IEM Cologne Reaches Playoffs

IEM Cologne, the first big LAN event in over a year, has reached the playoff stage, where the final six teams in the tournament remain standing in the fight for the trophy.

The two quarter-final matches will be played on Friday, kicking off a weekend of playoff action that will continue with two semi-final matches on Saturday and the best-of-five grand final on Sunday.

FaZe beat expectations in Cologne and made the top six

The first quarter-final on Friday will pit Virtus.pro against Astralis after the Danes were unable to take out Natus Vincere in the Group B upper bracket final, while the second quarter-final of the day will feature the world’s top team in the world ranking, Gambit, going up against the only team left from the play-in, FaZe, the tournament’s biggest over performers.

The two undefeated group stage winners, G2 and Natus Vincere, will wait for their rivals in the semi-finals, having an extra day off before resuming their charge towards the IEM Cologne title match. The French-Balkan squad is on the side of Virtus.pro and Astralis, while Natus Vincere may go up against their CIS rivals, Gambit, if Abay “⁠Hobbit⁠” Khasenov and company can first overcome FaZe.

The IEM Cologne playoff schedule is: