IEM Cologne opening matchups revealed

Along with the exciting announcement that all IEM Cologne matches will all best-of-threes, bar the grand final best-of-five, ESL have also revealed the opening matchups for the play-in stage as well as the bracket for the main event. In previous iterations of the event, the opening matches of the play-ins were BO1s, a fairly common gripe among fans. The change comes highly anticipated and celebrated.

Of the sixteen teams in the play-in, eight will move up to the main event and join eight of the best teams in the world to determine six teams to fill out the Lanxess Arena. The play-in will take place August 7th-9th, with the main event starting on the 10th and running its course through the 18th.

Opening matches relevant to our audience are Complexity looking to get an easy win against ALTERNATE aTTaX, Liquid making an appearance after missing out on Katowice earlier this year, 9z looking to take down BetBoom, and FURIA and Imperial fighting for the crown of Brazil.

Opening Matches:
Complexity vs ALTERNATE aTTaX
Eternal Fire vs Falcons
Heroic vs MIBR
BetBoom vs 9z
FURIA vs Imperial
paiN vs Liquid
FlyQuest vs BIG
The MongolZ vs SAW