Team Spirit, G2 Esports, FUT Esports and 9z Team moved to the brink of advancement with a pair of wins apiece on the opening day of Stage 2 play of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major in Germany on Saturday.
Each of the teams need just one more win in any of their next three potential matches to advance out of Stage 2, which features 16 Counter Strike: Global Offensive teams battling June 6-9 for the eight spots available in Stage 3. A team clinches its spot in the next stage once it reaches three wins.
At the other end of the spectrum, B8, FlyQuest, paiN Gaming and GamerLegion will need to win their next three matches in order to advance after losing both of their matches on Saturday to start Stage 2 with 0-2 records.
Stage 2 play began Saturday with the 16-team Swiss System format. After Saturday morning’s Round 1 matches, the teams were split into High and Low groups for Saturday afternoon’s Round 2 matches.
All Saturday matches were best-of-one. Advancement and elimination matches, which begin Sunday, are best-of-three.
9z beat FlyQuest 13-9 on Dust II in its first match and Astralis 13-5 on Nuke in its second match. Chile’s Matias “HUASOPEEK” Ibanez was one of four 9z competitors to finish with exactly 31 kills between the day’s two matches.
FUT Esports beat B8 13-11 on Ancient and followed with a 13-9 triumph on Overpass over TYLOO. Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko of Ukraine led FUT’s 2-0 day with a combined 33 kills.
G2 Esports beat M80 13-8 on Mirage and finished its day with a 22-19 marathon win over Monte. Israel’s Guy “NertZ” Iluz led G2 with 52 kills.
Team Spirit dominated BetBoom Team 13-5 on Mirage and then throttled MIBR 13-1 on Mirage once more. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets comfortably led Spirit in each of its matches, finishing with 44 kills on the day.
Monte, Legacy, Astralis, TYLOO, BetBoom Team, M80, MIBR and BIG each won and lost a single match on Saturday and will face off in 1-1 matches on Sunday where they can neither advance nor be eliminated.
The top eight finishers in Stage 2 advance to Stage 3, where they will be joined by Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, FURIA and MOUZ.
Teams are competing for their share of $1.25 million with the grand final scheduled for June 21 — and the champion receives $500,000.
Sunday schedule
Round 3 high matches (Advancement)
G2 Esports vs. FUT Esports
Team Spirit vs. 9z Team
Round 3 mid matches
Monte vs. Legacy
Astralis vs. TYLOO
BetBoom Team vs. M80
MIBR vs. BIG
Round 3 low matches (Elimination)
B8 vs. GamerLegion
FlyQuest vs. paiN Gaming
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-11. $15,000
12-14. $15,000
15-16. $15,000
17-19. $10,000
20-22. $10,000
23-24. $10,000
25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid
28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC
31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports
–Field Level Media
