IEM Cologne: Team Rallies from 15-18 to Force BO3

At IEM Cologne Major Stage 2, the team rallied from a 15-18 deficit late in a map to complete the comeback, claim the map and move one best-of-three away from qualifying for Stage 3.

The squad trailed 15-18 and faced multiple match points before winning the remaining rounds to secure the map. The victory keeps them alive in Stage 2, where the winner of a final BO3 will advance to Stage 3 of the Major.

After the match, a player reflected: “Immediate reaction? Holy f—, I’m happy that this map actually ended. I think if… I did throw some important rounds onto me to be honest, like that made a big difference I would say, but I still managed to come back mentally. And we did as a team, like we were losing 15-18, right, and it’s not easy, especially like when these games matter a lot. Now we are one BO3 away to qualifying for Stage 3, so I think we showed insane mental and balls when it matters the most, and we came back on top as a team, as a better team, I think that’s why we won.”

The team will play a deciding best-of-three next; the winner of that series will determine whether they advance to Stage 3. The squad enters the decider carrying momentum from the late comeback that overturned a near-defeat into a map win.