IEM XVI Cologne Favorites

IEM XVI Cologne is a $1 million CS:GO event scheduled to take place between July 6^th – 18^th. The tournament features 24 of the world’s strongest teams and in this article, I will take a closer look at 5 of them.

IEM XVI Cologne Favorites

Based on what I’ve seen in 2021 and the statistics offered to us by sites like hltv, the favorites to win Intel Extreme Masters XVI Cologne are the following 5 teams:

• Gambit Esports
• Natus Vincere
• G2 Esports
• Heroic
• Ninjas in Pyjamas

Here’s a brief analysis of each of these teams.

Gambit Esports

2021 propelled Gambit from decent (15^th globally) to the status of number 1 team in the world. In the place where once stood Astralis, now stands a CIS squad that nobody was talking about just a few years ago. And what’s great about its roster is that everybody is contributing. There’s no main carry here. Just a well-rounded crew with a great IGL and a great set of strategies.

One of Gambit’s main strengths is youth. Their average player age is 21.4 and everyone’s from the CIS region. Needless to say, these guys are hungry to win titles and make some money while they’re at it. You can probably imagine their parents, who were yelling at them until around 2018 for playing video games all day, come to the realization that what they make in a year, their kids make in a few weeks.

Gambit’s results in 2021 are simply spectacular: 1^st place at IEM XV World Championship, 1^st place at Pinnacle Cup I, 2^nd place at ESL Pro League Season 13, 2^nd place at DreamHack Masters Spring 2021, 1^st place at IEM XVI Summer, and again 1^st place at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2021.

Needless to say, Gambit enters the race at IEM XVI Cologne as the favorite.

Natus Vincere

Na’Vi is currently playing with 6 players instead of 5, a situation that’s rather unusual for them. In 2021, the CIS squad competed in 3 Grand Finals of big events and won two of them. By far, their most important and lucrative win was at BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020. And since two of these 3 Grand Finals took place in the last 2 months, it’s clear that Na’Vi’s in great shape right now. The only team they can’t seem to beat is Gambit. The last time they succeeded in doing this was in May, in the Grand Final of DreamHack Masters Spring 2021.

Na’Vi’s main weakness is also its main strength: s1mple. His 2.0 rating of 1.31 says it all. If he gets a good day, the chances of victory go up dramatically. If he’s been lazy or arguing with his girlfriend in the last week, you might see his team lose to unthinkable opponents. More often than not, s1mple plays exceptionally well and manages to carry his team. But keep in mind that everyone’s relying on him to get the job done. In that sense, Na’Vi’s system is very different from Gambit’s. And that’s why is less effective.

G2 Esports

I think it’s safe to say that G2’s new roster has reached maturity. NiKo has been fully integrated and we can now say that this is a top 4 team, in the sense that you can rely on them to finish in the top 4 or at least top 6 at every event. Unless they encounter the likes of Na’Vi or Gambit in an elimination match, G2 won’t fail to deliver.

In the past few months, G2 finished 3^rd or 3^rd – 4^th at 4 consecutive tournaments. And when they lost a big match, it was always against Na’Vi, Gambit, or NiP. This is the kind of consistency that allows you to make easy predictions. If a team wins against most of the other opponents but when it loses it’s always against the same top competitors, then you know they have a solid system, even though that system only allows them to go so far.

Heroic

Heroic is currently ranked 4^th and even though it’s been on a slight decline, this team is still in great shape. We know this because of the caliber of opponents they succeed in defeating. Apart from the team’s recent failure at IEM Summer 2021, where they lost against Evil Geniuses and NiP in two consecutive matches, Heroic’s last few months have been a big success.

Since that spectacular victory against Gambit in the Grand Final of ESL Pro League Season 13, the Danish squad finished in the top 4 at 3 important events: BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021, DreamHack Masters Spring 2021, and Flashpoint Season 3.

At Intel Extreme Masters XVI Cologne, I expect Heroic to finish in the top 6.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Since dev1ce has joined the Swedish organization, its results have gone up significantly. The Danish player was signed at the end of April and just 5 weeks later, NiP finished 2^nd at Flashpoint Season 3. Then came several tough tournaments in which they got decent but not spectacular results. Now, after more than 2 months of practice with their new roster, I think that NiP is ready to show the world what it’s capable of.

At the moment, NiP’s global rank is 5^th. When dev1ce joined, it was 13^th. The team’s most recent matches were a bit discouraging: 1 – 2 against ENCE and 1 – 2 against mousesports. But I still believe that NiP will get a top 6 result at IEM XVI Cologne. The team’s roster is simply too good to not make the Playoffs.

 

Photo credit: IEM|Stephanie-Lindgren