Danil “donk” Kryshkovets experienced the worst tournament of his career at IEM Cologne, a stark contrast to his record-breaking performance earlier in the year. The Russian prodigy had started the year in spectacular fashion, dominating the competition at IEM Katowice with one of the greatest individual performances ever seen. However, at the second major IEM tournament of the year in Cologne, he struggled to maintain those high standards, finishing with a disappointing overall rating of just 0.85.
Team Spirit, Kryshkovets’ team, suffered a surprising first-round defeat to The MongolZ, losing their own map pick, Anubis, with a crushing score of 4-13. The team’s woes continued in the lower bracket, where they were soundly beaten by G2, managing only 13-3 and 13-1 in two lopsided matches.
Joining Team Spirit in an early exit were the South Americans from 9z, who were eliminated after losses to Astralis and paiN.
On a more positive note, NAVI and SAW both secured victories in their matches, earning spots in the LANXESS arena. Meanwhile, The MongolZ, paiN, Astralis, and G2 will battle it out today and tomorrow for the final playoff spot in Group A.
In Group B, MOUZ, Complexity, FaZe, and Vitality all advanced to the upper semifinals with wins against Falcons, Virtus.pro, Liquid, and FURIA. The defeated teams will now face the challenge of making a lower bracket run to qualify for the playoffs.
Results and schedule of IEM Cologne 2024
Saturday
13.30: FaZe – Liquid 2-0
13.30: Virtus.pro – Complexity 1-2
16.30: G2 – SAW 0-2
16.30: Spirit – The MongolZ 0-2
19.30: Natus Vincere – paiN 2-0
19.30: Astralis – 9z 2-0
Sunday:
13.30: MOUZ – – Falcons 2-1
13.30: Vitality – FURIA 2-0
16.30: Astralis – Natus Vincere 0-2
16.30: SAW – The MongolZ 2-1
19.30: G2 – Spirit 2-0
19.30: 9z – paiN 1-2
Monday:
13.30: Virtus.pro – Falcons
13.30: Liquid – FURIA
15.45: Complexity – MOUZ
15.45: FaZe – Vitality
18.45: The MongolZ – paiN
18.45: Astralis – G2
