Who will advance to the IEM Cologne 2024 Grand Final? Predictions for the semi-final matches of the main summer tournament
The IEM Cologne 2024 playoffs have just started, but have already stunned us with unexpected results, and in both quarterfinals. While everyone was expecting to see high-profile matches between G2 Esports and Natus Vincere and Team Vitality and FaZe Clan, SAW and MOUZ advanced to the semi-finals. However, this does not make the upcoming matches less interesting, the Portuguese can still surprise, and MOUZ is capable of competing with NAVI. In this article, we will determine the predictions for the semi-finals of IEM Cologne 2024, but first, it is worth talking a little about the past quarterfinals.
Who left the IEM Cologne 2024 playoffs?
It seemed that the legendary comeback against Team Liquid should instill additional faith in their strength and additional motivation for FaZe Clan, and their opponent was not the most difficult, but the team of Finn karrigan Andersen failed to show a decent performance in the quarterfinals against SAW. IEM Cologne 2024 was another failure for the current FaZe roster and it is definitely worth thinking about some changes. Most likely, the team will wait with the reshuffles, but Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 will definitely be the last tournament for the current five. It’s not even about personal performance, the team simply stopped working as a single mechanism.
If FaZe Clan’s elimination can be attributed to the team’s poor form and uncertain performance in the group stage, no one expected such a low level of performance from G2 Esports. The team showed a beautiful CS after an unexpected defeat to SAW on the first day of the group stage of IEM Cologne 2024 and steamrolled all opponents. This inspired great faith in the team and everyone would like to see them in the grand final, but G2 Esports did absolutely nothing against MOUZ. Mistakes began at the map selection stage, G2 decided to pick Dust 2, which is a bit random, and not their strong Inferno. But even on Mirage, where the team destroyed everyone in the group stage, they failed to win. The new G2 Esports roster is still not well-coordinated and needs time to practice, but even now it could have achieved a better result at IEM Cologne 2024 than being eliminated in the quarterfinals.
IEM Cologne 2024 Semifinals
Team Vitality vs SAW
SAW’s path to IEM Cologne 2024 looks like a real fairy tale. The team that absolutely no one believed in, was able to beat The MongolZ, BIG, G2 Esports from the Play-In stage, compete on equal terms with Natus Vincere and in the playoff stage at one of the largest arenas in the world, sensationally send FaZe Clan home and find themselves in the semifinals of the main tournament of the summer. This result definitely deserves praise, but this is where the Portuguese team’s long run should end. Their next opponent will not be the lost FaZe, but Team Vitality, who are hungry for victories this year and are clearly ready to reach the grand final.
Team Vitality’s path to IEM Cologne 2024 was also extremely confident, but already as a favorite, not an outsider. The team started with a victory over FURIA, and then consolidated their success in meetings with FaZe Clan and MOUZ. In 2024, the team has already stopped a step away from the trophy a couple of times, but this time they are clearly determined to see it through to the end. And losing to an outsider is clearly not in their plans, this will be one of the easiest semi-finals for Team Vitality and a useful experience for SAW.
Natus Vincere vs MOUZ
It is much more difficult to predict the outcome of the second semi-final. It will feature two similar teams that play academic CS and no one really believed in either of them, but they managed to win several important tournaments in 2024. There are still big questions about the quality of MOUZ’s performance on the big stage in front of a huge audience, and the victory over G2 Esports looks more like a problem of the opponents themselves, who did not show their game, which was in the group stage of IEM Cologne 2024. In the group stage, MOUZ made many stupid mistakes, for example, losing a map to Falcons and almost repeating this mistake in the match with Complexity. The team had problems even with weak opponents, and against Team Vitality they showed nothing and were naturally destroyed in the upper bracket final. Natus Vincere, on the contrary, is holding an ideal championship. The team easily passed their opponents in the group stage, and only lost a map to SAW in the upper bracket final. The victory at the Esports World Cup 2024 has clearly inspired additional confidence and the team looks even better than during the victory at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Natus Vincere is the main favorite to win the IEM Cologne 2024 championship and is clearly not going to stop at the semi-finals.
For the grand final to be colorful, a victory for Team Vitality is vital. SAW has already made a beautiful journey as an underdog, but the Portuguese will not have even the slightest chance in the B05 match, especially on one of the biggest esports arenas in the world. Whoever turns out to be stronger in the Natus Vincere – MOUZ pair, it will be a worthy opponent for Team Vitality, but we are more inclined to win NAVI. The team has done a lot of work and deserves to be in another major grand final in 2024. It’s hard to say who will be the champion, but we are expecting a really cool finish to IEM Cologne 2024.
IEM Cologne 2024 semifinal predictions:
- Team Vitality 2:0 SAW
- Natus Vincere 2:1 MOUZ