The “Cathedral of Counter-Strike” certainly delivered on the CS:GO action during the IEM Cologne 2021 Group Stage. G2 Esports claimed a close victory over tournament-favorites, Gambit Esports, to top Group A. Meanwhile, Natus Vincere won out Group B with a convincing win over Astralis.

Group A

IEM Cologne 2021 is the first large-scale CS:GO LAN event in over a year. The teams over on Group A certainly brought their best game to the tournament, with so many close match-ups in their bracket. Team Liquid and mousesports' face-off in the lower bracket went the full distance and then some, with the third map, Inferno, going into quadruple overtime. The series ended in favor of Team Liquid with a 16:9 on Nuke, 12:16 on Dust II, and 28:25 on Inferno.

Gambit and G2's match-up to decide who gets directly into the semis was also a thrilling series. They played three close maps, but G2 edged out the win in the end, topping their close rival and the tournament favorites. The map score was 16:13 on Mirage, 10:16 on Vertigo, and 16:14 on Inferno in favor of G2. Over in the lower bracket, Virtus.pro also edged out BIG to punch their quarter-finals ticket, with a 19:15 win on both Dust II and Inferno.

Group B

Over in Group B things were a little more clear-cut – 2nd ranked team Na'Vi secured their spot to the semis with a win over Astralis. Though they played three maps, with one of them going into double overtime, Na'Vi's map wins were quite convincing. The series ended in their favor, 16:17 on Ancient, 19:22 on Dust II, and 16:5 on Inferno.

One of IEM Cologne 2021's most exciting stories might be FaZe Clan showing up on LAN as a remarkable dark horse. Though they dropped to the lower bracket due to a 13:16 loss on Dust II and 22:25 loss on Nuke to Astralis, they secured their playoffs berth through Group B's lower bracket.

IEM Cologne 2021 Playoffs Bracket

The IEM Cologne 2021 playoffs will see Astralis facing off against Virtus.Pro for the chance to face G2 in the semis. Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket, Gambit and FaZe will match up for the chance to square off against Na'Vi.