FURIA, Team Falcons set to clash for IEM Cologne crown

Field Level Media|published: Sun 21st June, 01:12 2026

Nolan Starkey, a senior at Rossville High School, plays Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Monday, April 15, 2019, in Rossville. Starkey signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play esports at Trine University in Angola, Ind. Rossville High School Senior Signs With Trine University To Play Esports

Team Falcons and FURIA will meet in Sunday's grand final of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major after semifinal victories Saturday in Germany.

FURIA swept Aurora Gaming 2-0, while Team Falcons edged Team Spirit 2-1 in the other semifinal playoff. Both first-place Team Spirit and second-place FURIA had gone 3-0 in Stage 3 group play, while third-place Aurora Gaming was 3-1 as was fifth-place Team Falcons.

All four teams had advanced out of the quarterfinals, which were on Thursday and Friday.

The Counter-Strike 2 tournament with 32 entrants competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool began June 2 with the start of the first stage.

The field was ultimately trimmed to the final eight playoff teams through a series of three stages, where all matches were best-of-three, as were most of the playoffs. Sunday's grand final will be best-of-five, with the winner taking home $500,000 while the runner-up settles for $170,000.

On Saturday, Team Falcons opened with a 16-14 win on Anubis before Team Spirit drew even with a 13-8 victory on Mirage. The Falcons captured the deciding map, Dust II, by a 16-12 outcome.

Nikola "NiKo" Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led the Falcons with 59 kills to 52 deaths and a 1.26 rating to earn Player of the Match honors. Russian teammates Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin (60 kills, 1.18 rating) and Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov (68 kills, 1.16) also contributed to the victory.

Russia's Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov paced Team Spirit with 69 kills to 49 deaths and a 1.24 rating.

FURIA ousted Aurora Gaming, winning 13-9 on Dust II and 13-4 on Nuke.

Yuri "yuurih" Santos of Brazil was Player of the Match, pacing FURIA with a 34-19 K-D differential and 1.62 rating. Teammate Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato of Brazil posted a 29-20 K-D and 1.38 rating, while Mareks "Yekindar" Galinskis of Latvia recorded a 32-28 K-D and 1.30 rating. No Aurora Gaming players had a positive rating.

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000 -- Team Spirit, Aurora Gaming

5-8. $45,000 -- BetBoom Team, 9z Team, Team Vitality, G2 Esports

9-11. $15,000 -- Natus Vincere, FUT Esports, The MongolZ

12-14. $15,000 -- MOUZ, Monte, Legacy

15-16. $15,000 -- B8, PARIVISION

17-19. $10,000 -- paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG

20-22. $10,000 -- MIBR, M80, Astralis

23-24. $10,000 -- GamerLegion, FlyQuest

25-27. $5,000 -- Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid