The opener of the Cologne Major playoffs couldn’t have been better, with Aurora and BetBoom facing off and Wicadia dropping a crazy 3k Deagle clutch in round three. Round three!

If anyone in the arena wasn’t paying attention yet, they surely were now.

XANTARES was back to his old ways of decimating enemies with headshots - which apparently he gained back by throwing out his sticky mousepad - Boombl4 looked like he was back in Stage 1 form, and the crowd was roaring already.

Nuke was honestly chock-full of amazing plays from both teams, and even though things seemed pretty one-sided with the eventual 13-6 scoreline in favour of Aurora - it was a fun map to watch.

Which led us to map two, Anubis. Aurora’s pick, and they weren’t going to give it up for free.

d1ledez did his best (no rhyme intended) to get his team back in with some hero plays, but the writing was on the wall (in hieroglyphics), and Aurora closed it out 13-9 to make their way to the semis with a convincing 2-0.

This ends BetBoom’s incredibly long run since Stage 1, with the fifth IGL to manage such a run more than once having to pack up and go home empty handed.

As for Aurora, their opponent awaits them in the semis - but more on that below.