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The biggest CS:GO event of the month by far is the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne. This is a LAN tournament with live fans. 24 of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams from all around the world are duking it out for a chance to win the lion’s share of the $1 million prize pool. The event began on July 6th, and it will run until July 18th.
You have probably checked out some IEM Cologne predictions before the event but now the group stage has ended we thought you might like an update on the event.
IEM Cologne Updates
The biggest upset in the group stages of IEM Cologne was the ascendancy of FaZe Clan. After a series of poor results, the newest iteration of FaZe Clan knocked Heroic out of the running. Right after winning the ESL Pro League this April, Heroic was beaten by a team that only recently dropped out of the top 30 CS:GO teams.
The group stages have already come and gone. We are now left with the finals of the event. They kick off this Friday and we are going to see some amazing matches. The teams that qualified for the playoffs are as follows:
- Gambit Esports: nafany, sh1ro, interz, Ax1Le, Hobbit
- Natus Vincere: s1mple, electronic, Boombl4, Perfecto, B1T
- FaZe Clan: rain, olofmeister, broky, Twistzz, karrigan
- Virtus Pro: buster, qikert, Jame, SANJI, YEKINDAR
- Astralis: dupreeh, Xyp9x, gla1ve, Magisk, Bubzkji
- G2 Esports: JaCkz, AmaNEk, nexa, huNter-, NiKo
These are the line ups for the playoffs this weekend:
July 16
9am CT: Quarterfinal No. 1
Virtus.pro vs Astralis
12:15pm CT: Quarterfinal No. 2
Gambit vs FaZe Clan
July 17
9am CT: Semifinal No. 1
G2 Esports vs TBD
12:15pm CT: Semifinal No. 2
Natus Vincere vs TBD
July 18
9am CT: Grand Finals (best-of-five)
It all goes down on http://twitch.tv/esl_csgo
Other CS:GO events this month
LPL Pro League 2021 Season 8
The Let’s Play Live Pro League is an Australian online esports tournament hosted by (you guessed it) Let’s Play Live. They are an esports media company and tournament organizer and their events are a great chance to check out some of the lesser known teams in the Oceania region.
The event will run from July 13th to August 29th this year and we will get to see some interesting Australian teams:
- Dire Wolves
- Rooster
- Paradox
- R!OT
- BBBMBCBS
- Animal Squad
- FURY
WePlay Academy League 2021
This is a really interesting event. Recently the media holding company and esports tournament organiser WePlay Esports launched the WePlay Academy League. This is a new CS:GO competition for young talent. The players must be between the ages of 16 to 20, this is not exact, but the rules state that at least four out of the five members of each team must fall within that age range.
The teams taking part in this new event include Astralis Talent, Fnatic Rising, FURIA Academy, mouz NXT, NAVI Junior, BIG. OMEN Academy, Young Ninjas and VP.Prodigy. These are all academy teams from major esports organisations. This is definitely an event to check out if you are interested in the CS:GO pros of the future.
A WePlay Esports spokesperson commented:
“WePlay recognises the necessity to develop the next generation of players, and through WAL, youngsters will be able to make a name for themselves and gain the first-hand experience competing in a high-profile tournament.”
The WePlay Academy League Season 1 will on July 19th. The competition will start with an online group stage, which will run through to August 8th.
The four highest-ranked teams will then qualify for offline playoffs taking place from August 27th to 29th at the WePlay Esports Arena in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Some of the best teams in the world are competing at IEM Cologne. We may see an interesting upset if FaZe Clan continues their remarkable run of games. If you want to check out the future of the CS:GO professional scene, make sure you check out the WePlay Academy League.
