Before Tuesday��s final group-stage series, Heroic, ENCE, Team Vitality and G2 Esports had already qualified for the playoffs, with ENCE and G2 going straight through to the semi-finals after winning their respective upper-bracket group finals.

ENCE and Heroic played out a three-map series, with both teams winning their respective map picks, Nuke (ENCE) and Overpass (Heroic).

It took all 30 rounds on the final map, but the world number five ended the world number one��s nine-match win streak, relegating Heroic to the quarter-finals.

.@ENCE ARE GOING TO THE SEMI FINALS OF #IEM COLOGNE 2023!

They manage to take down @heroicgg on the third and final map of the series

16-5 Nuke
8-16 Overpass
16-14 Mirage pic.twitter.com/rpl0wY2Xx6

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 1, 2023

The second of the two upper-bracket finals featured another two top-five teams, with world number two Team Vitality taking on world number three G2 Esports.

However, this series would turn out to be quite the opposite of the other final, as Team Vitality took G2��s map pick (Inferno) in overtime before then giving up their own map pick (Vertigo) as G2 extended the series to the third map, Mirage.

Although G2��s counter-terrorist efforts had been lacking during the series, it was their CT side on Mirage that won them the series, as they recorded an 8-1 second half to wrap up the map 16-8 and book their place in the semi-finals.

SEMI-FINALS FOR G2 @G2esports take down the most recent major winners @TeamVitality 2-1 to already make the #IEM Cologne top 4!

Could it be Katowice & Cologne in the same year? pic.twitter.com/5Le4yqzg9V

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 1, 2023

Meanwhile, the lower-bracket final for Group A also took place on Tuesday, with Cloud9 taking down GamerLegion in another tight three-map series.

GamerLegion took the opening map 16-11 before Cloud9 returned serve with their own map win with the exact same scoreline, sending the series to a deciding map.

Much like the upper-bracket finals, this clash went to Mirage for the final map, and it was Cloud9 who ran out victors after claiming a 19-17 win in overtime.

The Group B lower-bracket final featured the new rosters of Natus Vincere and Astralis, where Oleksandr ��s1mple�� Kostyliev would be looking for his seventh-straight appearance at the IEM Cologne playoffs.

However, after an enthralling three-map series, NaVi and s1mple failed to advance to the final weekend, meaning that Astralis would be back in the playoffs at IEM Cologne for a third-straight year.

The quarter-finals will kick off on Friday at LANXESS Arena, with the opening series set to start at 3:30pm CEST.

Friday’s quarter-final series

• Team Vitality ($1.44) vs Cloud9 ($2.70) @ 3:30pm CEST
• Heroic ($1.50) vs Astralis ($2.50) @ 7pm CEST

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The second week of IEM Cologne will continue on Monday, with the remaining matches of the group stage finishing by Wednesday, before the playoffs begin on Friday.

By Friday, we will be left with the final six teams who will battle it out in a single-elimination bracket, with only one team walking away with the IEM Cologne trophy and the US$400,000 winners cheque.

Some of the key leagues and tournaments taking place in the esports world this week include:

• CS:GO IEM Cologne

  The world’s top four ranked teams; Team Vitality, Heroic, FaZe Clan and G2 Esports, opened their campaign with solid wins and they have all put themselves in good positions to qualify for the playoffs on the final weekend.

  Most esports betting sites still have Team Vitality as the $4.00 favourite to take out IEM Cologne, closely followed by Heroic ($4.33), FaZe Clan ($6.00) and G2 Esports ($6.00).

  Check out our extensive IEM Cologne betting guide to get the latest odds and tournament information.

• Rocket League Championship Series – World Championship

  The final event of the RLCS 2022-23 season will be the US$2.1 million RLCS World Championship, which will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, and will kick off on Thursday, August 3.

  The top 24 Rocket League teams in the world will be present in Dusseldorf for the World Championship, with the wildcard stage taking place over the first three days, before the group stage starts on Monday, August 7.

  Most esports betting sites have Team Vitality as the $4.50 favourite to take out RLCS World Championship, closely followed by Team BDS ($5.50), Karmine Corp ($6.00) and Gen.G Mobil1 Racing ($7.00).

  Check out our extensive RLCS World Championship betting guide to get the latest odds and tournament information.

• LPL Summer Playoffs

  The final two series of the 2023 LPL Summer split will take place this week, with the lower-bracket final between Bilibili Gaming and LNG Esports set to be played on Tuesday, August 1.

  The pre-split bookmakers favourite, JD Gaming, await the winner of the series in the grand final, which will be played on Saturday, August 5.

  Check out our extensive LPL betting guide to get the latest odds and tournament information.

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The news of Ax1Le’s absence came about after the team released a statement on the Cloud9 CS:GO Twitter page, explaining ��technical issues at the visa processing centre�� had delayed his arrival to Cologne, Germany.

Cloud9 CS:GO IEM Cologne roster update pic.twitter.com/AvQqpqSSLC

— Cloud9 CS:GO (@C9CSGO) July 27, 2023

Cloud9 fans will have to wait a little longer for the debut of the new roster, with the organisation expecting Ax1Le to arrive and join his teammates for the playoffs, if they are to qualify.

There is no doubt that Cloud9 will be up against it during the group stage without Ax1Le, as he is their highest-rated player over the last three months.

His replacement, buster, was benched by Cloud9 earlier this month to make way for their new signings, Denis ��electroNic�� Sharipov and Ilya ��Perfecto�� Zalutskiy, who made the switch from Natus Vincere during the player break.

Cloud9 are considered one of the main chances at IEM Cologne, with esports betting sites marking them at $7.00 in outright betting.

Cloud9 will begin their campaign in Cologne against play-in qualifiers Fnatic on Saturday at 12:30pm CEST.

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This victory comes as a surprise to many, as Team Liquid had built up significant momentum heading into 2023, having achieved top-four finishes at tournaments such as ESL Pro League Season 16, BLAST Fall Finals, and the BLAST World Final. In their previous encounter, Liquid had emerged victorious against OG in the semifinals of the BLAST World Final. Despite this, OG’s players Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov, and in-game leader Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi? delivered outstanding performances, with each player getting over 50 kills across the two maps, ultimately leading to OG’s victory.

Ancient was the first map of the game and it was chosen by OG, being one of their best-performing maps. The franchise started the map with an early lead and ended the first half of the map with a 10-6 lead with degster pulling a 1v2 clutch.

The second half was a round shy of a blowout as Shahar “flameZ” Shushan secured 3 AK kills on the bombsite to set OG on map point. Liquid were restricted to snatching only a round as the game went in favor of OG at a 16-6 scoreline.

Liquid took charge of the second map, Nuke, and were close to forcing a decider map in Overpass. However, degster and nexa led a comeback with 3 quick AWP kills and 4 M4A4 kills to force overtime.

OG’s performance in the match was truly remarkable. They played with great coordination and strategy, and their players showed excellent individual performances. NEOFRAG, degster, and nexa’s teamwork and aim were on point, and they were able to outplay Liquid’s players. OG’s defense on Nuke, in particular, was exceptional, as they were able to hold off Liquid’s relentless attacks and secure the overtime win.

Team Liquid, on the other hand, had a disappointing performance in this match. They made several mistakes, and their players were not able to match the level of play of OG’s players. Liquid’s rifler Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski acknowledged the team’s mistakes, calling it a “frustrating loss” in the post-game interview.

This victory is a huge boost for OG’s morale and confidence, as they will now advance to the Group B Upper Bracket Final. The European franchise will take on FaZe Clan for an opportunity to seal a spot at the Grand Final and possibly secure a direct spot at the Spring Finals main event. According to GG.BET, OG are outsiders with odds set at $2.43, and FaZe Clan heavy favorites with odds of $1.55.

Liquid’s loss to OG will see them move down to the lower bracket semifinal. The North American franchise will go head to head with Complexity, who were defeated by OG in the earlier fixture of the Group. The matchup which will hold on January 22, has Liquid as the most preferred team to win the game with odds pegged at $1.27 on GG.BET.

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?S1mple was awarded the medal by the Intel esports marketing manager, George Woo, after suffering a 3-2 loss to FaZe Clan earlier. After it was placed on him by the marketing manager, the Ukrainian superstar reportedly took it off his neck, glanced at the medal, and seemed to get into a conversation with a fan standing not far from the stage. The conversation ended with s1mple tossing the medal to the fan as the crowd cheered. ?

?
While his actions can be perceived to have been born out of the anger of losing the opportunity to become the number one team in the world and partake in the huge prize money, s1mple gave another reason for his actions. While being interviewed by HLTV after the match, the NaVi star denied any claims that his actions were born out of his frustration of losing; instead, he remarked that his bag had little space for another medal.?

?��No,�� s1mple said. ��I��m just traveling all the time with my bag, and I don��t have place for the big DHL MVP [laughs]. And this medal is�� too many medals inside this bag, you know, I need to save them for home.��? ?

Besides the runner-up medal, HLTV gave the Ukrainian the title of the Most Valuable Player of the IEM Cologne 2022 tournament. ?Despite losing to FaZe Clan, he was said to have outperformed the best players in the franchise, such as Helvijs ��broke�� Saukants and Russell ��Twistzz�� Van Dulken.

Aside from the medals awarded, NaVi and FaZe Clan both won cash prizes of $180,000 and $400,000, respectively.? ?NaVi have the advantage in the last seven head-to-head matchups, having won four times. FaZe previously won the 2022 PGL Major Antwerp after a clean sweep over NaVi. ? ?

The IEM Cologne grand finals best-of-five series started with FaZe taking an early lead. NaVi won the next two maps and were merely a map away from emerging victorious.? ?FaZe ended up winning Mirage and tied the game at 2-2, forcing a fifth map. FaZe snatched the win in the final map to become champions.? ?According to Esports Charts, the 2022 IEM Cologne grand finals became the most watched non-major CS:GO match, with a peak viewership of around 1.25 million people.

?FaZe are now a tournament win away from emerging as the Intel Grand Slam champions and taking home the $1 million cash prize. If the franchise does win the prize in October during the ESL Pro League Season 16, it would be the fourth team to claim it. The previous winners of the tournament include Astralis, Team Liquid, and NaVi.? ?

NaVi will make their next appearance in mid-August at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 and thereafter at the ESL Pro League Season 16 by the end of August, before the 2022 BLAST Premier World Finals in December. Before either event begins, the players will go on a hiatus from all official matches. ? ?

The next few weeks will see NaVi decide on their roster for the upcoming tournaments. The team has yet to decide on the future of Viktor ��sdy�� Orudzhev, the stand-in who joined the starting lineup in place of Kirill ��Boombl4�� Mikhailov.

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