Group Stage ESL One Cologne 2016

1 group stage

1.1 group a

1.1.1 astralis vs. team dignitas
1.1.2 counter logic gaming vs. gambit gaming
1.1.3 astralis vs. gambit gaming
1.1.4 counter logic gaming vs. team dignitas
1.1.5 astralis vs. team dignitas


1.2 group b

1.2.1 natus vincere vs. flipsid3 tactics
1.2.2 ninjas in pyjamas vs. optic gaming
1.2.3 natus vincere vs. ninjas in pyjamas
1.2.4 optic gaming vs. flipsid3 tactics
1.2.5 ninjas in pyjamas vs. flipsid3 tactics


1.3 group c

1.3.1 team liquid vs. team envyus
1.3.2 virtus.pro vs. mousesports
1.3.3 team liquid vs. virtus.pro
1.3.4 mousesports vs. team envyus
1.3.5 team liquid vs. mousesports


1.4 group d

1.4.1 sk gaming vs. g2 esports
1.4.2 fnatic vs. faze clan
1.4.3 sk gaming vs. faze clan
1.4.4 fnatic vs. g2 esports
1.4.5 faze clan vs. fnatic

group stage

the 4 groups announced on esl s social media accounts on june 12, 2016.

group a





astralis vs. team dignitas

casters: anders blume & semmler

esl one: cologne 2016 began 2 danish teams – astralis , team dignitas – facing off. players of astralis have obtained legends status ever since first major whereas players of dignitas seem go out in group stage. first major in dignitas not playing markus kjaerbye kjærbye since joined , in astralis not playing rené cajunb borg, 2 teams traded players. however, since kjaerbye qualified major dignitas, not allowed play astralis, team brought in lukas gla1ve rossander. astralis jumped out 5-0 lead before dignitas put round on scoreboard. dignitas bring score 6-2 before going on 5-2 run, keep score @ 8-7 in astralis s favor. dignitas took 10-8 lead after winning pistol , anti-economy rounds. astralis won 3 in row , astralis captain finn karrigan andersen won 1 vs 2 clutch extend astralis s slim lead. astralis took 14-11 lead before dignitas fought round, astralis, including peter dupreeh rothmann s 4 kills end game. nicolai dev1ce reedtz lead server 27 kills while kristian k0nfig wienecke had 25 kills dignitas. astralis faced off against winner of counter logic gaming , gambit gaming.

counter logic gaming vs. gambit gaming

casters: anders blume & semmler

the next match found american team counter logic gaming (clg) , gambit gaming russia. clg obtained legend status first time in organization s history, before trade of star player josh jdm64 marzano team liquid. clg acquired kenneth koosta suen in trade. gambit gaming defeated optic gaming, team envyus, , g2 esports, teams in major, in order reach majors. gambit started strong, winning first 3 rounds before clg earned round of own. gambit extended lead 7-1 before clg went on 6-0 run, tying score @ 7-7 until gambit won 15th , last round of half, giving russian team slight 8-7 advantage before switching sides. clg won pistol round, gambit answered winning economy round. gambit took 15-10 lead, 1 round away upsetting clg, 26th round, clg did not down , won 3 in row, forcing gambit save on 29th round. however, rustem mou tlepov of gambit got 3 big kills despite gambit not having lot of valuable weapons , closed game @ 16-13 win. james hazed cobb of clg went huge team 30 kills , faruk pita pita, coach of clg standing in team, had 21 kills, dauren adren kystaubayev s 25 kills , ivan spaze obrezhan s 24 proved clg. clg goes on face team dignitas , gambit goes on face astralis.

astralis vs. gambit gaming

casters: james bardolph & ddk

in winner s match, gambit pulled off huge upset on 1 of astralis s best maps in dust ii. score 5-5 until gambit went on 4-1 winning streak close half @ 9-6. russian , kazakh team not let astralis round on board, winning in convincing fashion, 16-6. gla1ve best player astralis 17 kills, adren, mou, , mikhail dosia stolyarov had 24, 18, , 20 kills, respectively, gambit. win gave gambit first ever legends status , sent astralis loser s match.

counter logic gaming vs. team dignitas

casters: james bardolph & ddk

clg vs dignitas 1 of fastest matches in major history. dignitas jumped 7-0 lead, lead ruben rubino villarroel before clg took round. however, 1 round round clg get, dignitas made quick work of clg, eliminating former legends tournament. rubino had 32 kills while rest of dignitas had less half of rubino s kills. no clg player had on ten kills , poor performance cost clg.

astralis vs. team dignitas

casters: sadokist & henryg

the 2 danish teams meet again, time in loser s best of 3 matchup. dignitas coming off strong off of convincing win on clg while astralis upset gambit. in addition, dupreeh forced out of tournament due stomach infection, astralis coach danny zonic sørensen had step in remainder of tournament. first game on cobblestone, dignitas s best map, required game go overtime, teams tied 15-15 @ end of regulation. dignitas pulled off win in close game, 19-16, 1 win away obtaining legend status , kicking astralis down legends spots. in first half of second map, astralis took convincing 13-2 lead @ half , dignitas seemed lost. however, dignitas made effort fight back. astralis stuck @ 13 rounds while dignitas pulled 13-8 game , 14-10, making 4-round game. however, astralis closed out last 2 rounds prevent comeback , tie series @ 1-1. third map came cache. dignitas won pistol , anti-economy rounds, zonic went big team , bring score 9-6 halftime lead astralis. teams went , forth in second half. in 23 round, dignitas had must win round astralis leading 12-10. cajunb , k0nfig won round dignitas , important round since losing round meant astralis go 14-10 lead. astralis did make 15-11, putting astralis 1 round away victory. seemed dignitas after winning 3 in row, astralis closed out in regulation, winning 16-14 , retaining legends status. andreas xyp9x højsleth star throughout 3 maps total of 83 kills.

group b





natus vincere vs. flipsid3 tactics

casters: moses & pansy

group b started last major s runner up, natus vincere (na vi) against flipsid3 tactics, beat renegades, immortals, , hellraisers in major qualifier. na vi took easy care of flipsid3, despite flipsid3 leader andrey b1ad3 gorodenskiy having 25 kills. na vi took 13-2 lead half. flipsid3 fought 5 rounds little , late na vi closed out 16-7. rest of blad3 s team underperformed while ladislav guardian kovács had 21 kills , denis seized kostin na vi.

ninjas in pyjamas vs. optic gaming

casters: moses & pansy

the swedish legends ninjas in pyjamas (nip), former major winners, started tournament run against optic gaming canada. optic defeated fluffy gangsters, flipdi3, , hellraisers reach major. in other group b match, nip made quick work of optic. nip rushed 11-4 halftime score , closed out next 5 rounds giving nip dominant victory on canadian team. jacob pyth mourujärvi had 23 kills nip , counter-strike legend patrik f0rest lindberg had 22 kills. rush wierzba united states player on optic reach double figures in kills 11 , star awper oscar mixwell cañellas spain struggled 9 kills.

natus vincere vs. ninjas in pyjamas

casters: sadokist & henryg

na vi favorite win group, needed past nip first. cobblestone map both teams comfortable , solid on, tight match expected. nip had 8-3 lead na vi crawled way make score 9-6 in nip s favor @ halftime. however, second half na vi. nip won pistol round, na vi came tie game @ 10-10 , took 11-10 lead. nip won 2 rounds take lead right s rounds nip in game. na vi won final 5 rounds move on playoffs. egor flamie vasilyev , sezied topped scoreboard na vi , christopher right alesund , f0rest did nip.

optic gaming vs. flipsid3 tactics

casters: sadokist & henryg

the loser s match paired optic , flipsid3, both suffering blowout losses. game, however, not blowout. flipsid3 won pistol , following rounds optic went on earn 5 of own, putting score @ 5-4. optic extended lead 8-5 , 9-6 close half. optic again went on extend lead, time 12-8. flipsid3, however, prevail , let optic 1 more round after , won map 16-13. while invisible against nip, mixwell stepped huge 32 kills countered flipsid3 s awper georgi worldedit yaskin. flipsid3 had form blad3 s 21 kills , veteran yegor markeloff markelov s 18.

ninjas in pyjamas vs. flipsid3 tactics

casters: pansy & blu

nip heavy favorites make out of groups, 4 of players 1 time major champions , 4 time runner-ups. in addition, have made out of groups in every major ve played in. flipsid3, despite being @ every major since dreamhack winter 2014, have never made out of groups, placing 13th consistently. get_right , nip in game leader richard xizt landström had show first map nip counter flipsid3 s jan waylander rahkonen , worldedit. nip seemed poised take cleanly flipsid3 made difficult , took distance before falling. next map not close worldedit , waylander went big again more 20 kills each, while pyth , adam friberg friberg nip members have on 10 kills. set tied 1 1, mirage must win map both teams. worldedit relatively quiet, markeloff, waylander, , oleksandr shara hordieiev had on 20 kills defeat swedish dynasty. first team ever knock out nip out of group stage , flipsid3 obtained legend status , biggest upset in tournament.

group c





team liquid vs. team envyus

casters: james bardolph & ddk

after suffering heartbroken best of 3 loss luminosity gaming (now sk gaming) @ mlg columbus 2016 in semifinals, team liquid @ major hoping obtain legend status. opponent team envyus, which, ever since winning dreamhack open cluj-napoca 2015 , placed second @ esl one: cologne 2015, has been in big time slump. french team defeated immortals, splyce, , cloud9 in major qualifier. team envyus brought halftime score respectable 6-9 score despite being on more favored side, not taking lead half seemed costly since liquid went on 7-1 run close out map. kenny kennys schrub , vincent happy schopenhauer seemed ones showed against liquid, hard countered jdm64, jonathan elige jablonowski, , spencer hiko martin, of whom had @ least 20 kills.

virtus.pro vs. mousesports

casters: james bardolph & ddk

like team liquid, virtus.pro (vp) lost sk gaming @ mlg columbus, in quarterfinals vp came close pulling off 2 comebacks against brazilians fell. meanwhile, under leadership of young bosnian nikola niko kovač, mousesports consistently make majors seem fall in group stages. virtus.pro started on more favored side on train, mousesports start strong 7-0 lead, vp showed experience accumulated throughout years comeback possible , went on win 6 in row. half ended mousesports 8-7 lead. mousesports struggle onwards, garnering 2 rounds in second half , vp closed out map 9-2 run. chris chrisj de jong of mousesports had 20 kills no match against vp s janusz snax pogorzelski had 28 kills. vp went on win 16-10 , face off against liquid.

team liquid vs. virtus.pro

casters: anders blume & semmler

vp started off strong against liquid 6-2 lead, liquid went on 7-round streak , closed half @ 9-6, shutting down vp in closing rounds. vp answered pistol , anti-economy rounds tie score @ 9-9. liquid regained lead @ 12-11 not round after , vp claimed first seed of group 16-12. oleksandr s1mple kostyliev , nicholas nitr0 cannella had 27 kills , 24 kills, respectively, teammates struggled, hiko 11 kills snax , wiktor taz wojtas had 23 kills , vp captain filip neo kubski had 20 overwhelm liquid in last few rounds.

mousesports vs. team envyus

casters: anders blume & semmler

mousesports started strong against envyus, french team took lead 7-5. mousesports win following 3 rounds behind performance of timo spiidi richter , 8-7 lead. envyus regain lead @ 12-9 players fail show next 6 rounds , mousesports took advantage of , closed map against former world champions, 16-12. spiidi , chrisj showed german team 21 kills piece while niko @ bottom of scoreboard mousesports 17 kills. kennys showed team once again 22 kills rest of team did not.

team liquid vs. mousesports

casters: anders blume & semmler

liquid started off 5-1 lead mousesports closed gap 5-5 on cobblestone. liquid go on 4-1 streak close half in liquid s favor @ 9-6. mousesports made game close throughout game, liquid pulled off close 16-11 victory behind nitr0 s 29 kill performance. niko had impressive 24 kills, had countered him. in second map, liquid blew mousesports out of water. while hiko struggled throughout series, teammates backed him up. mousesports seemed not going , liquid took convincing 11-4 halftime lead. mousesports try fight managed 2 second half rounds liquid s five. elige , s1mple had @ least 20 kills each, nitr0 close 19. spiidi proved best mousesports player in group stage, team did not pull through , eliminated tournament. liquid keep legends spot.

group d

also known group of death, group d featured 4 world class teams in 1 group, including top 3 teams in world. matchup of number 1, number 2, , number 3 teams in same group received criticism when team of lesser caliber such gambit make playoffs , top 3 team not.

sk gaming vs. g2 esports

casters: pansy & blu

sk gaming defending world champions mlg columbus, when players signed luminosity gaming. on other hand, g2 esports hottest team coming major. these 2 teams met prior major. @ esl pro league season 3, luminosity squeaked past g2 in tense 5 game series, luminosity winning in game 5 in overtime. @ ecs season 1, g2 dominated luminosity 2-0. under sk banner, brazilians started against french on cobblestone. sk started off strong winning pistol g2 kept close , later took 8-6 lead. sk took last round of half after poor play g2. sk won second half pistol round , following rounds , there never g2 pile on 3 rounds , sk stormed g2 win map 16-11. best player of 2016 marcelo coldzera david had 26 kills , sk captain gabriel fallen toldeo had 20. cédric rpk guipouy g2 player have positive kill death differential @ 21 17.

fnatic vs. faze clan

casters: sadokist & henryg

the next map faze clan vs fnatic. fnatic started off strong, pulling 7-3 lead going 11th round. however, after adjustments, faze went on win 5 in row bring score advantage @ 8-7. faze go 11-7 before fnatic won 2 rounds of own. faze won 4 rounds make 15-11, , putting clan on verge of victory. fnatic s experience showed off , brought 15-14 , faze did not have enough money ricardo fox pacheco on awp. however, faze did manage pull round off win close 16-14 game. philip aizy aistrup had 23 kills , joakim jkaem myrbostad had 22 while fnatic s freddy krimz johansson had 21 kills.

sk gaming vs. faze clan

casters: pansy & blu

in sk vs faze, sk dominated. sk rolled through first half 12-3 lead closed game out 16-6 move on playoffs , secure legends status. coldzera once again showed 25 kills , epitácio taco de melo had 21 kills. håvard rain nygaard faze had 14 kills not enough multinational team.

fnatic vs. g2 esports

casters: pansy & blu

g2 esports vs fnatic pitted second , third best teams in world. fnatic took pistol round red hot g2 , jumped 3-0 lead. g2 took lead @ 6-4 before fnatic made tie game @ 6 all. game still tied, @ 7-7, , fnatic close half round win. fnatic made 4-round game @ 11-7 before g2 got first round of second half. score tied again @ 11-11 before fnatic started running away game. @ 15-11 in favor of fnatic, g2 manage pull off 2 more rounds before falling, , number 2 team out of tournament.

faze clan vs. fnatic

casters: james bardolph & ddk

fnatic made sure didn t upset faze again; in addition, faze known being lackluster in best of 3 series. on cache, faze made close , took 8-7 lead second half. however, fnatic played smart , limited faze 1 round on terrorist half, giving game 1 fnatic, 16-9. on second map, fnatic steamrolled on faze in first half 11-4. faze made little interesting in second half 3 rounds on board, giving fnatic 16-7 victory. fabien kioshima fiey had 34 kills on 2 maps, robin flusha rönnquist outshined him 43 kills of own; jesper jw wecksell had 40 kills well. jkaem failed show 22 kills