IEM Cologne 2023: BIG is sent home by Liquid

IEM Cologne 2023: BIG is sent home by Liquid

28. July 2023 by Andrew Williams

At the IEM Cologne there were again a lot of exciting matches. One of them was from Team Liquid against BIG, who made short work of the German team and sent them home after a defeat.

Here is an overview of the matches from the Play-In Stage of the IEM Cologne 2023.

Into the Breach vs. TheMongolz

TheMongolz eliminated Into the Breach from the IEM Cologne play-in thanks to a dominant 2-0 win (Mirage 16-8, Ancient 16-8). Usukhbayar “910” Banzragch provided the win on Mirage and Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren fired from all guns on Ancient.

Into the Breach already took a loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas, and now to TheMongolz. Into the Breach’s Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel stated after the match that he felt his team was off their game against the Mongols, saying, “It’s really hard to win rounds when you can’t kill people.”

Astralis vs. Apeks

Astralis secured its spot in the Group Stage of IEM Cologne with a 2-1 win over Apeks in the tournament’s play-in. The team first won on Overpass with a dominant 16:10, then suffered a loss to Anubis 10:16 before winning in overtime against Ancient 19:16. Things have visibly improved for Astralis since they signed Victor “Staehr” Staehr and Johannes b0RUP”.

Monte vs. FURIA

Monte secured a spot in the group stage after a 2-1 win (Mirage 16-13, Overpass 5-16, Ancient 16-7) over FURIA in the upper bracket of the play-in stage.
Monte had lost player Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas shortly before, who was replaced by Alexander “br0” Bro in the event.

Imperial vs. Grayhound

Imperial knocked Grayhound out of the IEM Cologne play-in after a 2-1 win (Inferno 16-5, Mirage 14-16, Nuke 16-8) in the lower bracket. Grayhound has already lost to the second Brazilian team. The Brazilians, on the other hand, will play today against NiP for the entry into the group stage.

OG vs. Complexity

OG defeated Complexity 2-0 and was eliminated from IEM Cologne. The team led by Nemanja “nexa” Isaković won on Mirage with 16-11 and Overpass with 16-12. OG is now preparing for today’s match against Apeks.

BIG vs. Team Liquid

German team BIG was eliminated by Liquid 2-1 from the play-in of IEM Cologne, sending the lineup home. BIG entered this tournament without their new player Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski. Team Liquid got a first win on Vertigo with 16:13. Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis shined on Vertigo and managed to win a 1vs3 situation, then made a triple kill and put his team in the lead. BIG had no more chance and lost the first map.

The second map was Mirage and BIG had the lead there. Team Liquid lost in the overtime with 17-19. On Overpass the match was decided and BIG weakened. Liquid defeated the Germans with a dominant CT team 16-9. While the journey continues for Liquid, BIG has to go home after the defeat and has no more chance to win the prize money of 1 million.

For the German spectators it is a sad affair that Team BIG left the event on the last place. BIG was the only German representative in the tournament in Cologne and many fans would have loved to see them succeed on German soil. But defeats to Apeks and Team Liquid quickly put a stop to those hopes.