Previews and forecasts for IEM Cologne 2024 – the main tournament of the summer
The Play-In for IEM Cologne 2024 has ended in Cologne. This means that we have learned the last eight teams that will play at the main tournament of this summer. Its results turned out to be very surprising, for example, of all the teams that passed the first stage, only one was from Europe, the strongest region in Counter-Strike. Team Liquid, The MongolZ, Complexity, 9z, Falcons, FURIA, paiN and SAW earned their slots. The teams join Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, MOUZ, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, Virtus.pro and Astralis in the race for the prestigious trophy. But the teams have no time for training and rest; IEM Cologne 2024 starts immediately after the end of the Play-In. This can benefit the teams that qualified through it; the players are already accustomed to computers and have felt the tournament atmosphere, while the favorites have just arrived and have not yet remembered what it means to play in Cologne. In this article we will discuss the group stage of IEM Cologne 2024 and share forecasts for the playoff participants.
Group A – Natus Vincere, paiN, Astralis, 9z, G2 Esports, SAW, Team Spirit, The MongolZ
The main favorites in Group A are Natus Vincere, G2 Esports and Team Spirit. The funny thing is that these are the three teams that were top 1 this year. Natus Vincere occupy the first place in the HLTV rating right now, and G2 Esports are leading the Valve rating. Team Spirit occupied these positions before the start of the players’ vacation. However, this does not mean that the team has become weaker; it just failed to show its game at the Esports World Cup 2024 after a long break.
Of all three teams, Natus Vincere looks the most insecure. At BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, she lost twice to Team Liquid and generally did not look in the best shape. In the first match at IEM Cologne 2024, the team must cope with paiN, and then they will meet the winner of the Astralis vs 9z pair. While NAVI is unlikely to have any problems with the Danes, Natus Vincere may not be able to cope with the unpredictable favorite in the Argentines. 9z already has experience reaching the playoffs of big championships, this happened at IEM Dallas 2024. If the best team in the world approaches the meeting with an underestimation of the opponent, the Argentines have a good chance of reaching the finals of the upper bracket of the group.
SAW showed an excellent game at Play-In, but it will be extremely difficult for her in the main stage. The Portuguese have their first match with G2 Esports, and the new squad of the club no longer loses to outsiders and shows stable performance. But it will be extremely difficult for G2 themselves; they will face a meeting with Team Spirit, their main rival at IEM Cologne 2024. It is difficult to say who will emerge victorious from this meeting, but this will clearly be just the beginning and the teams may meet further in the playoffs or even in the grand final. At first glance, it seems that Team Spirit will win this confrontation, but anything can happen in it.
The MongolZ passed Play-In with great difficulty and the Asian team no longer looks like a full-fledged tier-1 team. The Mongols are facing big problems, and their first match is with Team Spirit, who will not forgive these mistakes and will simply destroy their opponents.
Group B – MOUZ, Falcons, Virtus.pro, Complexity, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, FURIA
Group B looks even more competitive than the first. Almost every participant can get out of it, and in the results it is quite possible to see many victories of outsiders. However, we see the main favorites as the new roster of Team Liquid, which has not lost a single match yet, Virtus.pro, who need to rehabilitate themselves after their failure at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, and Team Vitality, without which it is difficult to imagine the playoffs such a major championship as IEM Cologne 2024.
In the Play-In, Team Liquid won victories over paiN and FURIA, and in the main group stage the team will start with a match against FaZe Clan, which is experiencing its biggest decline in recent years. Team Liquid should emerge victorious from this meeting, and then Team Vitality or FURIA will be waiting for it. Most likely, the team will have to play with Vitality and this is another meeting where we can expect the underdog to win. Team Liquid is quite capable of finishing the group in first place and it is not yet clear who exactly will be able to stop it.
Virtus.pro begin their journey with a match against the Americans from Complexity. This is one of the weakest members of the group and if VP managed to work on her mistakes, she should cope in the debut match. Next, the team will meet with the winner of the pair MOUZ vs Falcons, and these rivals are also strong Virtus.pro, if she plays in her best form, MOUZ are no longer the same as at the beginning of the season and it is possible to beat them, and the Falcons are still far away to a high-quality game on the shooting range-1 stage.
Team Vitality have not been in the best shape lately, and IEM Cologne 2024 should be a turning point tournament for the squad. If the team fails again, they will definitely be waiting for a replacement. The dangers for the team will begin right from the first match, where they will face the unpredictable FURIA, who have found a new style of play and are performing much better than before. The Brazilians have a chance for an unexpected victory, but most likely, Team Vitality will still pull themselves together and with great difficulties, but will win the first match at IEM Cologne 2024. Further, the same problems await the team with Team Liquid and it is far from certain that this meeting will end in victory. However, in any case, a team like Vitality should come out of the lower bracket.
Like Play-In, the group stage of IEM Cologne 2024 can give us a lot of surprises and sensations. It is not at all necessary that every favorite will make it to the playoffs; there are no weak teams in Cologne and almost every championship participant has a chance to play at the legendary Spodek Arena. This makes watching IEM Cologne 2024 even more interesting. But what the championship will be like this year will only be shown by the matches themselves.
Who will make it to the playoffs of IEM Cologne 2024:
- Group A – Team Spirit, G2 Esports, 9z.
- Group B – Team Liquid, Virtus.pro, Team Vitality.