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ENCE, G2 advance to grand final at IEM Cologne

Dillon "Attach" Price of Minnesota R  KKR adjusts his headphones prior to the matchup against OpTic Texas during the Call of Duty League Pro-Am Classic esports tournament at Belong Gaming Arena in Columbus on May 6, 2022.

Call Of Duty Esports Tournament

ENCE and G2 Esports both won their semifinal matches on Saturday at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event in Germany.

ENCE beat Team Vitality 2-1 and G2 Esports swept Astralis 2-0 as both squads punched their ticket to Sunday’s grand final.

The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began last Wednesday with 16 teams competing in the double-elimination play-in stage. Opening matches were best-of-one, with all additional matches best-of-three.

Eight teams advanced to the group stage, which also featured eight teams that previously qualified: G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, ENCE, Heroic, Cloud9, Natus Vincere and GamerLegion.

A pair of group stages, both double-elimination with matches best-of-three, completed play Tuesday. Each group winner earned a berth in the playoff semifinals while the upper-bracket runners-up and lower-bracket winners got the four quarterfinal slots. The single-elimination playoffs run Friday through Sunday, with the quarterfinals and semifinals best-of-three and the grand final best-of-five.

The championship side will receive $400,000 and a berth in the 2024 IEM Katowice event. The runner-up will get $180,000.

On Saturday, ENCE opened with a narrow 16-14 win on Mirage before Vitality leveled the match with a 16-14 victory on Nuke. ENCE then cruised to a 16-7 triumph on Vertigo to advance. Spain’s Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia finished with 76 kills and a plus-30 kills-deaths ratio, both of which were match highs.

Lotan “Spinx” Giladi of Israel paced Team Vitality with 59 kills.

G2 had a much easier time with Astralis, winning 16-12 on Ancient before completing the sweep with a 16-9 victory on Inferno. G2 Esports used a balance effort to reach the grand final, as three of their players recorded at least 40 kills while finishing with a positive K-D. Nicolai “device” Reedtz led the all-Danish losing side with 41 kills and a plus-8 differential.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday with the grand final:
–ENCE vs. G2 Esports

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool
1. $400,000, 2024 IEM Katowice berth
2. $180,000
3-4. $80,000 — Team Vitality, Astralis
5-6. $40,000 — Cloud9, Heroic
7-8. $24,000 — GamerLegion, Natus Vincere
9-12. $16,000 — Fnatic, Monte, FaZe Clan, MOUZ
13-16. $10,000 — The MongolZ, 9INE, OG, Ninjas in Pyjamas
17-20. $4,500 — FURIA Esports, Apeks, Team Liquid, Imperial Esports
21-24. $2,500 — Into the Breach, Complexity Gaming, BIG, Grayhound Gaming

–Field Level Media

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