On August 7, one of the biggest Counter-Strike 2 tournaments will kick off in Germany — IEM Cologne 2024. The 24 best teams in the world will compete for a prize pool of one million dollars and the coveted trophy. A preview and the intrigues of the upcoming event are covered in this article by Bo3.gg.
Main Favorites of the Tournament
Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, and MOUZ are considered the main favorites for IEM Cologne 2024. NAVI confidently won the Esports World Cup 2024, and despite faltering a bit at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, it doesn't indicate a decline in their performance. It is likely that the lack of motivation for the BLAST tournament played a role, which will certainly be sufficient in Cologne. They are the winners of the first Major in CS2 history and champions of the Esports World Cup 2024; who can stop them?
Spirit has a completely opposite situation. The team began the second half of the year with a failure at the EWC, finishing only 5-8 despite being the main favorite. The situation improved significantly at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, but the opponents were much weaker — OG, Heroic with a substitute, and Complexity Gaming. Spirit still has donk, who can perform incredibly at any moment, maintaining their status as one of the favorites for the upcoming event.
MOUZ doesn't stand out with flashy performances, but this team impresses with its stability. They reached the top 4 in five out of the seven tournaments they participated in 2024, winning two of them. A mix of youth, high shooting skills, and composure makes them a formidable opponent and one of the main contenders for the trophy.
The Honeymoon Continues?
Next, let's talk about teams that made significant changes to their rosters and managed to surprise with their play after the competitive season resumed. G2 Esports and Team Liquid replaced two players each and changed their in-game leaders (IGL). What can we expect from them?
G2 started with an incredible performance at EWC 2024, literally crushing The Mongolz, Spirit, and Virtus.pro. Only NAVI managed to stop them in the tournament final. Then, at BLAST, G2 breezed through Group C and earned a slot at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024. If their "honeymoon" continues, they are quite capable of reaching the finals for the second time in a row and trying to defend their IEM Cologne champion title.
We have little information about the new Liquid roster so far — the team skipped the EWC and only played at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024. They went to Copenhagen as the underdogs of Group D, but something interesting happened. Liquid started with a win over VP and then defeated NAVI twice. What was that? It's still unclear. Was it underestimation by the opponents or the so-called "honeymoon"? We'll find out at IEM Cologne 2024.
Don't Expect Results from Them
FaZe Clan and VP are two teams currently in a period of stagnation. FaZe has looked very "heavy" over the past three months, struggling to win even against much weaker teams. It seems the players are experiencing burnout from CS2. Meanwhile, VP is still in the rebuilding process, with inconsistent performances and results. Therefore, don't expect a successful performance from these teams in Cologne.
The Dark Horse
FURIA Esports is the team that can surprise everyone at IEM Cologne 2024. By returning skullz to his comfort zone, the club management addressed both the personnel issues and helped the player rehabilitate after his failure in Liquid. At EWC, FURIA handled all opponents in the Play-In stage and reached the playoffs. Considering their recent results, this is already an excellent outcome and a sign of progress.
Yes, they lost to MOUZ in the quarterfinals, but they still put up a fight. This indicates that if FURIA continues to work hard in practice, they can challenge any opponent in Cologne and go far.
Local Teams
Another intrigue of IEM Cologne 2024 is whether local teams like BIG and ALTERNATE aTTaX can demonstrate a decent level of CS, make it to the playoffs, and perform in front of their home crowd. This is unlikely. BIG may have a chance to reach the group stage, but no more than that. The team simply cannot compete with serious opponents, as evidenced by both matches against NAVI at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
ALTERNATE looks like a team that accidentally made it to the event. They regularly finish at the bottom in tier-2/3 championships. For them, even reaching the group stage would be a fantasy. So, don't expect a repeat of 2018 when BIG made it to the final in Cologne.
IEM Cologne 2024 will run from August 7 to 18. Teams will compete for a prize pool of one million dollars. The champion will also earn slots for IEM Katowice 2025 and BLAST Premier: World Final 2024. Follow the tournament schedule and results through the provided link.
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