During July 5 and 17, sixteen best teams will fight for the prize of $1,000,000. However, the largest event begins from the Play-In stage that will take place from July 5 to 6. This qualifier is needed to determine the top eight squads, advancing to the main event of IEM Cologne. Another eight teams, including NaVi, NiP, G2, ENCE, FaZe, Team Liquid, and Cloud9 are already waiting for the main event to be started.

As we have said earlier, it is one of the most important and historic events on the scene and no one wants to miss it. So, to keep a track of its matches, all you have to do is visit the https://cover.gg/tournaments/current page for current events. This website brings all the statistical data in one place.

Format of this Qualifier

The IEM Cologne 2022 will have a simple and easily recognizable Play-In format. The sixteen participating teams will seek to qualify for the main event of the tournament. Of all of them, only the top eight will overcome a complicated play-in that will be decided in just two days.

To overcome this qualifier, it will only be necessary to win two games and lose a maximum of one. On the first day, July 5, the top four winners will be known, while on Wednesday it will be the turn of the lower bracket. The first match will be played at Best of 1, but the elimination or advancement matches are played at the Best of 3 maps.

The eight teams that get access to the IEM Cologne main event (Group stage) will face each other with NaVi, NiP, G2, ENCE, FaZe Clan, Liquid, and C9.

Stage Favorites: Predictions

As we all know, in CS:GO anything can happen and ensuring a team’s pass is always a difficult task, but it is true that there are great favorites among the sixteen participants. Such teams as Heroic, Astralis, BIG, Vitality, Outsiders, Spirit, and MRS are one of the main candidates to stay in Cologne, at least a few more days. Let’s take a closer look at the schedule and predictions for the first day of Play-In.

• Group 1: Heroic, Sprout, MOUZ and paiN.
• Group 2: Team Spirit, Complexity, Astralis and 00Nation.
• Group 3: BIG, ORDER, Outsiders and Imperial.
• Group 4: MIBR, MRS, TYLOO and Team Vitality.

Heroic

Heroic has managed to build one of the teams with the most talented young players. They have a winning percentage of 70.0% in the last three months. Sprout, on the other hand, did not completely find its place throughout the first half of 2022. The team won 3 of the 6 games it played and did not play the perfect match in the games it won.

BIG

In the opening match of the Play-In phase, BIG will face ORDER. The Australian organization is not doing well. After playing six games so far, the team has lost five of them and it doesn’t seem that things are going to get better soon. On the contrary, the German team climbed the higher level after winning Roobet Cup 2022.

Outsiders

Outsiders will debut on Tuesday at 10:40 am UTC against the Imperial team. On paper, the Russian team looks much better. Especially considering its performance last season and the quality of its current list, this team should secure a place for the main event of IEM Cologne. Out of the last 6 matches, they lost only to Movistar Riders in ESL Challenger Valencia.

Team Spirit

In a battle for a place in the group stage, Vitality will face the TYLOO team. This is the most unilateral game of the day since the Chinese organization seems to be the main underdog of this event. With 6 losses out of the 6 last matches played and a huge gap in a teams’ level, it will be very difficult for them to win against the Russian team.

Movistar Riders

MRS will face MIBR in the first match of the qualifier, an opponent that the Spaniards already beat at the ESL Challenger in Valencia. The Spanish organization is not perfect enough to win the tournament, but it is good enough to pass the qualifier by beating the Brazialians. So, MRS is a big candidate in this game.

Team Vitality

Team Vitality is still not as strong as they would like. After taking a second place at BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022, the French organization didn’t show anything worth paying attention to. However, TYLOO has shown very poor performance for the last three months, with a win rate of 30.0%. Vitality is the big favorite of the game.