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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Vitality stay alive in the LANXESS.
SAW got on the wrong end of the hornets’ stingers and MOUZ once again succumb to their stage yips.
The first semifinal of IEM Cologne turned out to be a lopsided match, but the signature electrifying atmosphere was still very much alive.
While the crowd was pretty much indifferent to SAW yesterday, today it felt like their magical run was starting to win everyone over.
On the other side, it’s hard to rival the excitement of Vitality’s fan group, the Golden Hornets.
Standing right beside them, their nonstop chants made it feel like we were at a football match. Their energy is unmatched, and that probably gave the team a boost on the server.
SAW came out swinging in the first half of Nuke, but Vitality quickly shut them down on the T side, with apEX leading the charge.
The man wasn’t just calling the shots — he was taking them too. What a way to turn back the years.
Unfortunately for SAW, broky was not playing today, and Vitality continued their dominance on Dust 2 with a strong performance from ZywOo.
SAW had zero chances. apEX also kept the momentum going, delivering an incredible 1.77 rating performance across the series.
Even arrozdoce admitted they simply got outclassed.
Ultimately, SAW have every reason to be happy about their performance. What an incredible run — they made an entire nation proud. We’re excited to see what the future holds for the Portuguese squad, especially the young guns.
In the end, one lesson was clear: stay away from the hive.
It was once again heartbreak for MOUZ on the big stage as they lost two tight maps to a domineering NAVI team.
There was an air that MOUZ had beaten their stage demons yesterday. But the MOUZ-supporting section of the crowd was quickly silenced as NAVI strung together rounds early on to pick up a 7-1 lead.
Jimpphat almost salvaged a big round for MOUZ with two kills out of three in the clutch, but he fell to the third, and MOUZ ended the half with only a third of their opponent’s rounds.
When b1t mowed down siuhy to get into the B site on the pistol round, and torzsi was found out in a deep spot on ramp, it felt like the game was over — but a miraculous force-buy win and an uncomfortable conversion gave MOUZ an avenue back in.
Which, in fairness, they took.
MOUZ shut out NAVI, who only took two more rounds after the pistol and were pegged back all the way to overtime. Brollan was opening up rounds consistently (he was 7-1 in regulation in opening duels) and his teammates had his back.
Sadly, though, it was all to no avail. MOUZ went up 14-13 in OT, but NAVI tripled down on the CT side, including a mandatory 2v2 retake on the A site that in truth, MOUZ should have won - and probably would have if the stakes were lower.
They even won a round where b1t threw a nade at w0nderful for some reason.
NAVI scraped through to Mirage, 1-0 up, but they started poorly on their signature map. xertioN was running amok and was far and away the best player on the server for most of the map, and he powered MOUZ to an 8-2 lead.
NAVI stayed in it and collected the last two, with w0nderful winning a 1v2, before b1t mowed down three on the second pistol to give life to the MOUZ-hunters.
Having said that, the hometown (ish) team stabilised and looked to be pushing us to Ancient before they lost an eco-round in bizarre fashion. jL hit a stonking Deagle headshot the length of mid, before b1t hopped through a molotov, double-dinked one with the USP, and then got a kill with the AK.
It was an almost unlosable round, except for MOUZ.
They still had a chance, though. Aleksib was having a rough game and his B site was vulnerable, so MOUZ snuck in and found rounds there — but it was the Finnish IGL who stood tallest in the big moment.
With the game on a knife-edge, Aleksi won a 1v2 to get himself to six kills, then a double — including a 1v1 — in round 24 to seal NAVI’s win.
Now we’re f–ing talking.
Team Vitality. Natus Vincere. Two teams enter, one leaves in ignominy, the other in glory.
IEM Cologne will crown one of you the Archbishop (we used to fall asleep in Religious Education) of the Cathedral.
Games don’t get much bigger than this, and we’ve got two of the best in the bloody business going toe-to-toe in a BO5. If Carlsberg made Sundays, it wouldn’t look anything like this, because Carlsberg is disgusting. But if Peroni made Sundays…
Vitality were completely untested in their semi-final as they romped to a win over SAW, while NAVI actually had to work for theirs, but they both looked excellent in different ways. You’d be hard-pressed to say this wasn’t the best final possible.
We’re certainly excited. We’ve just bought some nappies, so we won’t have to leave the arena at any point. So don’t sit next to us if you value your sense of smell. This is as good as it gets in Counter-Strike, esports, or any kind of competition.
ZywOo. w0nderful. b1t. jL. Spinx. FlameZ. mezii. iM. Aleksib.
They’re all brilliant players, and it’s going to be incredible.
Did we forget anyone? Well, if we did, they can’t have been that important. It’s not like they’d ever put up a clip of the day or anything.
