Mass begins!

Ah, G2.

Every time, you disappoint. We weren’t even expecting much.

Look, Movistar have been on a tear and haven’t really looked like losing. But we thought you’d at least get a map.

Just like OG in the past, G2 just comically fail at every tournament, in new and exciting ways. Wonder what the common denominator is..?

Movistar Riders, on the other hand, are finding new and exciting ways to cut through teams. They just refuse to lose - winning close games, winning dominant games, smashing through teams with rifle power, cutting attacks down with the AWP.

They - and keep it quiet - look like a top 5 team in the world at this moment in time. Shhh!

Another impressive team is NIP - who we’ve loved to hate in recent months, but we can’t any more. This team is legitimately very good. hampus, through multiple roster moves, illness and uncertainty has consistently guided NIP to top performances.

They 2-0’d Heroic in a very impressive first game.

Heroic will face off with MOUZ, who were surprisingly decent in their loss to NaVi. They took a map. At this point, we’ll take it.

G2, on the other hand, face off with ENCE in a spicy lower bracket game. Every game at Cologne is a banger. ENCE were toppled by Vitality, who recovered from a shaky performance against Sprout to glide past ENCE.

There was always something in the back of your mind telling you ENCE weren’t that good, and it was right. Well done you.

The final two games of the day were Cloud9 vs Outsiders - which we’re sure you can guess the result of - and Team Liquid vs Spirit, which was a BANGER.

YEKINDAR nailed four on the Scout in his second round, we got Patsi on peak form, it was a lovely one to watch. We don’t even care who won, as long as everyone had a good time.

(Spirit won, though.)

As ever, all games are here if you want to take a closer look.