xPeke's amazing escape and other top plays

This year's IEM was full of close calls, clutch plays and amazing moments. One of the best was once again delivered by none other than xPeke. Minutes after taking place, the video of xPeke running from CLG for 60 seconds and dodging ultimate after ultimate was on the frontpage of reddit. While the Nidalee play was already remarkable enough to merit upvotes, the fact that it was done by one of Europe's best midlaners in a semi final of the Intel Extreme Masters watched live by hundreds of thousands made it so much better. After his iconic Kassadin-Finish in Katowice, xPeke created another IEM moment that will last forever, enjoy:

Yet it was just one of many incredible moments. Check out some of the other great plays from the links below:

 Awesome Alex Ich Kha'Zix play - Double jump, double kill
 Edward's quadra stun - Don't mess with Annie
 Darien: It's a trap!

 Europe vs. America 

This year, a new star rose to the American LCS sky. Cloud 9 dominated the US scene and was the new representative of North America in the ever enduring continental rivalry with Europe. Set to fill the shoes of TSM and CLG, they ventured to the World Championship with the hope of a region resting on their shoulders. Yet, it would only take Fnatic one best of 3 to end those hopes, leaving Cologne as the next chance for America to regain their pride. This time, however, it would be Gambit Gaming that deftly dealt the blow, as Fnatic bested fellow American representative CLG. Europe thus retains the upper hand until December's Battle of the Atlantic, where once more the dice will be cast.

Doublelift delivered

...an amazing interview! It is nice and entertaining to listen to a confident player who isn't afraid of saying the truth and giving bold statements. Peter 'Doublelift' Peng sat down to face the tough questions of Carmac, sharing insights in the wounded mind of CLG and providing the community with lots of insights and bold claims.

Other great interviews from the weekend can be found here:
 xPeke: "I need to improve"
 Cloud 9: The new North American Powerhouse
 Edward Interview: Back to Basics
 Deficio and TheSlash about Ocelote, Bjergsen & new lineups

MVP of Cologne: You

It wasn't the biggest tournament nor the largest event. This didn't keep you guys from tuning in, participating in creative competitions, celebrating the tournament in dozens of threads on reddit and last but not least setting a new spectator record.

Krepo, the Caster

Despite being the sole member of his team on site, Krepo shone with a remarkable performance. Dropping mouse and keyboard in exchange for a microphone, Krepo joined Jason Kaplan, Joe Miller and Leigh "Deman" Smith as a commentator. While he is used to supporting and protecting his teammates on the battlefield, he carried huge parts of the show with his witty puns and deep knowledge winning over everyone who didn't know him already from his personal stream, twitch.tv/skumbagkrepo.

New Rosters new fortunes

The amateur competition showcased not only high class competition but also radically changed line-ups from old favourites. While Ninjas in Pyjamas brought three former Lemondogs players to the event (earning them the nickname Lemons in Pyjamas), SK performed without three of their former core players and Copenhagen Wolves tested their new AD and Jungle. In the end it would be the Copenhagen Wolves who managed to impress the most, winning convincingly over SK and taking down NiP in the finals. For SK, an organization accustomed to victory it was a painful defeat and it will be a struggle to emerge from the shadow of their former captain Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago. A new era has begun and with just two weeks left until December 14th's LCS promotion match, they have a rough road ahead of them.

Doublelift and Rekkles

Walk the talk, they say. In the verbal battle between Doublelift and Rekkles that took place both on Twitter and interviews before the match, it would be Rekkles that came out on top. Despite predicting a clear victory against an "overrated Rekkles", his team would go down 2-1 against a superior Fnatic. Nonetheless, we all enjoyed the verbal battle and the increased stakes it created and hope that players will continue to deliver bold claims in the future.

 Find all matches and interviews at: youtube.com/user/esltv/videos
 Photo Gallery at flickr.com/eslphotos
 More information on intelextrememasters.com

Thanks for making Intel Extreme Masters Cologne such an entertaining event. What where your tops and flops? Let us know in the comments and don't forget to tune in for our next event in Singapore, starting this Thursday.