There were some surprising results today at ESL One Cologne, and now the stage is set for the playoffs, which begins tomorrow.
Natus Vincere and BIG secured the last two playoff slots at the $300,000 tournament—they’ll play in the quarterfinals tomorrow, where Fnatic and G2 Esports await. Na’Vi and BIG survived the last day of the group stage over other big names like Renegades, North, ENCE, and especially MIBR, who were the defending Cologne champions.
Related: Na`Vi moves past Cloud9 at ESL One Cologne
The first decider match between Na’Vi and ENCE saw the new Finnish roster take map one Dust II from the CIS-region squad, thanks to Aleksi “allu” Jalli’s 32 top frag and late one-on-four clutch. Na’Vi responded with a strong Mirage, which they almost choked. Nonetheless they won in round 30, with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev being a huge factor at 31 kills and two clutches alongside Denis “electronic” Sharipov’s 30 kills. Nuke, the decider map, was a bit easier for Na’Vi, and they closed out the series over ENCE 2-1.
MIBR vs. BIG, on the other hand, felt like a tennis match, with both teams struggling to maintain control of the match momentum. After winning their map picks 16-9, Cache (BIG) and Overpass (MIBR), Inferno became the final stomping ground in the second decider match. MIBR won both pistol rounds, and that helped propel them to early leads in both halves before the Germans inched their way into the game. BIG came close to clinching the series early on, but Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo kept the Brazilians’ hopes alive with a one-on-two clutch in round 29. It was all in vain in overtime, however, as MIBR’s tactical strength faded going into BIG’s T side. BIG ended the series 2-1 with a round 42 victory, right before MIBR could force a third overtime, despite being outfragged.
Group A
Winners’ Match
Astralis vs. G2 Esports
- Astralis won Dust II 19-16
- Astralis won Nuke 16-4
Decider Match
Natus Vincere vs. ENCE Esports
- ENCE won Dust II 16-14
- Na’Vi won Mirage 16-14
- Na’Vi won Nuke 16-7
Group B
Winners’ Match
FaZe Clan vs. Fnatic
- FaZe won Overpass 16-4
- Fnatic won Mirage 16-11
- FaZe won Inferno 16-1
Elimination Matches
BIG vs. Renegades
- Renegades won Dust II 16-13
- BIG won Train 16-12
- BIG won Inferno 19-17
MIBR vs. North
- North won Mirage 16-14
- MIBR won Overpass 16-9
- MIBR won Inferno 16-12
Decider Match
BIG vs. MIBR
- BIG won Cache 16-9
- MIBR won Overpass 16-9
- MIBR won Inferno 22-20
The quarterfinal stage of ESL Cologne begins tomorrow at 8am CT, featuring a classic matchup between Fnatic and Na’Vi. G2 vs. BIG will follow right after at 11:30am CT. Astralis and FaZe will have the day off tomorrow since they finished in first place in their respective groups.
