We recently announced the complete ESL One Cologne lineup, revealing the sixteen top teams who’ll be clashing at the LANXESS Arena for the major championship title and their share of the US$250,000 prize pool, and now it’s time to introduce the groups. With such high stakes, the biggest CS:GO event in the world is one not to be missed.
The groups
After having determined the team lineup, the time has come to reveal the groups - each consisting of two Legend and two Challenger teams - and see who will be facing who in the first round of the tournament.
Group A
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Team SoloMid
- Renegades
- Counter Logic Gaming
Group B
- Team ENVYUS
- Luminosity Gaming
- Team Kinguin
- FlipSid3 Tactics
Group C
- Fnatic
- Natus Vincere
- Titan
- Team eBettle
Group D
- Virtus.pro
- mousesports
- Cloud9
- Team Immunity
The format
The group matches will be played in a double-elimination best-of-one format with the two top teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. There is, however, a small twist to way in which the group stage will be finalized.
After all the groups have been played out up to and including the winners’ match but before the elimination and decider matches, the groups will be redrawn, with the quarterfinals to be seeded to ensure that teams won’t end up facing a team they’ve already played against until they reach the grand finals.
The single-elimination best-of-three quarterfinals will then be played out as normal, with the teams continuing through the group stage by facing their newly drawn opponents.
Join us in Cologne!
ESL One Cologne will be the biggest CS:GO event the world has seen as well as the next Valve major, and will feature the very best teams from around the globe. Be sure not to miss this amazing event and join us at the LANXESS Arena on August the 22nd and 23rd - get your ticket here!
Can’t make it to Cologne for the finals? You can watch them on the big screen of your local movie theater thanks to the Esports in Cinemas project - learn more about it and grab your ticket here!
Finally, although we cannot accommodate spectators at the studio where the group stages will be being played, we still want to invite you to the ESL studio in Cologne where you’ll be able to watch the matches ive with fellow CS:GO fans - you can find tickets for this here.
To stay informed about ESL One Cologne, visit the official website and follow ESL CS on Twitter.