Live updates from IEM Cologne semi-finals

G2 10-5 Astralis

Could we be seeing Astralis' seven-map winning streak on Ancient come to an end?

G2, powered by strong performances from Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov and Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač, have posted 10 rounds on the board by halftime. The Russian and Bosnian each have 16 kills and are doing a great job at keeping the Danes at bay.

What's more, the Kovač cousins — huNter- and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač — joined forces in round 14, pulling off a 2vs3 retake at the final second to earn their 10th. I think the Danes thought they had the round in the bag to be quite honest.

Astralis now move to the CT-side on Ancient. They'll need to pull off quite the comeback to turn the tide and clinch victory on their home map.

G2 5-4 Astralis

G2's strong start has been whittled down, now. The Danes are continuing to show why they love Ancient so much, trailing by just one round heading into the final stages of the opening half.

We've even had our first ace, with Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr cleaning up an anti-eco to earn his first ace in an Astralis jersey. And when Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer is letting the young Dane clean up the ecos, you know the team atmosphere is good.

G2 do remain in the lead, however, and they'll be laughing if they can steal away the opening map. A long way to go until then, though.

G2 3-0 Astralis

G2 will be happy with their start to the series, accruing a 3-0 lead on the CT-side of Ancient. It's a map their foes are more than comfortable on at the minute, so every round counts in the grand scheme of things.

There is a notable Danish corner in the Lanxess Arena, who obviously will be giving all their support to Astralis in this match. However, Jan "⁠Swani⁠" Müller is the lone German representative at the event on home soil. Can he harness the crowd in his team's favor?

The veto between G2 and Astralis is in!

There are less than 15 minutes to go until we begin, and it's the exact same veto as the two teams' group stage meet-up.

Unsurprisingly Astralis have opted to start things off on Ancient. The Danes have very much made it their home map since returning from the player break, with Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer and company sporting a seven-map win-streak on the Aztec-inspired battleground.

G2 have then opted to send the series to Inferno, where they have won 12 out of their last 18 outings, with Nuke being the decider if necessary.

The full veto is as follows:

1. Astralis banned Mirage
2. G2 banned Overpass
3. Astralis picked Ancient
4. G2 picked Inferno
5. Astralis banned Anubis
6. G2 banned Vertigo
7. Nuke was left over

James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks was able to catch up with Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, who was for some reason wearing a Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen mask, before G2 take on Astralis in the second IEM Cologne semi-final.

"Individually, I practice every day and I play a lot of PUGs and I'm also watching more demos than I was before," the Russian began, talking about his uptick in confidence compared to the start of the season. "I didn't change a lot of things before BLAST, it was always the same, but now I am more confident.

"It's almost the same [feeling as IEM Katowice] and I think we are even better," m0NESY continued before speaking about how he feels to be playing in the Lanxess Arena. "I feel like I am at home [on stage], but I have never played here in Cologne. I think it's going to be sick, I just want to enjoy it because it's the last big tournament in CS:GO, I'll do everything I can," he finished with before walking off with his HooXi mask back on his face.

Speaking to us in the mixed zone: "The feelings are mixed right now, I think that we played with what we had. On this Vertigo we lacked a lot of solutions at the end, there's a lot of work ahead but I'm still proud of the guys. With about seven days of practice we still made semi-finals here, we know our potential and we know we can go way further. But that's how it is

On ENCE and SunPayus: "They're a great team, they play well together. SunPayus is good but so are all the players, it's not about him at all. It's just the team playing together; they've been together for some months now and they're showing up a lot. They deserved to win today, that's it.

"We came in not really prepared, we played with our hearts throughout the tournament, but sometimes that's not enough. We need some time off and some time to think about what to work on. There's a ton of things to work on, but with such a small preparation I'm proud of my guys," Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire summarized Vitality's run.

"I'm performing good because my team is performing good," Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia said on the desk after being asked about his incredible performance in the grand final. Pressed to take some credit by Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez, the Spaniard remained humble, giving praise to his in-game leader:

"I played good, but the credits are mostly for my coach and Marco. I think Marco is calling insanely, for me he's the best in-game leader in the world by far right now."

Vitality 7-13 ENCE

I'm sick of saying his name. It's the Spanish AWPer again. ENCE lost the pistol round — even despite a heroic effort from Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz — but Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia just got four in the ensuing force-buy to get his team back on the board.

Vitality did answer back immediately, but ENCE have just won two in a row to hit 13 rounds — three rounds away from a spot in the IEM Cologne grand final.

So far, only Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi is stepping up to play, and it's showing. A long way back for Vitality, but never say never.

Vitality 5-10 ENCE

"He's ascending right now in this series," Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill said as the Spanish AWPer opened up round 13 by himself with a rush up the A Ramp. The Australian commentator is bang on. Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia went huge on Nuke despite defeat and is proving to be key in ENCE's success on the Vertigo decider, leading his team with 15 kills right now.

You can't hear Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's comms, but I bet the Danish IGL is encouraging SunPayus to keep going. He's single-handedly pushing ENCE into the grand final.

Conversely, Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut is choosing a bad map to go offline. The Frenchman is on just six kills at the break. It's essential that he wakes up if Vitality want to turn the tides.

Vitality 5-5 ENCE

It's neck-and-neck on the Vertigo decider, Vitality's initial lead being eroded away to have the two teams sit on five rounds apiece.

ENCE will be kicking themselves, however. They had the chance to grow a lead, if not for Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi pulling off a 1vs3 clutch, sticking the bomb in order to get it done. It was that defuse that highlighted the Lanxess Arena's presence, as the Cathedral of Counter-Strike grew louder and louder as the defuse timer went down.

Vitality 4-3 ENCE

Vitality, like Mirage and Nuke, have started Vertigo off on the right foot, leading on the CT-side thanks to key fragging by Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi.

The Israeli has seven kills and just one death to his name midway through the opening half, while also having three multi-kill rounds.

ENCE aren't cowering away though. They've brute-forced their way onto the A and B bombsites in recent rounds, and it's paid off as the international squad trail by just one.

Vitality 0-0 ENCE

It all comes down to this. Vitality and ENCE's semi-final bout needs to be settled on Vertigo, a map that really could go either way.

The two teams have played the skyscraper-based map once already in Cologne, with defeats being handed to both of them. ENCE lost to the self-proclaimed best Vertigo team in the world in 9INE, while Vitality were punished by G2 in the group stage.

It's Vitality starting out on the CT-side and ENCE on the T-side. With back-to-back 16-14 scorelines so far in the series, are we going to be treated to another banger to end things?

Vitality 16-14 ENCE

It's back-to-back 16-14 scorelines in the series! What a game this turning out to be.

Regardless, Vitality will have wished they could have closed the map out sooner, but Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia was proving to be a real big pain in the backside with his lethal AWP. The Spaniard ended things with 31 kills, popping up across the whole map and stopping Vitality's offense in its tracks repeatedly, but even that wasn't enough to force overtime.

We're now going over to Vertigo to settle things. Who will be the first IEM Cologne grand finalists? Let's find out soon.

Vitality 14-13 ENCE

Things are starting to heat up now. Vitality's initial 11-4 advantage has been nearly whittled down completely, the two teams just a round apart heading into the dying stages.

Just watch this hold of the B bombsite from Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia. Take a bow. It's starting to feel like the neck-and-neck nature we saw on Mirage.

Vitality 14-7 ENCE

ENCE have definitely started to warm up on Nuke, thanks in part to Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia's proficiency with his Scout. The Spaniard has been locking down Outside with ease.

That said, Vitality aren't prepared to throw away their lead for nothing; they have won three in a row to make it to 14 rounds — two away from forcing a trip to Vertigo.

It's starting to look like ENCE are too far behind to mount a comeback now. Anything's possible, but Vertigo is looking increasingly likely.

Vitality 11-4 ENCE

This is the Vitality we wanted to see, they look like a completely different beast compared to Mirage. They're confident, and their CT-side has been so rock-solid that they head into the break with a comfortable seven-round buffer to their name.

It's also been a true team effort coming out of the Vitality camp. Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi is leading things with 16 kills, but even Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan, who is the fourth-best performer on 11 kills, has been locking down the A site with some crucial sprays through smokes.

Can ENCE recover from such a lopsided deficit? Let's find out.

Vitality 5-3 ENCE

Vitality have started Nuke on the right foot, accruing a 5-3 lead on the CT-side thanks to stellar performances from Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi, Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut, and Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire. The trio have combined for 27 kills by round eight.

Although, a special shoutout has to go to Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, who decided to stick the bomb in round eight and what a call to make. With ZywOo's support, the Dane managed to steal a round away for his team to extend their lead further.

Vitality 0-0 ENCE

We're back underway in Cologne, and it's time to move over to ENCE's pick of Nuke, a map both teams have a 100% win rate on, though Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company have more reps on it.

If Mirage was anything to go by, then we're in for another banger map of Counter-Strike. Vitality need to right their wrongs from the opener and clinch victory on ENCE's map pick if they're to stay alive a little while longer in Germany.

Vitality 14-16 ENCE

ENCE closed out Mirage and took the lead in the series. They had trouble closing out their opponent's map pick, but did so in classic ENCE style. Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer called a ballsy A rush from spawn, a round he finished on his own by clutching out a 1vs2.

That was an absolute banger map, up next is Nuke — the pick of ENCE.

Vitality 12-14 ENCE

ENCE are looking strong on their T side, grinding the rounds with their trademark aggressive style. They sit just two away from securing a map victory, but their finances are less than ideal after Vitality just secured a round of their own.

ENCE are of course not going for an eco, instead deciding to force up. If they lose this, it's 14-14.

Vitality 10-10 ENCE

ENCE's pistol and following conversion have gotten them within touching distance of Vitality. The reigning Major champions answered back with the first rifle round, but an Underpass push failed to work out in the next for them, enabling ENCE to tie up the scores at ten once again.

This game is proving to be the brawl we were all expecting it to be, no round seems to be a guaranteed win.

Vitality 9-6 ENCE

After a scrappy opening few rounds, Vitality got control of the economy after winning with a rag-tag buy on the A site. Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi found two crisp headshots from Palace, breaking the money from the CT side and enabling his team to string four together.

Vitality 3-4 ENCE

Vitality won the pistol with the help of Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif's triple and converted it to a 3-0 lead. ENCE wasted no time in reducing the deficit, as Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer saved a 1vs2 situation on the A site.

The Danish IGL is sitting on top of the scoreboard for his team, and is known for the occasional pop-off game. This would be quite the game for that.

Spinx on media day: "Beating ENCE would mean a lot. ZywOo and I played a two-vs-two [ping-pong game] against SunPayus and Nertz. All the ENCE guys, we've played ping-pong against each other. We always said, two-vs-two, whoever wins this one wins the semi-final against each before we even knew we might face each other. Whoever wins this wins Cologne or whatever. So we've made a lot of jokes about it."

"In the game itself, we are two Israelis, and we are facing another Israeli friend. It's my ex-teammates and all of them are really good friends with me now, even SunPayus now I've played ping-pong with him a few times. So there is something to it, it's always hard to face your ex-girlfriend I would say. Also, every time we've played against them it has been a really close game, they beat us maybe two times and we've beaten them only once. Also best-of-one so it's different, but we want to take more and more revenge against them"

The teams have walked out, and the fans are having fun — the semi-final is just moments away.

ENCE start on the CT side of Mirage, sharping up their pistols for a match that will no doubt deliver highlight moments.

The veto is in:

1. Vitality removed Ancient
2. ENCE removed Inferno
3. Vitality picked Mirage
4. ENCE picked Nuke
5. Vitality removed Anubis
6. ENCE removed Overpass
7. Vertigo was left over

Both teams removed their usual bans of Inferno (ENCE) and Ancient (Vitality). The Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire-led them decided to pick Mirage, a map they won yesterday against Cloud9 by putting up ten rounds on their defensive half.

Nuke is ENCE's pick, where both teams sport a 100% win rate. Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer's men have played it three times in the tournament already, while Vitality have no official outings since adding Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan in the offseason.

The decider is Vertigo if needed, a solid middle ground for both teams.

Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut did a pre-match interview with Eefje "⁠sjokz⁠" Depoortere, touching on yesterday's performance and his expectations for the semi-final. "It's hard to sleep after such a good game, the win gave us a lot of confidence, but I feel ready, we know what we're capable of. It's gonna be a great match against ENCE, they like to push and search for kills."

Alvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" Garcia shared the sentiment, starting the interview with a bit of fighting talk: "We are here to fight, we will look for duels for sure. We have good chanches, no one is playing the best CS right now, but I feel we are at a good level. We can show some great CS today."

We are back in the LANXESS, with just four teams left in the running for the coveted title.

Starting off a high-octane day of Counter-Strike is the first semi-final between ENCE and Vitality. The Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer-led team has skipped the quarter-final stage due to their flawless group-stage campaign during which they defeated 9INE, fnatic, and Heroic. This led to a four-day respite for them, enabling ample time to make preparations for the upcoming match.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
05/08/2023	ENCE 15:30 Vitality	Match

Vitality needed to battle through Cloud9 in their quarter-final bout. The reigning Major champions won the match in two maps but needed Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut's carry performance to get them over the line in an overtime affair on Inferno, the second map of the series.

The game is also a battle between three Israeli players, who are all great friends outside of the server but enemies inside of it, as Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan put it. The youngster also had some choice words for his opponents, especially his countryman Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz. "We [me and Spinx] need to give him a slapdown and send him back home."

The second game of the day will happen between Group B winners G2 and Astralis, the latter defeating Heroic with two masterful T-side displays to win the domestic derby in the LANXESS yesterday.

The teams met in the group stage of the tournament, where G2 prevailed in a 2-1 victory. Astralis unsurprisingly picked Ancient and won the map, with G2 retaliating with wins on Inferno and Nuke to send the Danes down to the lower bracket in the opening round.

The match against G2 marks the fifth Cologne semi-final for the Danish organization. The other four ended with a defeat, so will this new-look Astralis finally break through the barrier?

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
05/08/2023	G2 20:10 Astralis	Match