IEM Cologne quarterfinals recap

On July 5, some of the finest CS:GO teams in the world kicked off their journey at the IEM Cologne 2022. Fans were thrilled to see their favorite teams participate, but the event far exceeded their hopes and featured some of the finest performances from well-known CS:GO players.

While the tournament has already seen a number of unexpected setbacks and comebacks, four teams remain in contention for the $1,000,000 prize. Some underrated teams beat all odds to make it to the Playoffs while the fan-favorite CS:GO teams, Astralis and Movistar Riders, dominated the competition and easily advanced past the Group Stage. The quarterfinals stage has finally concluded and two teams have moved one step closer to the

IEM Cologne quarterfinals recap

MOUZ vs. Astralis

The quarterfinal kicked off with a bang, pitting the  European CS:GO powerhouses against one another. Following a stunning comeback victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas, MOUZ qualified for the playoffs and maintained their momentum all the way to the quarterfinals.

The team dominated the first half of the match, establishing a gigantic 10-5 lead. As the rest of team Astralis remained cold, Benjamin “blameF” Bremer put up a valiant fight, but his efforts were simply insufficient to stop MOUZ. In the second half, MOUZ easily secured six more rounds, bringing the series to a stunning finish.

After dropping the first map, Astralis chose Nuke to kickstart their comeback and the team rallied to win seven straight games. Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás and Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras combined efforts allowed MOUZ to partially repair the damage, but they were unable to stop Astralis from winning two more games to start the second half with a 9-6 advantage.

MOUZ were only able to secure three more rounds before Asger “farlig” Jensen stepped up with phenomenal performance and sealed the map 16-9. Jon “JDC” de Castro, the star performer of the first game, tallied just four kills while handing out 17 deaths, marking his poorest performance at IEM Cologne.

The best-of-three series went to the third and deciding map Ancient with MOUZ dominated most of the first half, establishing a decent 9-6 lead. Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and blameF, however, turned the tables in the second half, dismantling MOUZ in ten rounds to seal the win. 

Movistar Riders vs. Team Liquid

Movistar came out hot in the Ancient, dominating Liquid on their own map pick. With the help of SunPayus’ excellent fragging abilities, the squad was able to take an 11-4 advantage into halftime. While Liquid attempted to mount a comeback by taking five more rounds, their efforts were, however, quickly thwarted by Movistar who went on to win the map 16-9.

Movistar picked Inferno as the second map of the series and left no stone unturned to transform it into eternal torment for Liquid. Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia once again put on a stellar performance as the team hammered Liquid in ten rounds during the first half to take a 10-5 lead. Despite the high pressure, Liquid managed to come back from a 5-10 deficit to win 16-14 with a brilliant performance from Joshua “oSee” Ohm and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski in the second half. With a K/D/A of 24/17/13 and 23/17/7, respectively, the duo kept North American hopes alive at IEM.

Vertigo, the decisive map in the series, saw Movistar Riders once again enjoy a strong CT side and take a 10-5 lead. In the second half, Liquid made an attempt to cut the deficit by winning back-to-back rounds, but Ral “DeathZz” Jordán Nieto swiftly halted their run by recording a staggering 32 kills while only conceding 15 casualties. Liquid came extremely close to equalizing the score, but the Spanish lineup stepped up their game in the last moment and sealed the quarterfinal series with an incredible victory.

IEM Cologne 2022 Semifinals Preview

After a brilliant performance against team Liquid, Movistar Riders are off to register another successful CS:GO event. They won the ESL Challengers Valencia earlier this month, and with a brilliant performance in the group stage and quarterfinals, the team is just two steps away from their first ever IEM title. Astralis, on the other side, dashed NA’s hopes by demolishing two of their top squads, FURIA and Cloud9 in the playoffs.

Movistar Riders and Astralis will face their biggest challenge at IEM in the form of FaZe Clan and NAVI, the two top teams in the CS:GO rankings. While the prominent teams G2, NIP, and Vitality disappointed the fans with a lacklustre performance, FaZe Clan and NAVI exceeded everyone’s expectations and ruled the group stage. 

FaZe advanced to the semifinals without losing a single map, while NAVI secured the semifinal seed by crushing MOUZ, NIP, and Movistar Riders in back-to-back matches. Tomorrow at 8:30 CT, Natus Vincere vs. Astralis will be the featured match in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. If there are no delays, the second match between FaZe and Movistar Riders will begin at 12 CT.

Header: ESL