winter, and after losing their against Ninjas in Pyjamas and Luminosity, they finished in last place with only one map won for the entire tournament. This trend continued throughout the beginning of 2016 as they placed 11th-12th at IEM Katowice, causing the replacement of Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey with Timothée “DEVIL” Démolon, a player that was yet to prove his worth on the world stage. Even after the change, the French lineup finished 13th-16th at MLG Columbus, the last major.

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Although these results have transpired throughout the majority of this year, the French side did find themselves taking first place at Game Show Global eSports Cup 2016 Finals, which did include some fierce competition, such as, G2 Esports, Astralis and Team Dignitas.

On a more positive note, recently, Team EnVyUs competed in the final week of Turner’s ELEAGUE group stages, playing in Group F alongside Virtus.pro, Gambit and compLexity.

During their time in Atlanta, Georgia, the French side began to show us some of the gameplay that they displayed during their ‘era’ back in 2015, and with that, they only lost once to Polish side, VP, which can only pay dividends going into ESL One Cologne.

As I just mentioned, coming off a positive result in their ELEAGUE campaign, it’s highly expected that Envy will be able to ride that momentum so they can guarantee themselves a spot at the LANXESS Arena in Cologne for the playoffs of the major tournament that is fast approaching. However, if they do not make it out of the groups for a second major tournament in a row, maybe it will be time to consider another roster change?

We’re just a few days away!

If you haven’t been able to grab yourself a ticket for ESL One Cologne, you can tune into the livestream, but it that’s not possible, be sure to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook to make sure you don’t miss any updates.

]]> Inside group B of ESL One Cologne https://esl.com/article/inside-group-b-of-esl-one-cologne/ Wed, 06 Jul 2016 18:23:03 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/inside-group-b-of-esl-one-cologne/ With less than a week to go until the beginning of ESL One Cologne, we take a look at the four teams competing in Group B, their chance of getting passed the group stages, and more!

]]> ESL One Cologne is the second Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major to feature a US$1,000,000 prize pool, whilst also featuring teams from across Europe and the Americas, 9 of which are the top 10 ranked teams in the world. With a grand US$500,000 up for grabs for first place, the ever growing community will be glued to the action to see which team prevails over the rest of the competition.

The format for ESL One Cologne has seen no changes since the last major tournament, MLG Columbus, earlier in the year. During the group stages, teams will play in best-of-one matches, two wins sending you to the playoffs, and two losses sending you home. However, the decider group matches will be played in a best-of-three format.

By Thursday next week, we will know which eight teams, from the four groups, will be heading to the famous LANXESS Arena, that hosted the incredible finals of ESL One Cologne 2015, for the playoffs. The playoffs are to be played with a single elimination, best-of-three bracket.

Leading up to ESL One Cologne, we will look at all of the sixteen competing teams descending into Cologne as they look for success at the ninth ever major tournament for CS:GO. In our next preview, we have Group B.

Natus Vincere

Looking at Natus Vincere, they haven’t been a team to watch for a long period of time, and only really began to see a positive future during 2015 when Na`Vi officially acquired Egor “flamie” Vasilyev, putting former fifth player, Sergey “starix” Ischuk, into the coach position. Since the CIS side had their famous second place finish, behind Team EnVyUs at DreamHack Cluj-Napoca, the final major tournament of 2015, they have featured in the top five of the world rankings, whilst also spending some time as the best team in the world at the beginning of the year.

At the first million dollar major, MLG Columbus, Natus Vincere were expected to have a very solid performance with the form that they were in, and it wasn’t long before these predictions were confirmed as the CIS side breezed through the group stages, quarter-finals and semi-finals. However, it just wasn’t to be for Na`Vi this time around as they were dominated by the rise of Brazilian side, Luminosity Gaming, especially in the second map, Overpass, losing 16-2.

Granted, this was a very impressive result for Natus Vincere as star player and AWPer, Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács, was suffering from a hand injury, and it was reported that in the grand final, Kovács had to 4x multiply his crosshair sensitivity.

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Mainly due to Kovács injury, Na`Vi are one of the top teams that, since Columbus, have not competed at many tournaments, but the one’s they have, the second place trend has continued: DreamHack Masters Malmö and the first SL i-League Invitational, famously losing to Virtus.pro, 2-0. Recently, like the fifteen other major teams, Natus Vincere have been playing in Turner’s ELEAGUE, playing in Group E alongside mousesports, FlipSid3 Tactics and Echo Fox. Despite an uneasy start to their ELEAGUE campaign, drawing their first two series’ against Echo Fox and mousesports, the CIS side managed to get into the swing of things and finish the week in first place, just ahead of mousesports in round difference.

Looking to Cologne, I don’t really think we can expect a similar sort of performance from Na`Vi as MLG Columbus, taking their story into consideration. That’s not say they will, or should, be providing us with a subpar performance. On paper, the competition in this group should not be much trouble for the Europeans, but their experience against some of these teams, namely OpTic Gaming, is limited, and with the addition of Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas, that team has been on fire.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Without a shadow of a doubt, Ninjas in Pyjamas are one of the most famous teams in CS:GO’s lifetime with the historical 87-0 LAN event record that they worked up during 2012 and 2013. One year later, after their highly unexpected major championship win at ESL One Cologne 2014, the team went into one of the biggest slumps of CS:GO’s history, thus causing the departure of Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson.

The four month period after Johannson’s departure is a very vague period in NiP’s history as they recruited Mikail “Maikelele” Bill. Unsatisfied with results that he had helped the Ninjas achieve, more changes were made, replacing Bill with Aleksi “allu” Jalli. Although this roster had a number of positive results, including, 2nd place and 3rd-4th finishes, we all knew that, again, changes would have to be made if they wanted to actually win something.

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At the end of 2015, after a lot of speculation as to what was going to happen with NiP, the decision was made to bring in Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi, and not long after, tactical mastermind, Björn “THREAT” Pers, as the team’s coach. Since the team changes came to an end back in January, the Swedish side has seen some success, including, a first place finish at DreamHack Masters Malmö and second at DreamHack ZOWIE Summer.

One of the biggest stories of this year for NiP comes from MLG Columbus. Due to troubles in acquiring a visa for new recruit, Mourujärvi, Pers had to step in as the fifth player. Obviously, without a full roster, any team’s goal would be to finish within the top eight to ensure that they had a Legends invite for the next major tournament, and the Swedes did exactly that. After a shaky start to the tournament, narrowly defeating FlipSid3 Tactics and being taken down by Luminosity, Pers finally settled in at the right time against mousesports as they won the series 2-1, guaranteeing their Legends spot, before being eliminated by tournament favourites, Natus Vincere.

Competing in one of ELEAGUE’s earlier groups, Group B, where they eventually finished second, the Swedish side had the opportunity to compete at the first ECS finals, but that was a major blow for the side just before a major tournament as they bowed out of the tournament in ‘spectacular’ fashion, not winning a single map during the entire tournament. Despite this, we all know that at the biggest tournaments of the year, regardless of their recent results, NiP have the potential to come away from the event with a very positive result, maybe even a win.

OpTic Gaming

Despite the core four players being together since the middle of 2015, OpTic Gaming, one of Call of Duty’s most successful organisations, has only been a part of the scene since the beginning of this year. Although this rosters time at the North American organisation has been short, they have still seen mediocre success after winning ELEAGUE Road to Vegas 2-0 over CSGL, and winning MLG Regional Minor Championship Americas to obtain their spot at the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier.

After just missing out on MLG Columbus, OpTic were still yet to experience a true international competition against European’s finest. However, it wasn’t long before they did as they just managed to stay within the qualification zone for the ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals in the United Kingdom.

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OpTic Gaming’s time competing in the UK was short lived, finishing 5th-6th, but it is another example of a placement that does not tell the full story. In their first match of the offline finals, OpTic came up against Astralis, and to our surprise, the North American side dominated the struggling Europeans 16-7, before losing 16-7 to a resurging G2 Esports. Before being eliminated from the tournament, the NA lineup, also featuring Spaniard, Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas, gave it their absolute best against world number one side, Luminosity, now SK Gaming. The series against the Brazilians did finish 2-0, but that wasn’t before putting together a total of 25 rounds to Luminosity’s 32.

Most recently, OpTic Gaming competed in ELEAGUE’s Group B, but their performance in Atlanta, Georgia was nothing like what we had previously witnessed in England. The predominantly Canadian side did not get a series win under their belt until they came up against Selfless, winning the series 2-0, but they had already let the group get away from them after two 2-0 series losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas and G2.

Although this side does feature five major tournament rookies, they do, now, have a lot of invaluable experience against top European competition, especially Ninjas in Pyjamas. Taking that it consideration, I could definitely see OpTic getting out of the groups, at the least, if the opponents in their group are on form.

FlipSid3 Tactics

In reality, we don’t know too much about FlipSid3 Tactics as they are still a relatively new side in comparison to some of the other teams attending ESL One Cologne, forming back in the beginning of 2015. However, we do know that back in 2015, FlipSid3 had their biggest playing achievement at ESWC 2015 where they played with Spencer “HiKo” Martin as a stand-in with their star player, Georgi “WorldEdit” Yaskin, not being able to attend the event due to visa issues.

At the Esports World Cup, the Ukrainian side sent Ninjas in Pyjamas packing after a 2-1 series win as the Swedish side were still battling through one of the longest slumps to date, but then came an even harder opponent, going by the name of Natus Vincere. In the series against the eventual winners, they quaickly lost 2-0 after a 16-9 loss on Mirage and a 16-1 annihilation on Inferno.

Recently, the Europeans competed in ELEAGUE’s Group B alongside some very harsh competition, namely Natus Vincere and mousesports, although, the group did also feature Rick Fox owned side, Echo Fox. It was a tough week for FlipSid3 Tactics in Georgia as they finished with a 2-4 record, only taking maps off mousesports. With that being said, FlipSid3 have guaranteed themselves a spot at the Last Chance Qualifier.

Although it is unlikely that FlipSid3 will make it out of the groups at ESL One Cologne, they definitely have the potential to take maps off of top teams, or at the least, give them a run for their money, as previously shown during the online section of the ESL Pro League Season 3 and the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier.

We’ll see you in Cologne!

If you haven’t been able to grab yourself a ticket for ESL One Cologne, you can tune into the livestream, but it that’s not possible, be sure to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook to make sure you don’t miss any updates.

]]> The ESL One Cologne 2016 survival guide https://esl.com/article/the-esl-one-cologne-2016-survival-guide/ Tue, 05 Jul 2016 11:48:32 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/the-esl-one-cologne-2016-survival-guide/ Everything you need to know in one place about the upcoming major.

]]> ESL One Cologne 2016 is almost here! US$1.000.000 on the line, 16 teams and one coveted trophy – this major will be the world’s biggest CS:GO tournament. We’ve gathered everything you need to know about the event in one place for your convenience.

Key information


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Teams

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Astralis

Natus Vincere

Team Liquid

SK Gaming

Counter Logic Gaming

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Virtus.pro

Fnatic

Gambit Gaming

OpTic Gaming

mousesports

FaZe Clan

Team Dignitas

FlipSid3 Tactics

Team ENVYUS

G2 Esports

Broadcast team

  • Stage Host: Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner
  • Roaming Host: Mitch “UberShouts” Leslie
  • Desk Host: Alex “Machine” Richardson
  • Analyst: Duncan “Thorin” Shields
  • Analyst: Janko “YNK” Paunović
  • Analyst: Jason “Moses” O’Toole
  • Commentator: Anders Blume
  • Commentator: Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat
  • Commentator: Henry “HenryG” Greer
  • Commentator: Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett
  • Commentator: Daniel “ddk” Kapadia
  • Commentator: James “JZFB” Bardolph
  • Commentator: Lauren “Pansy” Scott
  • Commentator: John “ BLU” Mullen

Schedule

All times are in CEST. Times are estimates, as match times may differ. All matches will be played back to back, starting with group A, then B, C and finally D.

Tuesday, July 5th

  • 10:30 – Show starts
  • 11:00 – First group matches start
  • 21:00 – End of day

Wednesday, July 6th

  • 10:30 – Show starts
  • 11:00 – Matches start – elimination, winners and losers
  • 21:00 – End of day

Thursday, July 7th

  • 10:30 – Show starts
  • 11:00 – Decider matches begin
  • 01:15 – End of day

Friday, July 8th at LANXESS

  • Doors open at 08:00 CEST
  • 09:30 to 13:30 – Quarterfinal one
  • 13:30 to 17:30 – Quarterfinal two
  • 17:30 to 21:30 – Quarterfinal three
  • 21:30 to 01:30 – Quarterfinal four

Saturday, July 9th at LANXESS

  • Doors open at 11:30 CEST
  • 14:30 to 18:30 – Semifinal one
  • 18:30 – 22:30 – Semifinal two

Sunday, July 10th at LANXESS

  • Doors open at 11:30 CEST
  • 14:30 to 16:00 – Showmatch
  • 17:00 to 21:00 – Grand final

Social Media

Our social channel will be full of live coverage, highlight videos, photos and more – be sure to follow us on:

See you at the major!

We cannot wait to welcome everyone to LANXESS Arena for the world’s biggest CS:GO event and to watch the very best teams in their battle for the championship! Very few last tickets are still available so be sure to get one if you still haven’t yet!

]]> An in-depth look into ESL One Cologne group A https://esl.com/article/an-in-depth-look-into-esl-one-cologne-group-a/ Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:10:18 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/07/an-in-depth-look-into-esl-one-cologne-group-a/ With less than a week to go until the beginning of ESL One Cologne, we take a look at the four teams competing in Group A, their chance of getting passed the group stages, and more!

]]> ESL One Cologne is the second Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major to feature a US$1,000,000 prize pool, whilst also featuring teams from across Europe and the Americas, 9 of which are the top 10 ranked teams in the world. With a grand US$500,000 up for grabs for first place, the ever growing community will be glued to the action to see which team prevails over the rest of the competition.

The format for ESL One Cologne has seen no changes since the last major tournament, MLG Columbus, earlier in the year. During the group stages, teams will play in best-of-one matches, two wins sending you to the playoffs, and two losses sending you home. However, the decider group matches will be played in a best-of-three format.

By Thursday next week, we will know which eight teams, from the four groups, will be heading to the famous LANXESS Arena, that hosted the incredible finals of ESL One Cologne 2015, for the playoffs. The playoffs are to be played with a single elimination, best-of-three bracket.

Leading up to ESL One Cologne, we will look at all of the sixteen competing teams descending into Cologne as they look for success at the ninth ever major tournament for CS:GO. In our first preview, Group A.

Astralis

Almost two months ago, the players within Astralis came to a mutual decision that, for the better of the team, they needed to make a change. After close consideration, the team decided to trade René “cajunb” Borg with on-form player, Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye. The change came in light of recent struggles from the player owned side as they were unable to get passed the group stage of two large events: DreamHack Masters Malmö and ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals.

As the change came into reality, you could see that the Danish side were a lot more confident, precise and impactful in their individual play and team coordination. If I’m being honest, I could rattle off a plethora of other adjectives to describe the improvements that Astralis have made, but I think you get the jist of it. Backing this up, in ELEAGUE’s Group C, the Danish side finished at the top of their group with a total of 15 points, and a record of five wins and one loss, only losing to their fellow Danish countrymen, SK Gaming.

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This is all well and good, but unfortunately for Astralis, they will be missing their new key player at ESL One Cologne as Kjærbye has already attended the EU minor with his former side, Team Dignitas. Due to these rules set for the major tournament, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander will play as Kjærbye’s stand-in, and for obvious reasons, the Danish lineups IGL, Finn “karrigan” Andersen has said that their main goal for the major is to finish within the top eight, allowing them to retain their Legends invite for the next major, later this year. Looking at the group they are in, it is unlikely that we will not see Astralis achieve this goal, especially with a few days of bootcamping to allow Rossander to settle in his new role.

Counter Logic Gaming

At the first major tournament of the year, MLG Columbus 2016, CLG finally achieved their goal of getting passed the group stages, securing a Legends invite to the next major, but then falling short of a better placement after a relatively close 2-0 series loss to North American rivals, Team Liquid. Regardless of that positive result, the team went back to the good ol’ North American way with another group stage exit at DreamHack Austin after back-to-back losses to Cloud9, including a 1-16 battering. Unhappy with their performance, the team decided to release Jacob “FugLy” Medina.

Still in search of the steady roster that every successful team requires, they decided to bring in sniper, Kenneth “koosta” Suen, who, without a doubt, has the ability to change the pace of any game if the In-game Leader allows him to do his own thing, get the picks that are required, and not being cemented into a preset, mundane role. With better opportunity coming up, CLG lost one of their star players, Josh “jdm64” Marzano to Team Liquid, and due to a lack of player availability, the North American side have again taken the decision to use Faruk “pita” Pita as their fifth, who previously acted as a stand-in during ELEAGUE as the search continued for their official fifth player.

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If we go back in time, to before the Marzano and Suen exchange took place, we find ourself in ELEAGUE’s Group C, which wasn’t the best of weeks for CLG. Right from the off, we knew it was going to be a slow week for NA’s hope in the third week of Turner’s $1.4 million ELEAGUE competition as they were taken down by SK Gaming and Astralis with 16-3 and 16-2 defeats, respectively. The Americans did put a couple wins together, but no convincing defeats that are worth a mention, and therefore, finished their week with a 2-4 record.

Looking to Cologne, if this CLG side are wanting to make it out of the groups, it will have to be a complete team-effort with neither of the five players slacking behind. However, if we want to pin point a player that needs to be playing their best for the team, we will have to look at the new recruit, Suen, who, as previously mentioned, can change the game if given the opportunity to do so. If anything but this is done, then we won’t be seeing CLG out of the groups this time around.

Gambit

Following their surprising 9th-12th finish at MLG Columbus, where they just missed out on a Legends invite after a close 2-1 series to loss to CLG, we have not heard much from  the predominantly Russian side in terms of LAN appearances. The only time that we have seen Gambit on the world stage since then was at the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier.

Similar to mousesports, in Group C, Gambit have the potential to take down teams that feature within the top 10 of the world rankings, as we saw in Katowice for the major qualifier. During their time in Poland, Gambit’s only defeat came from FaZe, whilst barely beating OpTic Gaming, overcoming the Boys in Blue, Team EnVyUs, and taking down G2 Esports to qualify for the world renowned event, ESL One Cologne.

Alongside Team EnVyUs, Virtus.pro and compLexity, Gambit compted in ELEAGUE’s Group F, the final week of group play before the Last Chance Qualifier and Playoffs. Going into their week of matches, nobody had much expectation for the Russian side with limited LAN experience since MLG Columbus, and two European giants also featuring in their group. Although they did finish with a 2-5 record, this side has again shown us that they have the ability to push top teams to their limits with narrow defeats to Envy, 16-13 and 16-0, and a win against Virtus.pro, 16-12.

If these five players can perform anything like they did at MLG Columbus, and can make some minor improvements from ELEAGUE before their first matches of ESL One Cologne, I see no reason as to why Gambit can’t progress out of the group stage, even if it is by the skin of their teeth

Team Dignitas

When the high profile exchange of Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye and René “cajunb” Borg took place between Astralis and Team Dignitas, Dignitas were looking rather lacklustre, to say the least. However, that judgement had solely been gauged from some disappointing online results during the first season of the Esports Championship Series, and little time playing with their new roster.

With that being said, once they had officially qualified for ESL One Cologne from the main qualifier, which Kjærbye had previously helped them qualify for after a flawless performance at the DreamHack EU Minor, you could instantaneously tell that a great weight on their shoulders had been relieved from them. It is definitely worth mentioning that, throughout the event, the Danish side were only ever up against equally skilled competition, or teams that they should easily conquer without any issue, but qualification was no easy task for the Danes.

At the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier, it was FaZe and HellRaisers who would take down Dignitas, where the Danes would then be met with tight matchups against Empire and Australian side, Renegades, before finally getting into their own rhythm against TyLoo, comfortably winning 16-3.

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Most recently, Team Dignitas competed in ELEAGUE’s Group D, and unsurprisingly, after their major qualifier performance, you could tell that they were back to their sloppy ways. By the end of the week, the Danes had put together a record of two wins and four losses, finishing them in 15th-18th place for the ELEAGUE campaign. Granted, that is still $30,000 in winning for an unconvincing performance.

If I am being completely honest with you, I have little faith in this Danish side performing well at a major competition, considering their performance in an offline environment as of late. Although, if Team Dignitas do make it out of the groups, which is highly possible with the experience that these players have, especially Borg, then I would be more than happy to bet that they wouldn’t win their next match.

We’ll see you in Cologne!

If you haven’t been able to grab yourself a ticket for ESL One Cologne, you can tune into the livestream, but it that’s not possible, be sure to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook to make sure you don’t miss any updates.

This year, we are again, hosting our very own fantasy competition with some great prizes, including, a Maxnomic ESL Pro 2.0 Gaming Chair, ESEA Premium, ESL shop vouchers, and more! Click here to to join the official league or create your own league to compete against friends.

]]> All of the teams and the groups are now confirmed – we’re ready for ESL One Cologne! https://esl.com/article/all-of-the-teams-and-the-groups-are-now-confirmed-were-ready-for-esl-one-cologne/ Wed, 15 Jun 2016 14:01:49 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/06/all-of-the-teams-and-the-groups-are-now-confirmed-were-ready-for-esl-one-cologne/ The offline qualifier for ESL One Cologne has concluded yesterday and we now know all of the Challenger teams as well as the tournament groups.

]]> The ESL One Cologne 2016 offline qualifier came to a conclusion last weekend with eight out of the 16 competing teams securing a Challenger slot at the next major. FaZe Clan and mousesports qualified for the main event on day three of the qualifier with perfect 3-0 scores. Gambit Gaming, OpTic Gaming, ENVYUS, G2 Esports, FlipSid3 Tactics and Dignitas joined them on the final day.

Day four results

We saw tons of thrilling action with the remaining teams giving their best to become a Challenger at ESL One Cologne 2016. The full results of the day were as follows:

  • TyLoo 16:14 Splyce
  • Renegades 12:16 Team Dignitas
  • FlipSid3 Tactics 16:12 Immortals
  • HellRaisers 14:16 OpTic Gaming
  • Team ENVYUS 16:12 Cloud9
  • Gambit Gaming 16:10 G2 Esports
  • Team Dignitas 16:3 TyLoo
  • HellRaisers 9:16 FlipSid3 Tactics
  • Cloud9 8:16 G2 Esports

Congratulations to the qualified teams – we’re looking forward to seeing you in Cologne!

If you missed any of the matches, be sure to check out the complete VOD playlist on our CS:GO YouTube channel.

ESL One Cologne groups

After all of the matches concluded in Katowice, it was time to determine the groups for the main event in Cologne. The results of the group draw are as follows:

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Team Liquid

Luminosity Gaming

Astralis

Natus Vincere

Virtus.pro

Fnatic

Counter Logic Gaming

Ninjas in Pyjamas

mousesports

FaZe Clan

Gambit Gaming

OpTic Gaming

Team ENVYUS

G2 Esports

Team Dignitas

FlipSid3 Tactics

Boy, are we in for a treat. Especially in group two…

See you at the major!

ESL One Cologne 2016 is less than a month away, with the action kicking off on the 5th of July with the group stages and moving to the LANXESS Arena on July 8th.The event is close to being sold out so if you want to join the world’s biggest CS:GO tournament make sure to get a ticket here!

For more information about ESL One Cologne, visit the official website and follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook to not miss any important updates.

]]> ESL One Cologne 2016 is now officially a Valve Major! https://esl.com/article/esl-one-cologne-2016-is-now-officially-a-valve-major/ Tue, 12 Apr 2016 20:27:26 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/04/esl-one-cologne-2016-is-now-officially-a-valve-major/ ESL One Cologne returns to the LANXESS Arena and will once again be a Valve major.

]]> We are thrilled to announce that ESL One Cologne 2016 will once again be an official Valve Major! It will be the fifth major hosted by ESL out of a total of nine. Eight legends from the previous Major and eight challengers from the offline qualifiers will clash at the LANXESS Arena in the battle for the most prestigious CS:GO championship title as well as their share of the newly increased US$1,000,000 prize pool.

“Last year’s ESL One Cologne was one for the history books. – We delivered by far the world’s biggest and most-watched Counter-Strike event of all time, but more than anything I am proud to say that we delivered a fantastic event in of itself,” said Ulrich Schulze, VP Pro Gaming at ESL. “There are always things we can improve on, and we’re looking to take key learnings from last year to raise the bar even further in 2016 for what will hopefully be a truly legendary experience, both online and off.”

Eight teams have already secured a slot in the event by achieving legendary status at the previous Major. The challenger slots will be fought for by the eight teams that didn’t make it to the Columbus Major quarterfinals, as well as the eight teams that will emerge victorious from the Regional Minor Championships in the European, North American, Asian and CIS regions.The offline qualifier will take place in June when only eight teams will earn the chance to compete against the legends for the title.

ESL One Cologne will provide live in-game streaming through GOTV, as well as behind the scenes footage of players and personalities. Fans will be able to meet their favourite teams and players thanks to our signing sessions, enjoy showcases with replica life-size CS:GO weapon skins and get together at the ESL One Camp.

See you at the major!

Don’t miss Europe’s biggest and most prestigious CS:GO event – get your ESL One Cologne ticket here!

If you’re looking for a perfect place to stay during the event or a way to get there, we have you covered with our ESL One Cologne camp and buses. You can also head over to our forums to meet fellow fans as well as organize meetups and travel plans.

To stay up to date with all the important information about ESL One Cologne, remember to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook.

]]> “We’ve kept great memories from this tournament and Cologne”: the ESL One Cologne experience! https://esl.com/article/weve-kept-great-memories-from-this-tournament-and-cologne-the-esl-one-cologne-experience/ Wed, 23 Mar 2016 22:08:29 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/03/weve-kept-great-memories-from-this-tournament-and-cologne-the-esl-one-cologne-experience/ We chat to Edouard, a Team EnVyUs fan, about his ESL One Cologne 2015 experience and more.

]]> ESL One Cologne 2015 was the world’s biggest CS:GO tournament and Valve major, seeing top teams clash at the LANXESS Arena in front of thousands of passionate fans. Thrilling matches and plenty of edge-of-your-set action filled the venue for two whole days – as did the roaring fans themselves.

In traditional sports, it is said that the fans are the extra player. This no different in esports, where the fans and their support can have a huge impact on how a team performs. Last year, ESL One Cologne saw a dedicated group of Team EnVyUs fans who went to Cologne together to cheer on their favorite team. We chatted to one of them, Edouard “Haru” Le Guern, about his ESL One Cologne experience and more.

ESL: Hi Edouard, and thanks for taking the time to chat with us! What made you decide to travel to Cologne, Germany for ESL One last year?
Edouard: Hey, thanks for having me! I’m volunteering for the French CS:GO news website Vakarm.net, and they decided to book a bus and hotel rooms to send 50 French fans to Cologne. So I called a few friends of mine and we all went together!

ESL: How long have you been playing Counter-Strike?
Edouard: I started playing with friends from school at a cyber cafe during lunch breaks back in 2001, so it’s been… 15 years !

ESL: What was your first impression when you got to the venue?
Edouard: “It’ll take forever to get in!” Haha, jokes aside – I must confess it was pretty impressive seeing all those people around the stadium, knowing they were all here to watch Counter-Strike games. It shows how much esports have grown beyond expectations during the past few years and can now be considered real sports.

ESL: What were your feelings when you were standing in the crowd, among thousands of fans, watching the matches and cheering together?
Edouard: It felt very special – we had lots of fun with other fans, cheering together or taunting each other depending on the matches… The French crowd was on fire, as you might have noticed on the official stream when we sang the national anthem. It was even more special for me since I was with some of my closest friends. We’ve kept great memories from this tournament and Cologne itself – we still talk about it pretty often!

ESL: Team EnVyUs impressed many with their fantastic performance on the way to the grand final – how did it feel to have the team you’re cheering for do so well?
Edouard: To be very honest, it felt pretty bad for my throat… Took me three days to get my voice back, but it was definitely worth it. On a serious note, though, their lineup was brand new (Kenny and Dan joined NV like a month before the tournament started) so we didn’t really know what their real LAN level was or what to expect from them, whether their gameplay was already on point… But they performed beyond expectations, only losing to Fnatic who were on another level last year. They gave us the opportunity to cheer together, live great moments and they were really friendly – they took some pictures and chatted with the fans. The tournament would have been a whole lot different if they hadn’t made it past the group stage!

ESL: How much do you think the fans impact the teams they cheer for?
Edouard: Pretty much like any other traditional sports team, I guess – we could see it was additional motivation for them. There was a real interaction between the players and the fans, whether they were struggling and needed support or just did something amazing and wanted to share their joy – they were looking at us, raising fists and such. They told us it was very heartwarming and helpful having us here. I believe that’s one of the main reasons why you become a professional sportsman – so that you can give people emotions.

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ESL: Who is your favorite player on Team EnVyUs?
Edouard: Well, that’s a tricky question, but I think I’d have to go with Happy. He’s the quiet type and I feel like he doesn’t get the praise he deserves. He might not be the most impressive player (except when, you know, Juan Deag happens) but his game sense is truly insane.

ESL: Are you planning on coming to ESL One Cologne this year?
Edouard: Yes, definitely! Vakarm just announced they were planning to send about a hundred people this year, so brace yourselves: the baguette bus is coming 😉

ESL: Would you recommend ESL One Cologne to fellow CS:GO fans?
Edouard: Well, obviously my friends and I had an amazing time in Cologne. Can’t really decide what the best part was: the tournament, the crowd, the venue or the city itself (probably the tournament, though!). The show was great – there were lots of stands, goodies, signings and activities. Not to mention the CS:GO pins. I mean, who doesn’t like pins at this point ?

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ESL: Do you have any words of encouragement for EnVyUs in their upcoming tournaments that you’d like to send to them?
Edouard: I really wish they could play pressure-free during the next tournaments so that DEVIL can learn and adapt to their playstyle. I believe this will make them or break them – they’ve got everything they need to shine, but they’re their own worst enemy. When they’re on point, they’re pretty much unstoppable. Allez les bleus!

Join Edouard and thousands of other CS:GO fans in Cologne!

ESL One Cologne 2015 was the world’s biggest CS:GO event, and this year’s edition is shaping up to be even bigger. Be sure not to miss out by joining us at the LANXESS Arena – get your ticket here now!

For all the key information about the event visit the ESL One Cologne official website, and follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

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