M80 shine as Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major begins

M80 cruised to two comfortable wins on Tuesday as Stage 1 of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major got underway in Germany.

GamerLegion, BetBoom Team and B8 also earned two victories on the tournament's opening day.

The 32-team, $1.25 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event is starting with a 16-team opening stage featuring Swiss System play. Matches consist of a single-map except those that will determine elimination or advancement, which will be best-of-three.

The top eight teams from Stage 1 advance to Stage 2, where they will be joined by FUT Esports, Team Spirit, Astralis, G2 Esports, Legacy, paiN Gaming, Monte and 9z Team.

Stage 2 will follow the same format as Stage 1. The top eight teams will move on to Stage 3, where they will be joined by Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, FURIA and MOUZ.

All matches in Stage 3, which also will employ the Swiss System format, will be best-of-three. The top eight teams in Stage 3 qualify for the single-elimination playoffs. All playoff matches will be best-of-three until the final on June 21, which will be best-of-five.

The championship team will receive $500,000, and the runner-up will get $170,000.

On Tuesday, M80 topped Lynn Vision Gaming 13-8 on Inferno behind 20 kills and a plus-5 kill-death differential from the United States' Michael "Swisher" Schmid. M80 then dumped Sharks Esports 13-6 on Mirage, with the United States' Josh "JBa" Barutt logging 16 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential.

All-Ukrainian B8 bested TYLOO 13-6 on Mirage, with Andrii "npl" Kukharskyi notching 22 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential. B8 then squeaked past THUNDERdOWNUNDER 13-11 on Dust II thanks to 21 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential from Dmytro "esenthial" Tsvir.

GamerLegion nipped NRG 13-10 on Inferno as Denmark's Sebastian "Tauson" Tauson Lindelof produced 21 kills and a plus-7 K-D differential. GamerLegion edged FlyQuest 13-11 on Inferno, with Sweden's Fredrik "REZ" Sterner amassing 22 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential.

All-Russian BetBoom Team blitzed Gaimin Gladiators 13-4 on Dust II as Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov totaled 19 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential. BetBoom Team then toppled Team Liquid 13-9 on Dust II with Aleksandr "zorte" Zagodyrenko registering 17 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential.

In other first-round matches, FlyQuest topped SINNERS Esports 16-14 in overtime on Ancient, THUNDERdOWNUNDER blasted MIBR 13-6 on Inferno, GamerLegion bested NRG 13-10 on Inferno, Sharks Esports slipped past HEROIC 13-10 on Nuke, and Team Liquid outlasted BIG 13-10 on Nuke.

In matches featuring teams that lost their openers, Lynn Vision Gaming handled HEROIC 13-11 on Dust II, MIBR pulled out a 16-14 overtime win over TYLOO, NRG slammed SINNERS Esports 13-6, and BIG throttled Gaimin Gladiators 13-1.

The Wednesday schedule:

High matches (2-0 teams)

--GamerLegion vs. BetBoom Team

--M80 vs. B8

Mid matches (1-1 teams)

--NRG vs. FlyQuest

--Sharks vs. Lynn Vision Gaming

--Team Liquid vs. MIBR

--THUNDERdOWNUNDER vs. BIG

Low matches (0-2 teams)

--TYLOO vs. SINNERS

--Gaimin Gladiators vs. HEROIC

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major Stage 1 standings

T1. GamerLegion, 2-0

T1. M80, 2-0

T1. B8, 2-0

T1. BetBoom Team, 2-0

T5. Team Liquid, 1-1

T5. THUNDERdOWNUNDER, 1-1

T5. NRG, 1-1

T5. Sharks Esports, 1-1

T5. Lynn Vision Gaming, 1-1

T5. FlyQuest, 1-1

T5. BIG, 1-1

T5. MIBR, 1-1

T13. TYLOO, 0-2

T13. Gaimin Gladiators, 0-2

T13. HEROIC, 0-2

T13. SINNERS Esports, 0-2

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000

5-8. $45,000

9-11. $15,000

12-14. $15,000

15-16. $15,000

17-19. $10,000

20-22. $10,000

23-24. $10,000

25-27. $5,000

28-30. $5,000

31-32. $5,000

--Field Level Media