Four Group A teams coast to sweeps at IEM Cologne

Natus Vincere, Astralis, SAW and The MongolZ all cruised to 2-0 sweeps in Group A on Saturday during the group stage of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne in Germany.

All four teams advanced to the upper-bracket semifinals thanks to their victories. Natus Vincere blanked paiN Gaming, Astralis downed 9z Team, SAW tackled G2 Esports and The MongolZ got the best of Team Spirit.

Sixteen teams started in the double-elimination play-in stage of the $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament.

The group stage, which began on Saturday and runs through Tuesday, will feature two double-elimination groups of eight. The group winners move directly to the playoff semifinals. The group runners-up advance to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds, and the groups' third-place teams go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.

The single-elimination playoffs begin on Friday and end on Aug. 18. All tournament matches are best-of-three with the exception of the grand final, which will be best-of-five. The champion earns berths in the IEM Katowice event and the BLAST Premier World Final while also pocketing $400,000.

On Saturday, Natus Vincere prevailed 13-4 on both Anubis and Mirage. Ukraine's Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy racked up a match-high 29 kills and finished with a plus-nine kill-death differential.

Victor "Staehr" Staehr of Denmark parlayed 35 kills with a plus-nine K-D as Astralis took Dust II 13-10 and Inferno 13-5.

SAW won on Nuke (13-5) and Inferno (13-10) behind 33 kills and a plus-12 K-D ratio from Portugal's Michel "ewjerkz" Pinto.

Mongolian Ayush "mzinho" Batbold piled up 41 kills against 26 deaths, leading The MongolZ to a 16-13 victory on Ancient that set the tone for a 13-4 blowout on Anubis.

Four Group B teams were in action on Saturday, with Complexity Gaming edging Virtus.pro 2-1 and FaZe Clan shutting out Team Liquid 2-0.

Complexity Gaming opened their match against VP with a 13-6 win on Vertigo before falling 16-14 on Dust II. They then stayed in the upper bracket with a 13-5 rout on Anubis.

FaZe Clan pulled off victories on Mirage (13-11) and Nuke (13-10).

Group-stage action continues Sunday with six matches:

--Natus Vincere vs. Astralis (Group A upper-bracket semifinal)

--SAW vs. The MongolZ (Group A upper-bracket semifinal)

--paiN Gaming vs. 9z Team (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal)

--G2 Esports vs. Team Spirit (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal)

--MOUZ vs. Team Falcons (Group B upper-bracket quarterfinal)

--FURIA Esports vs. Team Vitality (Group B upper-bracket quarterfinal)

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool, with money and BLAST Premier points

1. $400,000, 3,000 points

2. $180,000, 2,000 points

3-4. $80,000, 1,200 points

5-6. $40,000, 500 points

7-8. $24,000, 300 points

9-12. $16,000, no points

13-16. $10,000, no points

17-20. $4,500, no points -- BIG, HEROIC, MIBR, Eternal Fire

21-24. $2,500, no points -- ALTERNATE aTTaX, 3DMAX, Imperial Esports, FlyQuest

--Field Level Media