IEM Cologne 2024 Preview

IEM Cologne 2024 is almost here, and with it, our preview! Check out what we have in store for one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

Play-In Phase

Complexity vs AlternateATTAX

Complexity comes into the tournament looking to continue their form from Jonkoping, where they won the Challengers event. With Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski still leading the charge for the NA-based squad, they’re looking to continue that form into Cologne. AlternateATTAX meanwhile are one of the two hometown teams coming from the German qualifier for the event. It’s unlikely Complexity struggle against the ATTAX, who have been mostly playing Tier 2 competition, winning some smaller events, which we don’t think will result in a spot in the Group Stage.

Eternal Fire vs Falcons

Coming off their recent roster changes, Falcons will be tested against one of the big Major feel-good stories. The Turkish squad haven’t really shown up since then, but they’re always a danger to top-tier teams courtesy of the talents of Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş and Özgür “woxic” Eker. Falcons are no slouches either, of course. With a solid second-place finish in Jonkoping, they’ll be looking to continue their streak. However, if we were betting on somebody, it’d be Eternal Fire.

Heroic vs MIBR

Heroic has been constantly shuffling their roster ever since their heyday and now, another one came as Nico “nicodooz” Tamiji was replaced by Abdul “degster” Gasanov. So far, the change hasn’t brought much in the way of success, but after only 2 months, it’s possible that they’re only starting to gel now. For MIBR, their roster has been going steady for a while, and a coaching change with Renato “nak” Nakano coming is yet to make a big difference. Heroic probably takes this one.

BetBoom vs 9z

The battle of two teams that probably won’t get far in the competition. BetBoom recently made the addition of Kiril “Magnojez” Rodnov, but otherwise both teams are pretty consistent in their roster and performance, very much seated in the second tier of pro Counter-Strike. If we were to bet, we’d probably put our money on 9z.

FURIA vs Imperial

This part of the bracket is pretty unfortunate, as two Brazilian teams face off against each other, and the second pair also feature the Brazilian paiN. FURIA have looked good with the addition of Felipe “skullz” Medeiros to the fold, qualifying for the quarterfinals at the ESWC, and getting to the semis at YaLLa Compass. Imperial meanwhile also made changes, benching Henrique “HEN1” Teles in favor of Argentinian Santino “try” Rigal from 9z’s bench. We don’t see Imperial winning here as we believe FURIA will once again prove to be the top Brazilian team.

Liquid vs paiN

Two more teams with recent roster changes, with João “snow” Vinicius joining paiN and Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak and Justin “jks” Savage joining Liquid. Evidently one addition is not like the others, with jks being an accomplished rifler wih a lod of experience, making us think that the Brazilians will head straight to the lower bracket.

FlyQuest vs BIG

The Australian outfit faces off against the hometown favorites in this one, with BIG looking solid after the addition of Rigon “rigoN” Dashi. It feels like the days of the Aussie upset are behind us and we fully expect BIG to make a run for the Group Stage in their home country.

TheMongolZ vs SAW

TheMongolZ are just on the brink of entering that elite tier of CS, but just can’t put it together. The outfit from the steppes will look to further their bid as the underdogs of the season against another team of single-nation upset specialists in SAW, who had quite a run in the Major, but haven’t really done much ever since. With the Mongolians winning YaLLa Compass and placing second in the Skyesports championships, we expect them to hold their nerve and beat SAW.

Group Stage

The eight teams that will go through the double-elimination barrage will face off against the seeded teams in the Group Stage in a bracket where the top team advances straight to the semis, while the second and third team head to the quarters.

Group A

Awaiting our contestants are eight qualified teams. Group A will see the qualified teams face off against the reigning Major and ESWC champs Na’Vi, the new look surprise ESWC runner-ups in G2, the ever-dangerous Team Spirit and… Astralis who are just kinda there. This group is probably the tougher of the two, as the three teams in it have been on a tear recently, and we expect them to qualify for the knockout stage.

Group B

Strong teams that can’t quite get results mark this group with MOUZ, FaZe, Vitality and Virtus.Pro being pretty stable, outside of the Russian outfit who added Denis “electronic” Sharipov to the mix recently. If there’s going to be an upset that sees a Play-In team take one of the top 3 spots, we can see any one of these teams having an off week and ending their Cologne journey early, with VP and Vitality seeming particularly vulnerable of late. We think that there may be surprises here.

And what do you think? Let us know on our social media, and if you want to rep any of these teams with some stickers, you can always get them cheap on PirateSwap, the best skin exchanger on the web!

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