{"id":27561,"date":"2025-07-21T10:13:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T10:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/?p=27561"},"modified":"2025-07-22T06:14:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T06:14:21","slug":"iem-cologne-2025-full-breakdown-of-format-matches-teams-favorites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/news\/cs-2\/iem-cologne-2025-full-breakdown-of-format-matches-teams-favorites\/","title":{"rendered":"IEM Cologne 2025: Full Breakdown of Format, Matches, Teams &amp; Favorites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>IEM Cologne 2025<\/strong> is an S-tier event with a total prize pool of <strong>$1.25 million<\/strong>, where <strong>$1 million <\/strong>is the player share and<strong> $250.000<\/strong> goes for the club share. The event will be held in <strong>Cologne<\/strong>, <strong>Germany, <\/strong>from <strong>July 23<\/strong> to <strong>August 3<\/strong> and will consist of two stages with 36 teams attending. After the summer break, this will be the first tournament with all the best teams attending, including the unstoppable team <strong>Vitality, <\/strong>winners of the recent <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/news\/cs-2\/blast-tv-austin-major-2025-recap-everything-that-happened\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/news\/cs-2\/blast-tv-austin-major-2025-recap-everything-that-happened\/\">BLAST.tv Austin Major<\/a><\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tournament Format<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 1 Play-In (July 23 &#8211; July 25)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Double-Elimination bracket<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The top eight teams advance to the Group Stage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Group Stage (July 26 &#8211; July 29)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Two double-elimination format (GSL) Groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each group has eight teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All matches are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The top three teams from each group advance to the Playoffs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group stage winners advance to the Semifinals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group stage runners-up advance to the Quarterfinals as the High Seeds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group stage 3rd place teams advance to the Quarterfinals as the Low Seeds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Playoff Stage (August 1 &#8211; August 3)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Single-Elimination bracket<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Quarterfinals &amp; Semifinals are Bo3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Grand Final is Bo5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage 1 Teams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"801\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage1co.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage1co.png 801w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage1co-300x139.png 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage1co-768x357.png 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage1co-150x70.png 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage1co-450x209.png 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 801px) 100vw, 801px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Cologne 2025 &#8211; Stage 1  Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>FaZe<\/td><td>Astralis<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>HEROIC<\/td><td>Liquid<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Virtus.pro<\/td><td>TYLOO<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>FURIA<\/td><td>paiN<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GamerLegion<\/td><td>MIBR<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3DMAX<\/td><td>Complexity<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>B8<\/td><td>NiP<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>FlyQuest<\/td><td>BIG<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Cologne 2025 &#8211; Play-InTeams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Main Stage Teams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"792\" height=\"235\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage2iemco.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage2iemco.png 792w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage2iemco-300x89.png 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage2iemco-768x228.png 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage2iemco-150x45.png 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/stage2iemco-450x134.png 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Cologne 2025 &#8211; Stage 2 Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Vitality<\/td><td>Spirit<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MOUZ<\/td><td>Falcons<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>TheMongolZ<\/td><td>Natus Vincere<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Aurora<\/td><td>G2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Cologne 2025 &#8211; Main Stage Teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Favorites and Underdogs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top Contenders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vitality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Falcons<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MOUZ<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spirit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The main favorite out of the four is obviously <strong>Vitality <\/strong>since they\u2019re the best team in the world and have won seven trophies in a row. <strong>Spirit<\/strong>, <strong>Falcons, <\/strong>and <strong>MOUZ <\/strong>were the main teams that got the closest score while playing against <strong>Vitality<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Team Spirit <\/strong>is the only team that made roster changes after <strong>BLAST.tv Austin Major<\/strong>, bringing <strong>\u2018zweih\u2019 <\/strong>from team <strong>Nemiga <\/strong>and benching their support player <strong>\u2018magixx\u2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Get the full story behind <a href=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/news\/cs-2\/spirit-signs-the-young-star-zweih\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/news\/cs-2\/spirit-signs-the-young-star-zweih\/\">Spirit's surprise swap \u2014 Magixx out, Zweih in!<\/a><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dark Horses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Natus Vincere<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FaZe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>paiN<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FURIA<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>G2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TheMongolZ<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Virtus.pro<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We would call these teams dark horses at this tournament, considering their past and recent results. <strong>TheMongolZ <\/strong>were fighting in the <strong>Grand Final<\/strong> of <strong>BLAST Austin Major<\/strong> against <strong>Vitality<\/strong>. <strong>Natus Vincere <\/strong>was the top contender for more than a year, and they went through changes during the summer break, swapping <strong>\u2018jL\u2019 <\/strong>for a player from their academy team, <strong>\u2018makazze\u2019<\/strong>. <strong>paiN <\/strong>and <strong>FURIA <\/strong>showed us a good performance at <strong>Austin Major<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Virtus.pro <\/strong>did great at <strong>BLAST Major<\/strong> as well. Since then, they benched <strong>\u2018FL4MUS\u2019, <\/strong>who was struggling with his performance, and brought back <strong>\u2018Perfecto\u2019, <\/strong>who is a much more experienced player.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G2 <\/strong>and <strong>FaZe <\/strong>also have new players in their teams. <strong>G2 <\/strong>changed their in-game leader <strong>\u2018Snax\u2019 <\/strong>to<strong> \u2018huNter-\u2019 <\/strong>while also benching <strong>\u2018Snax\u2019 <\/strong>and bringing in the firepower in young star <strong>\u2018MATYS\u2019, <\/strong>who was showing promising results for <strong>Fnatic <\/strong>before. <strong>FaZe <\/strong>couldn\u2019t sign s1mple, so they brought back <strong>\u2018broky\u2019, <\/strong>and they\u2019re in their original roster. Some time ago, they were also one of the top contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/news\/cs-2\/faze-confirms-broky-return\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/news\/cs-2\/faze-confirms-broky-return\/\">FaZe reunites with broky<\/a> \u2014 get the full breakdown here.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Underdogs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The rest of the teams, considering their results for the first half of the year, are basically underdogs when it comes to playing the biggest tournaments like this one, which has all the elite-level teams attending it. Teams like <strong>HEROIC<\/strong>, <strong>Astralis<\/strong>,<strong> 3DMAX, and GamerLegion <\/strong>had some success recently against top teams, but they\u2019re yet to show their consistency.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening Matches Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">July 23<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>GamerLegion <\/strong>vs. <strong>Complexity <\/strong>and <strong>TYLOO <\/strong>vs. <strong>Virtus.pro<\/strong> starting at <strong>10:30 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Astralis <\/strong>vs. <strong>B8 <\/strong>and <strong>FlyQuest <\/strong>vs. <strong>FURIA <\/strong>starting at <strong>13:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>FaZe <\/strong>vs. <strong>BIG <\/strong>and <strong>3DMAX <\/strong>vs. <strong>MIBR <\/strong>starting at <strong>15:30 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Liquid <\/strong>vs. <strong>paiN <\/strong>and<strong> Ninjas in Pyjamas<\/strong> vs. <strong>HEROIC <\/strong>starting at<strong> 18:00 CET<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Watch<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iemcolognepng.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iemcolognepng.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iemcolognepng-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iemcolognepng-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iemcolognepng-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iemcolognepng-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IEM Cologne 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>You can watch all the matches live on these <strong>IEM Official<\/strong> platforms:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/ESLCS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEM Cologne 2025 Official Twitch Primary Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/ESLCS\/streams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEM Cologne 2025 Official YouTube Stream<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/ESLCSb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IEM Cologne 2025 Official Twitch Secondary Stream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Stage 1<\/strong> and Group Stage of <strong>Stage 2, <\/strong>two streams will cover matches happening simultaneously. The playoffs (from <strong>August 1 <\/strong>to <strong>August 3<\/strong>) will be one stream, as one match will be played at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Keep up with our coverage for more insights on the latest esports news and updates.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IEM Cologne 2025 is an S-tier event with a total prize pool of $1.25 million, where $1 million is the player share and $250.000 goes for the club share. The event will be held in Cologne, Germany, from July 23 to August 3 and will consist of two stages with 36 teams attending. After the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":27562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,247],"class_list":{"0":"post-27561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cs-2","8":"tag-cs2","9":"tag-cs2-tournaments"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27578,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27561\/revisions\/27578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}