MOUZ, Vitality one step closer to playoffs at IEM Cologne

MOUZ and Team Vitality advanced to the Group B upper-bracket final at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event by taking their semifinal matches Monday in Germany.

MOUZ defeated Complexity Gaming 2-0, while Vitality rallied to beat FaZe Clan 2-1. Complexity and FaZe Clan are still alive but dropped into the group's lower-bracket semifinals.

The Group B lower bracket also started Monday when Team Falcons outlasted Virtus.pro 2-1 and Team Liquid beat FURIA Esports 2-0. In Group A action, paiN Gaming eliminated The MongolZ 2-1, and G2 Esports did the same to Astralis.

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

The group stage, which runs through Tuesday, features 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 third-place teams go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.

The single-elimination playoffs begin on Friday and end Sunday. 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 Monday, MOUZ edged Complexity 13-9 on Vertigo and 13-11 on Nuke. MOUZ's Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin of Sweden had 37 kills on a plus-11 kills-to-deaths differential, with teammate Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo of Finland adding 37 on a plus-10 K-D.

FaZe defeated Vitality 13-8 on Inferno, but Vitality pulled out a crucial 16-12 overtime win on Dust II before polishing off the comeback with a 13-9 result on Anubis. Lotan "Spinx" Giladi of Israel led Vitality with 52 kills and a plus-9 K-D.

In the Group B lower-bracket quarters, Team Falcons sandwiched a 13-11 win on Vertigo and a 13-8 triumph on Dust II around a 13-8 loss to Virtus.pro on Mirage. Montenegro's Pavle "Maden" Boskovic had 51 kills for Falcons, while Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia of Spain added 47 kills on a match-best plus-10.

Team Liquid topped FURIA 16-13 in overtime on Dust II and 13-4 on Nuke. Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak of Poland racked up 46 kills on a plus-24 K-D to pace Liquid.

Over in Group A, The MongolZ opened with a 16-13 overtime win on Anubis before paiN answered with a 13-10 squeaker on Mirage. The final map was Nuke, where paiN prevailed 13-8. Lucas "nqz" Soares of Brazil had 59 kills on a plus-15 differential to carry paiN.

G2 destroyed Astralis 13-1 on Dust II before Astralis got revenge with a 13-10 win on Mirage. On the final map, Ancient, G2 returned to dominance with a 13-3 victory. Guatemalan Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa guided G2 with 53 kills on a plus-27.

Group-stage action continues Tuesday with six matches:

--Natus Vincere vs. SAW (Group A upper-bracket final)

--paiN Gaming vs. G2 Esports (Group A lower-bracket final)

--MOUZ vs. Team Vitality (Group B upper-bracket final)

--FaZe Clan vs. Team Falcons (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)

--Complexity Gaming vs. Team Liquid (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)

--FaZe/Falcons winner vs. Complexity/Liquid winner (Group B lower-bracket final)

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 -- The MongolZ, Astralis, two teams TBD

13-16. $10,000, no points -- 9z Team, Team Spirit, Virtus.pro, FURIA Esports

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