All CS2 teams participating in IEM Cologne 2024

As anticipation builds for the CS2 IEM Cologne 2024, ESL authorities have finally announced the list of participating teams. The prestigious IEM tournament is scheduled to be held from August 7, 2024, to August 18, 2024, at the cathedral of Counter-Strike, Cologne.

24 teams from different regions (Asia, Americas, Europe, and Oceania), will gather at the Lanxess Arena to write their names in the history books. The tournament will have a massive prize pool of US$1,000,000.

This article will give readers the full list of CS2 teams playing at the IEM Cologne 2024.

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All 24 teams participating in the IEM Cologne 2024

A few teams have directly qualified for the IEM Cologne 2024 Stage 2 (Group Stage), while the rest will start their run in Stage 1 (Play-in). The Play-in-phase squads must each win a BO3 (Best of three) matchup to qualify for the main stage.

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Let’s take a quick look at all the 24 teams for the CS2 IEM Cologne in 2024:

IEM Cologne 2024 Play-in teams

Europe

• HEROIC (ESL World Ranking EU)
• Eternal Fire (ESL World Ranking EU)
• Team Falcons (ESL World Ranking EU)
• BIG (ESL World Ranking)
• BetBoom Team (ESL World Ranking)
• SAW (ESL World Ranking)
• ALTERNATE aTTaX (German Qualifiers)

Americas

• Complexity Gaming (ESL World Ranking NA)
• 9z Team (ESL World Ranking SA)
• Team Liquid (ESL World Ranking)
• Imperial Esports (ESL World Ranking)
• FURIA Esports (ESL World Ranking)
• paiN Gaming (ESL World Ranking)
• MIBR (ESL World Ranking)

Asia

• The MongolZ (ESL World Ranking AS)

Oceania

• FlyQuest (ESL World Ranking OCE)

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Teams that have directly qualified for the Group Stage (Stage 2) of IEM Cologne 2024

• Team Spirit (IEM Katowice 2024) (Declined)
• FaZe Clan (IEM Chengdu 2024)
• MOUZ (ESL Pro League Seaosn 19)
• G2 Esports (IEM Dallas 2024)
• Team Vitality (ESL World Ranking)
• Natus Vincere (ESL World Ranking)
• Astralis (ESL World Ranking)
• Virtus.pro (ESL World Ranking)

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Format of CS2 IEM Cologne 2024

The format for the CS2 IEM Cologne is slightly different compared to other IEM tournaments earlier. 16 teams worldwide will participate in the Play-In stage, while the other eight squads have directly qualified for the Group Stage. ESL has decided to forgo the traditional best-of-one format for this event as well as the upcoming IEM tournaments.

Here’s a detailed overview of the newly implemented format that the IEM Cologne 2024 will follow:

• The Play-in stage of the tournament will follow a double-elimination-bracket format.
• Play-in matches will follow the standard BO3 format.
• The top eight teams from the Play-in Stage will qualify for Stage 2 (Group Stage) of this IEM tournament.
• In the Group Stage, teams will be divided into two groups (A and B) and will follow the standard best-of-three format.
• The top rankers in both groups will directly qualify for the Semifinal Stage.
• The teams that come second in the groups will qualify for the Quarterfinals with high seeds. The squads that come third will qualify for the same but with low seeds.
• Only the Grand Final match of Cologne 2024 will follow a best-of-five format.

The winner of the IEM Cologne tournament will directly qualify for the next IEM Katowice 2025, and BLAST Premier World Final.

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