IEM Cologne: Newcomers advance, Donk posts 2.26

Stage 2 of the IEM Cologne Major opened with best-of-one matches in Cologne, and newcomers Astralis, 9z, FUT and Monte advanced after the first round.

Astralis won on Ancient against GamerLegion. 9z defeated FlyQuest on Dust2 after a slow offensive half from FlyQuest. FUT beat B8 on Ancient in a close match. Monte defeated BIG on Mirage after a CT force-buy round that shifted momentum, and Monte also beat BetBoom on Mirage where Danil “donk” Kryshkovets posted a tournament-leading 2.26 rating.

TYLOO defeated paiN on Mirage. G2 beat M80 on Mirage with an aggressive CT setup. MIBR recorded a Nuke victory over Legacy, with Klimentii “kl1m” Krivosheev and Felipe “insani” Yuji contributing key performances.

Round 2 is scheduled for June 6 and will match winners and losers from the opening round. The day will feature FUT versus TYLOO, Astralis versus 9z, G2 against Monte, paiN versus BIG, Legacy versus FlyQuest, BetBoom versus GamerLegion, B8 versus M80 and Spirit versus MIBR.

Stage 2 uses a Swiss system with best-of-one opening rounds, where pistol rounds, map control and economy management affect results on a single map. Teams that won move to 1-0 and avoid immediate elimination; teams that lost move to 0-1 and must win to stay in the event.

The IEM Cologne Major continues in Cologne, Germany, with more Stage 2 matches on June 6.