Counter-Strike‘s “longest-running and most historic” series will have its seventh iteration starting tomorrow. IEM Cologne will run from July 6-18. We'll get to see 24 of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive‘s best teams battle it out for the lion's share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

Formerly known as ESL One Cologne, the tournament has been rebranded to IEM Cologne thanks to a recently-cemented partnership with Intel.

The tournament's 2020 iteration got canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this year, it is set to be one of the few in-person LAN events, albeit without a live audience.

Unfortunately, fans may not be able to watch from the Lanxess Arena itself, but the spirit of the “The Cathedral of Counter-Strike” lives on. IEM Cologne will begin with a 2-day Play-In stage. It features a double-elimination bracket, with the top eight teams advancing into the group stage.

The 16 Play-In teams are:

  • Ninjas in Pyjamas
  • Team LDLC
  • Bad News Bears
  • mousesports
  • Team Spirit
  • MIBR
  • Renegades
  • Team Vitality
  • OG
  • Team One
  • Sprout
  • BIG
  • Evil Geniuses
  • Faze Clan
  • Complexity
  • ViCi Gaming

The advancing teams will then face off with the eight directly qualified teams in a 2-GSL format group stage.

The 8 directly qualified teams to IEM Cologne are:

  • Gambit Esports
  • Natus Vincere
  • Heroic
  • Virtus.pro
  • Astralis
  • G2 Esports
  • Furia Esports
  • Team Liquid

Finally, the top six teams will move on to the IEM Cologne single-elimination playoff bracket, where the winner will take home the $400,000 grand prize and one of the most prestigious titles in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Gambit Esports is slated as the current favorite to win the tournament. They've shown quite impressive results – most recently, their 1st place finish at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2021.

Tune in to the official twitch channel to catch the IEM Cologne 2021 action live.