The IEM Cologne 2023 team list has finally been locked in and fans aren’t going to be disappointed. A bulk of the worlds top 20 will be in attendance at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, all vying for their slice of the $1 million USD prize pool.
However, of that same top 20, three teams will be notably absent from the tournament. BIG, Virtus Pro, and OG will miss out on Cologne, set to begin following the player break on July 25.
The top eight teams in the world have already muscled their way into the Group Stage, according to HLTV rankings, leaving the remaining rosters clawing their way through the double-elimination bracket in the Play-Ins. Unfortunately, with BIG, Virtus Pro, and OG’s failure to qualify, fans almost received the dream event featuring every team in the top 20.
Teams could either qualify via peak tournament placings or through the rankings established by ESL. All three aforementioned teams failed to win events nor place highly in the season, leaving them sitting outside ESL’s top 20.
While Virtus Pro and BIG attempt to re-establish some notoriety in the CS:GO scene, OG’s main goal in the interim is just to field a full roster in the first place. The international org has had a rotating door of IGLs, with Nemanja “nexa” Isaković’s replacement Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen leaving the roster last week following the end of OG’s season.
Virtus Pro’s win at IEM Rio (then under the Outsiders tag) is all but lost to time with the squad falling heavily since the November 2022 tournament. The squad made the playoffs of IEM Katowice but fell flat at ESL Pro League Season 17.
Dzhami “Jame” Ali’s men bounced back to all but sweep their way to a win at ESL Challenger Katowice last week, thus qualifying the team for a spot at EPL Season 18, but decaying points see them drop out of qualification for Cologne.
BIG’s downfall is all but complete following their failure to qualify for their home tournament. Even more embarrassing for the team, their Academy squad will be present at the Play-In after qualifying via ESL Meiserschaft. It begs the question, just how long can BIG continue with their first roster given the talent coming through via their academy system?
Related: Live Counter-Strike 2023 roster tracker: CS:GO signings and rumors ahead of CS2 release
Cologne 2023’s stacked line-up only just fails to match up with prior events in the same location. 2022’s selection edged out 2023’s by only one top 20 team. IEM Cologne 2022 featured 18 top 20 teams in the CS:GO landscape.
A stacked lineup for the tournament isn’t the only thing fans can look forward to at IEM Cologne.
CS2’s “summer 2023” arrival is slowly getting closer, and Cologne has been discussed to be the first top-tier Counter-Strike 2 event. While it’s not set in stone, ESL has remained “cautiously optimistic” the tournament could be CS2’s first.
With any luck, we’ll be seeing the best of the best in the updated Source 2 engine in six weeks.
