Monte earned an impressive sweep on Saturday as one of four teams advancing to the Group A upper-bracket semifinals at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event in Germany.
Monte bested GamerLegion 2-0 in group-stage action, while the other three winners in the upper bracket each rallied for 2-1 victories: Heroic defeated The MongolZ, Fnatic beat Cloud9 and ENCE took down 9INE.
In Group B upper-bracket quarterfinal play, MOUZ dumped Natus Vincere 2-0 while G2 Esports came from behind to win 2-1 over Astralis.
The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began 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 will advance to the group stage, which also will feature eight teams that previously qualified: G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, ENCE, Heroic, Cloud9, Natus Vincere and GamerLegion.
Two groups of eight will compete in double-elimination play from Saturday through Tuesday, with all matches best-of-three. The two group-stage winners will move to the playoff semifinals, the group-stage runners-up will head to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds and the group-stage third-place teams will go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.
The single-elimination playoffs will run Aug. 4-6, 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.
In Group A action on Saturday, Monte jumped all over GamerLegion with a 16-8 triumph on Mirage followed by a 16-11 decision on Overpass. Denmark’s Alexander “br0” Bro had a match-high 42 kills, while Polish teammate Szymon “kRaSnaL” Mrozek topped all players with a plus-14 kills-deaths differential.
Heroic fell behind by a map by losing 16-11 to TheMongolz on Mirage, but they responded with a spirited 22-18 overtime win on Overpass and a decisive 16-10 victory on Inferno. Rasmus “sjuush” Beck carried Heroic’s all-Danish unit with 72 kills and a plus-17 K-D ratio.
Fnatic dropped a tight 16-13 contest to C9 on Vertigo but came back with wins on Anubis (16-10) and Ancient (19-16) to claim the match. Four Fnatic players recorded at least 60 kills, with Frenchman Aurelien “afro” Drapier and Australia’s Christopher “dexter” Nong leading the way with 64 apiece.
ENCE was hammered by 9INE, 16-4, on Vertigo to open their match, but they claimed a 16-11 win on Nuke before winning a 19-15 overtime thriller on Mirage — winning the final nine points of the battle. Pawel “dycha” Dycha of Poland tallied a match-best 65 kills for ENCE in victory.
In Group B lower-bracket play, MOUZ used a 10-0 run in beating NaVi 16-9 on Ancient, then scored the final four points of the match in winning 16-12 on Overpass. Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky led all players with 48 kills and a plus-16 K-D differential for MOUZ.
G2 won the day’s other Group B match, losing 16-12 to Astralis on Ancient before successive wins on Inferno (16-13) and Nuke (16-9) in the comeback victory. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led G2 with 68 kills, while Nicolai “device” Reedtz headed the all-Danish Astralis squad with 74 kills and a plus-17 K-D ratio, both match highs.
The tournament continues Sunday with six matches in the Group Stage:
–Heroic vs. Monte (Group A upper-bracket semifinals)
–Fnatic vs. ENCE (Group A upper-bracket semifinals)
–The MongolZ vs. GamerLegion (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Cloud9 vs. 9INE (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinals)
–Team Vitality vs. OG (Group B upper-bracket quarterfinals)
–Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. FaZe Clan (Group B upper-bracket quarterfinals)
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool
1. $400,000, 2024 IEM Katowice berth
2. $180,000
3-4. $80,000
5-6. $40,000
7-8. $24,000
9-12. $16,000
13-16. $10,000
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