European Teams Dominate ESL One Cologne Qualifiers
European Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams are proving their dominance at the ESL One Cologne qualifiers. Mousesports and FaZe Clan were the first to secure their place in the upcoming Major.
Sixteen teams are participating in the best-of-one qualifiers held in Katowice, Poland. Only eight spots are available for the Major. The qualifying teams will then join eight invited teams to compete for $1 million from July 8 to 10 in Cologne, Germany.
The first team to qualify was Mousesports, defeating G2 Esports 16-1. The team was led by Denis Howell, with strong performances from Johannes “nex” Maget and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač. Although Mousesports won all their qualifying matches 3-0, their game against FLuffy Gangsters was competitive, and they had a strong start against Cloud9 but allowed the opposing team to gain ground in the second half.
FaZe Clan secured their spot just one hour later, winning against Gambit Gaming with a score of 16-11. They convincingly beat both Team Dignitas and FlipSid3 Tactics to make it to the final game. Although Gambit had a strong start, leading the first half 8-7, FaZe fought back, thanks in part to clutch play from Ricardo “fox” Pacheco.
Mousesports and FaZe will join the invited teams, who according to ESL, have attained “legend status.” The invited teams include Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, Astralis, Natus Vincere, Luminosity Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, Virtus.pro, and Fnatic.
The qualifiers will conclude tomorrow, with remaining teams such as OpTic, Immortals (formerly Tempo Storm), and Renegades among others, fighting for the remaining spots.