G2 Esports grab final IEM Cologne playoff spot in nail-biter

With one playoff spot left, G2 Esports and Natus Vincere played like two teams on the brink of elimination -- which they were -- providing one of the best matches of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major on Monday in Germany.

And despite dropping the first map, it was G2 emerging with the win, taking the final two maps to grab the eighth and final spot in the playoffs.

The Counter-Strike 2 tournament that began with 32 entrants competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool. The champion receives $500,000.

The field was trimmed to the final eight playoff teams through a series of three stages. The 16-team Stage 3 utilized a Swiss System format, and all matches were best-of-three.

The best-of-three single-elimination playoffs begin Thursday, with a pair of quarterfinal matches played that day and two more played on Friday. The best-of-five grand final is scheduled for Sunday.

Monday began with three playoff spots available. 9z Team began things with a pair of 13-8 wins -- on Inferno and Overpass -- to sweep away The MongolZ. Uruguay's Franco "dgt" Garcia led the winners with a match-high 44 kills and a plus-23 kill-death differential. Ayush "mzinho" Batbold was the only player with a positive differential for the all-Mongolian MongolZ, logging 34 kills and 30 deaths.

The second match also featured a sweep with identical scores, as BetBoom Team beat FUT Esports 13-7 on both Mirage and Dust II. The all-Russian BetBoom squad got a match high 37 kills (plus-19 K-D differential) from Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov. Lithuania's Dziugas "dziugss" Steponavicius was the losing side's only plus player with 30 kills and 29 deaths.

In the finale, Natus Vincere edged G2 13-11 on Dust II to open play. With G2 nearly out the door, they were able to force overtime in the second map -- Inferno -- and pulled out a 16-14 win. In the deciding map, G2 held on for a 13-10 win on Mirage. Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko of Israel posted a whopping 63 kills with 44 deaths in the win. Ukrainian Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy went for 52 kills and a plus-6 K-D differential in the loss.

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major schedule

Quarterfinals

Thursday

--Aurora Gaming vs. BetBoom Team

--9z Team vs. FURIA

Friday

--Team Spirit vs. G2 Esports

--Team Falcons vs. Team Vitality

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000

5-8. $45,000

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

28-30. $5,000 -- THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC

31-32. $5,000 -- Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports

--Field Level Media