Stage 1 of the IEM Cologne Major hasn’t necessarily had the greatest CS, the most tactically-sound CS, or the most beautiful CS to watch, but it was definitely the most… entertaining CS we’ve witnessed.

From illegal jumpshots to crazy comebacks, with one too many derbys mixed in as well, the opening salvo of the Cathedral Major had it all.

0-3

SINNERS had the most disappointing exit of the Major so far. Even we had decent hopes for them, and yet with losses to FlyQuest, NRG, and TYLOO, the EU-mix saw their sticker stocks soar about as high as their plane back home would.

Gaimin Gladiators just came in to say hi, play some of the worst CS imaginable, and leave again. Aight.

1-3 and 2-3

THUNDER dOWNUNDER had a pretty okay start, winning their opening Bo1 against MIBR and giving B8 some work on Dust 2, only to then shit the bed against BIG and lose the Aussie showdown to FlyQuest, both in and out of the server.

Sharks had koala tootin’ and hollerin’ against his opponents, which didn’t stop them from going all the way down to elimination following their win against a bleak Heroic on day one.

Speaking of a bleak Heroic, those guys really need to fix their roles because they looked so lost in all their matches, except of course against GG-go-next-merchants Gaimin.

Lynn Vision, Liquid, and NRG all made it to the last day but failed at the final hurdle, with the first losing the Asian derby to TYLOO, the second choosing to float their opponents best map in the veto, and the last proving the NA choke meme is definitely still alive.

3-1 and 3-2

The aforementioned opponents above obviously did the opposite of what we just wrote and moved on to Stage 2, with a special mention for BIG - but more on that comeback further down.

Honestly, we commend GamerLegion for keeping their heads cool and only falling to an unstoppable Boombl4 who doesn’t care what four teammates he has.

MIBR had some first day jitters but looked convincing overall and really made us think why G2 would ever want to let kl1m go.

Meanwhile, the last remaining hope for NA fans and bonus team for German fans M80 had a convincing showing, only falling to the strong B8 in their 2-0 matchup.

3-0

BetBoom and B8. Three B’s and a B shaped number, but straight A’s for these guys as they move on undefeated and look to shake things up in Stage 2.