IEM Cologne 2022: Six CS:GO Teams Qualify for Playoffs
It is down to the final six teams!
Cover-Credits:
The IEM Cologne 2022 has reached its playoffs after a week of intense qualifiers that comprised of both the play-in stage and the group stage. Down to just the final six teams, its grand final is scheduled to take place from 15th to 17th July and features a total prize pool of $1,000,000 USD (INR 7,89,35,700).
This mega event had started with a total of 24 CS:GO teams on 5th July but now only the top six teams remain. Four teams have qualified for the quarterfinals and two teams getting have directly qualified for the semifinals.
The best part about the playoffs is that it will be taking place in front of a live audience at the prestigious LANXESS Arena in Cologne, Germany.
Six CS:GO teams qualify for the playoffs of IEM Cologne 2022
IEM Cologne 2022 started out with a total of 24 teams, 16 of them fought through the play-in stage while the remaining eight jumped ahead to the group stage. As both the stages of the event came an end, the competition has now dwindled down to the final six teams which will clash against each other in front of a live audience at the LANXESS Arena.
The six teams that have made it to the playoffs of the IEM Cologne 2022 are,
NAVI - Semifinals
FaZe Clan - Semifinals
Astralis - Quarterfinals
MOUZ - Quarterfinals
Movistar Riders - Quarterfinals
Team Liquid - Quarterfinals
NAVI
Giving another chance to the Ukrainian rifler, Viktor "sdy" Orudzhev, NAVI after starting out directly in 'Group-A' has gone on to win three matches in a row and has directly qualified for the semifinals of the IEM Cologne 2022.
The team started off a bit woozy against MOUZ, but went on to thrash NIP, before facing a determined Movistar Riders, now it is just one match away from reaching the grand finals.
FaZe Clan
The Antwerp champion has not looked in this great a form since its Major run. The international roster has not dropped a single map so far at IEM Cologne 2022, handing clean '2-0' defeats to 00 Nation, Team Spirit, and Astralis.
Astralis
The Danish esports organization seems to be finally getting its flow. After multiple failed attempts in previous tournaments, the team is looking to be in a much better condition. It beat FURIA and Cloud9 with a clean '2-0' scoreline before going down to FaZe. Eventually the team managed to secure a quarterfinals slot for itself.
MOUZ
The only remaining German esports organization which currently fields an international CS:GO roster without any German players has been the dark horse this tournament.
MOUZ has fought its way through the lower bracket of both the play-in stage and the group stage, showing a lot of heart and putting up great performances to reach the quarterfinals.
Movistar Riders
Building upon its momentum from the win at DreamHack Valencia 2022, the Spanish esports organization has fought neck-to-neck against some of the top CS:GO teams to secure itself a slot in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Team Liqud
The stand-in buff seems to be working in favor of the North American favorites. Liquid dropped its opening match against Team Spirit but followed through in an excellent manner to survive the lower bracket nerves to make it all the way into the playoffs.
All the six teams that will be competing in the playoffs are looking in great shape. Will we get to see a repeat clash between NAVI and FaZe Clan in the grand finals of the IEM Cologne 2022 or could it be a match between the dark horse MOUZ and Movistar Riders? This playoff will surely witness a myriad of stellar performances from all the teams.
