paiN Gaming among five to advance at IEM Cologne

Five teams advanced to the group stage during a busy day of play-in action at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne in Germany on Friday.

paiN Gaming was the only team to pick up two wins Friday. In the lone lower-bracket first-round matchup, paiN rallied to beat Imperial Esports 2-1. After losing 13-10 on Dust II, paiN earned a 13-10 win on Vertigo and a 13-7 victory on Inferno.

paiN advanced to face MIBR, which lost its upper-bracket matchup to 9z Team 2-0 earlier in the day. That win pushed 9z Team into the upper bracket quarterfinals.

In lower-bracket play, paiN jumped ahead on MIBR with a 13-10 win on Mirage but failed to complete the sweep, falling 13-4 on Anubis. paiN rebounded with an emphatic 13-3 win to advance.

In other second-round lower-bracket action, Team Falcons edged BIG 2-1, FURIA Esports topped HEROIC 2-1 and The MongolZ rallied past Eternal Fire 2-1.

After winning 13-7 on Dust II and 13-10 on Mirage, Team Falcons put away BIG 13-10 on Anubis.

FURIA Esports took an early lead on HEROIC thanks to a 13-11 victory on Mirage, but HEROIC responded with a 13-8 win on Anubis. FURIA sealed the win with a 13-11 victory on Nuke.

After dropping the first match 13-4 on Anubis, The MongolZ put away Eternal Fire with a 13-8 win on Mirage and a 16-14 victory on Nuke.

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

The group stage, which runs from Saturday to 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 are scheduled for Aug. 16-18. 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.

The group stage begins Saturday with six quarterfinal matches:

Group A upper bracket: Natus Vincere vs. paiN Gaming

Group A upper bracket: 9z Team vs. Astralis

Group A upper bracket: G2 Esports vs. SAW

Group A upper bracket: The MongolZ vs. Team Spirit

Group B upper bracket: Complexity vs. Virtus.pro

Group B upper bracket: FaZe Clan vs. Team Liquid

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, FlyQuest, Imperial Esports

--Field Level Media