ESL removes BO1 format for Cologne
Goodybe, goodbye to the best-of-one format for IEM Cologne 2024. It will now entirely be a best-of-three competition, albeit for the Grand Final which will remain a best-of-five thriller.
ESL announced the change following feedback from players and the community which only heightened following Valve's decision to move from MR15 to MR12 with the arrival of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's successor, Counter-Strike 2.
Originally, the IEM Cologne Play-In stage featured best-of-one opening round matches which would then sort teams into the best-of-three upper bracket or the best-of-three lower bracket.
IEM Cologne is set to begin on August 7th with sixteen teams fighting in the opening Play-In stage. Teams like FURIA, Complexity, and Liquid will be fighting it out in the opening round.
Seven teams from the Americas are looking to book their spot in the Lanxess, or at least hoping to make it to the group stage, which begins on August 10th.
