Every summer, we can expect competitive Counter-Strike 2 to head to the German city of Cologne for a major tournament. This Intel Extreme Masters event is one of the biggest of the year, and it's regarded as the Cathedral of Counter-Strike because of how close it happens to the famed cathedral in the city.
This year, IEM Cologne happens between July 23 and August 3, and with $1 million on the line, the 24 attending teams have now been confirmed. Eight of the rosters have earned direct qualification to Stage 2, and the remaining 16 will need to survive and progress out of Stage 1. Here's how each team stacks up.
Stage 1:
- GamerLegion
- FaZe Clan
- Astralis
- 3DMax
- Heroic
- Team Liquid
- Virtus.pro
- Furia
- Complexity
- Tyloo
- MiBR
- B8
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- BIG
- PaiN Gaming
- FlyQuest
Stage 2:
- Team Vitality
- Mouz
- Team Spirit
- Team Falcons
- The MongolZ
- Aurora Gaming
- G2 Esports
- Natus Vincere
The big question will be whether Team Vitality can continue its recent mega run of results, and progress onwards towards securing a back-to-back Intel Grand Slam title.
