ESL One Cologne 2015

ESL One Cologne 2015

2015
The ESL One Cologne 2015 logo
Tournament information
Sport	Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Location	Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Dates	August 14, 2015–August 18, 2015
Administrator(s)	Valve ESL
Tournament format(s)	GSL double elimination group stage Eight team single elimination playoff
Venue	Lanxess Arena
Teams	16 teams
Purse	$250,000 USD
Final positions
Champions	Fnatic
1st runners-up	Team EnVyUs
2nd runners-up	Virtus.pro Team SoloMid
MVP	Robin "flusha" Rönnquist
← Katowice 2015 Cluj-Napoca 2015 →

ESL One Cologne 2015 was the sixth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship that was held from August 14–18, 2015 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.^[1] It was organized by Electronic Sports League. The Cologne event was the first ESL tournament that required competitors to take drug tests, which all came up negative.^[2][3][4] The tournament had a total prize pool of US$250,000. The online livestream was viewed by around 27 million viewers with a peak of 1.3 million concurrent viewers.^[5]

Eight teams were in the playoffs. Fnatic, Luminosity Gaming, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team EnVyUs, Team SoloMid, and Virtus.pro were returning Legends. Team Kinguin was the only new Legend in the tournament, replacing mousesports, which failed to make the top eight. Fnatic, which defeated Luminosity Gaming and Virtus.pro, was the winner of the event after defeating Team EnVyUs, which defeated Natus Vincere and Team SoloMid, 2–0.^[6] Fnatic was the first team to have consecutive major titles and would be the only team to do so until SK Gaming (which was Luminosity Gaming at this tournament) when the Brazilian team won MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016.

Format[]

The top eight teams from ESL One Katowice 2015 ("Legends") received direct invitations to Katowice. In addition, eight other teams (the "Challengers") emerged from offline qualifiers: four from the European qualifier, two from the Asian qualifier, and two from the North American qualifier.

Teams were split up into four groups, and all group matches were best-of-ones. In the first group stage, the highest seed played the lowest seed in each group and the second and third seeds played each other. The winner of those two matches then played each other to determine which team moved on to the playoff stage; the loser of this match received a "high seed" in the second group stage. The two losers from the initial matches were given "low seeds" in the second group stage, while the high seed received a bye. In the second group stage, the groups were shuffled so that teams faced new opponents.^[7] However, each group still contained one high seed and two low seeds. The two low seeds in each group played each other, and the winner of that match played the high seed in the group. The winner of that match qualified for the playoff stage.

The playoffs bracket consisted of eight teams, two from each group. All of these matches were best-of-three, single elimination. Teams advanced in the bracket until a winner was decided.

Map pool[]

There were seven maps to choose from. However, Nuke was taken out of the active map pool and Train was brought back in for the first time since the second Major, EMS One Katowice 2014. Before each match in the group stage, both teams banned two maps. The map for the match was then randomly selected from the remaining three maps. In the playoffs, each team first banned one map, then chose one map. The two chosen maps were the first two maps in the best-of-three. If the series were to require a third map, the map was randomly selected from the three remaining maps.

Qualifiers[]

Four teams from the European Qualifier, two teams from the Asian Qualifier, and two teams from the North American Qualifier moved on to the major.

Sixteen European teams were placed in two separate brackets. Two teams from each bracket moved on to the major. In the Asian and North American Qualifiers, eight teams were placed in two groups and were played out like in previous majors' group stages. The top two moved on to a four team bracket. The winners of the matches move on to the major.^[8]

European Qualifier[]

EU Group A Bracket; Cologne, Germany

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Fourth Round					Cologne 2015
	Winner's Bracket
		Team Property	16
		PiTER	7
							Team Property	14
							Team Dignitas	16
		Team Dignitas	16
		OverGaming	9
												Team Dignitas	8
												Team Kinguin	16
		FlipSid3 Tactics	14
		KILLERFISH	16
							KILLERFISH	8
							Team Kinguin	16
		Team Kinguin	16
		PENTA Sports	9																			Team Kinguin	Q
																						FlipSid3 Tactics	Q
	Loser's Bracket
		PiTER	8
		OverGaming	16				KILLERFISH	16
							OverGaming	8
												KILLERFISH	14
		FlipSid3 Tactics	19									FlipSid3 Tactics	16				Team Dignitas	16
		PENTA Sports	17				Team Property	3									FlipSid3 Tactics	19
							FlipSid3 Tactics	16

EU Group B Bracket; Cologne, Germany

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Fourth Round					Cologne 2015
	Winner's Bracket
		HellRaisers	19
		LGB eSports	17
							HellRaisers	14
							Team eBettle	16
		Epiphany Bolt	19
		Team eBettle	22
												Team eBettle	25
												Titan	23
		Team ROCCAT	9
		k1ck eSports.hu	16
							k1ck eSports.hu	8
							Titan	16
		Gamers2	5
		Titan	16																			Team eBettle	Q
																						Titan	Q
	Loser's Bracket
		LGB eSports	16
		Epiphany Bolt	11				k1ck eSports.hu	9
							LBG eSports	16
												LGB eSports	16
		Team ROCCAT	5									HellRaisers	7				Titan	16
		Gamers2					HellRaisers	16									LGB eSports	2
							Gamers2	9

Asian Qualifier[]

Asian Qualifier Bracket; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

	Semifinals					Finals
		Team Immunity	2
		MVP Karnal	0
							Team Immunity	Q
							Renegades	Q
		Renegades	2
		myRevenge.kr	0

North American Qualifier[]

NA Qualifier Bracket; Burbank, California

	Semifinals					Finals
		Cloud9	2
		eLevate	0
							Cloud9	Q
							Counter Logic Gaming	Q
		Counter Logic Gaming	2
		Team Liquid	0

Broadcast talent[]

Hosts

• Oliver James "OJ Borg" Borg D'Anastasi
• William "Chobra" Cho

Analysts

• Henry "HenryG" Greer
• Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson
• Casper "cadiaN" Møller
• Jason "moses" O'Toole

Commentators

• Anders Blume
• Jason "JKaplan" Kaplan
• Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat
• Joe Miller
• Alex "Machine" Richardson
• Lauren "Pansy" Scott
• Leigh "Deman" Smith

Observers

• Yanko "YNk" Paunović
• Simon "pAn" Schumacher

Others

• Sean Charles (Reporting)
• Soe "Soembie" Gschwind-Penski (Esports in Cinemas)

Broadcasts[]

All streams were broadcast on Twitch in various languages.

ESL CSGO 99Damage Bebe BiDa Castpoint CNONE ESL China ESL CZSK ESL Italy ESL Poland ESL Spain ESL Turkey Fraglider GPlayTV Hungarian Esport TV KeitaTV Mito NVIDIA France ON Storm Studio striimIT Strimok VsnT WeAreInVICtus Teams[] Legends Fnatic Ninjas in Pyjamas Team EnVyUs Virtus.pro Luminosity Gaming mousesports Natus Vincere Team SoloMid Challengers Cloud9 Counter Logic Gaming FlipSid3 Tactics Renegades Team eBettle Team Immunity Team Kinguin Titan Changes were made prior to the major. Keyd Stars drop Caio "zqk" Fonseca in favor of Marcelo "coldzera" David.[9] The roster of Keyd Stars is signed by Luminosity Gaming.[10] Team EnVyUs acquire Dan "apEX" Madesclaire and Kenny "kennyS" Schrub in a trade deal with Titan. Titan acquire Richard "shox" Papillon and Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux in the deal.[11] mousesports acquire PENTA Sports's Legends spot after signing Johannes "nex" Maget, Timo "Spiidi" Richter, and Denis "denis" Howell.[12] Team Kinguin forms and signs a European team, with players and a coach from five different countries. Mikail "Maikelele" Bill comes from Ninjas in Pyjamas, Håvard "rain" Nygaard and Dennis "dennis" Edman come from LGB eSports, Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom comes from Epsilon eSports, and Ricardo "fox" Pacheco comes from k1ck eSports Club.[13] Cloud9 released Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan and Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen after poor performance.[14] Four days later, it announces the signing of Ryan "fREAKAZOiD" Abadir and former iBUYPOWER member Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham. Cloud9 also signed another ex-iBUYPOWER member Braxton "swag" Pierce as an analyst and streamer after swag was banned from all Valve-sponsored events.[15] Team eBettle signed the roster of INSHOCK. However, many changes occurred within the team. Mariusz "Loord" Cybulski announced his retirement from competitive play and went on to coach Gamers2 a month after retiring. Paweł "RED" Szymański went on to become the manager of INSHOCK and Michał "MICHU" Müller was released from the team. To fill up the roster, INSHOCK signed Dominik "GruBy" Świderski, Piotr "peet" Ćwikliński, and Karol "rallen" Radowicz before getting signed by eBettle.[16] Counter Logic Gaming release Peter "ptr" Gurney from its roster and sign Josh "jdm64" Marzano as its new AWPer after poor performance from ptr on LAN events.[17] Group Stage 1[] Key Team automatically advanced to Playoffs Team advanced to second Group Stage as high seed Team advanced to second Group Stage as low seed Group A[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Team SoloMid 2 0 32 24 +18 6 2 Ninjas in Pyjamas 1 1 19 29 -10 3 3 Counter Logic Gaming 0 1 13 16 -3 0 4 Renegades 0 1 11 16 -5 0 Group A Scores Team Score Map Score Team Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 Dust II 13 Counter Logic Gaming Team SoloMid 16 Train 11 Renegades Ninjas in Pyjamas 3 Cache 16 Team SoloMid Group B[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Team EnVyUs 2 0 35 19 +16 6 2 Luminosity Gaming 1 1 32 25 +7 3 3 Team Kinguin 0 1 6 16 -10 0 4 FlipSid3 Tactics 0 1 3 16 -13 0 Group B Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 16 Inferno 3 FlipSid3 Tactics Luminosity Gaming 16 Overpass 6 Team Kinguin Team EnVyUs 19 Cobblestone 16 Luminosity Gaming Group C[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Fnatic 2 0 32 4 +28 6 2 Natus Vincere 1 1 21 33 -12 3 3 Titan 0 1 17 19 -2 0 4 Team eBettle 0 1 2 16 -14 0 Group C Scores Team Score Map Score Team Fnatic 16 Mirage 2 Team eBettle Natus Vincere 19 Overpass 17 Titan Fnatic 16 Inferno 2 Natus Vincere Group D[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Virtus.pro 2 0 32 16 +16 6 2 Cloud9 1 1 24 26 -2 3 3 mousesports 0 1 10 16 -10 0 4 Team Immunity 0 1 8 16 -8 0 Group D Scores Team Score Map Score Team Virtus.pro 16 Cobblestone 8 Team Immunity mousesports 10 Overpass 16 Cloud9 Virtus.pro 16 Cobblestone 8 Cloud9 Group Stage 2[] Key Qualified for Playoffs Eliminated from tournament Group E[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Natus Vincere 1 0 16 14 +2 3 2 Counter Logic Gaming 1 1 30 30 +0 3 3 Team eBettle 0 1 14 16 -2 0 Group E Scores Team Score Map Score Team Counter Logic Gaming 16 Mirage 14 Team eBettle Natus Vincere 16 Cobblestone 14 Counter Logic Gaming Group F[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Team Kinguin 2 0 32 26 +6 6 2 Cloud9 0 1 13 16 -3 0 3 Team Immunity 0 1 13 16 -3 0 Group F Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team Kinguin 16 Dust II 13 Team Immunity Cloud9 13 Dust II 16 Team Kinguin Group G[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Ninjas in Pyjamas 1 0 16 5 +11 3 2 Renegades 1 1 21 25 -4 3 3 Titan 0 1 9 16 -7 0 Group G Scores Team Score Map Score Team Titan 9 Mirage 16 Renegades Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 Inferno 5 Renegades Group H[] Pos Team W L RF RA RD Pts 1 Luminosity Gaming 1 0 22 18 +4 3 2 FlipSid3 Tactics 1 1 34 36 -2 3 3 mousesports 0 1 14 16 -2 0 Group H Scores Team Score Map Score Team mousesports 14 Cobblestone 16 FlipSid3 Tactics Luminosity Gaming 22 Cobblestone 18 FlipSid3 Tactics Playoffs[] Bracket[] Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals                   B Team EnVyUs 2 E Natus Vincere 0 B Team EnVyUs 2 A Team SoloMid 1 A Team SoloMid 2 F Team Kinguin 0 B Team EnVyUs 0 C Fnatic 2 D Virtus.pro 2 G Ninjas in Pyjamas 0 D Virtus.pro 1 C Fnatic 2 C Fnatic 2 H Luminosity Gaming 0 Quarterfinals[] Team EnVyUs vs. Natus Vincere[] Casters: Anders Blume, Deman, & JKaplan nV-Na'Vi Vetoes Map Vetoes Team EnVyUs BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Overpass Cache Inferno Mirage Cobblestone Train Dust II Natus Vincere BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Team EnVyUs vs. Natus Vincere Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 16 Inferno 13 Natus Vincere Team EnVyUs 16 Mirage 10 Natus Vincere Team EnVyUs – Dust II – Natus Vincere Team SoloMid vs. Team Kinguin[] Casters: Pansy, HenryG, & Machine TK-TSM Vetoes Map Vetoes Team Kinguin BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Cobblestone Cache Dust II Overpass Cobblestone Mirage Inferno Team SoloMid BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Team SoloMid vs. Team Kinguin Team Score Map Score Team Team SoloMid 16 Dust II 6 Team Kinguin Team SoloMid 16 Overpass 8 Team Kinguin Team SoloMid – Inferno – Team Kinguin Virtus.pro vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas[] Casters: Anders Blume, Semmler, & moses VP-NiP Vetoes Map Vetoes Virtus.pro BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Dust II Overpass Train Inferno Cobblestone Mirage Cache Ninjas in Pyjamas BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Virtus.pro vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas Team Score Map Score Team Virtus.pro 16 Train 14 Ninjas in Pyjamas Virtus.pro 16 Inferno 5 Ninjas in Pyjamas Virtus.pro – Cache – Ninjas in Pyjamas Fnatic vs. Luminosity Gaming[] Casters: Deman, Joe Miller, & Fifflaren Fnatic-LG Vetoes Map Vetoes Luminosity Gaming BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Inferno Overpass Train Mirage Cobblestone Dust II Cache Fnatic BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Fnatic vs. Luminosity Gaming Team Score Map Score Team Fnatic 16 Train 5 Luminosity Gaming Fnatic 16 Mirage 14 Luminosity Gaming Fnatic – Cache – Luminosity Gaming Semifinals[] Team EnVyUs vs. Team SoloMid[] Casters: Anders Blume, Semmler, & moses nv-TSM Vetoes Map Vetoes Team EnVyUs BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Overpass Cobblestone Cache Dust II Train Mirage Inferno Team SoloMid BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Team EnVyUs vs. Team SoloMid Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 16 Cache 12 Team SoloMid Team EnVyUs 8 Dust II 16 Team SoloMid Team EnVyUs 16 Inferno 9 Team SoloMid Virtus.pro vs. Fnatic[] Casters: Pansy, Machine, & Fifflaren VP-Fnatic Vetoes Map Vetoes Virtus.pro BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Dust II Train Mirage Inferno Cache Overpass Cobblestone Fnatic BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Virtus.pro vs. Fnatic Team Score Map Score Team Virtus.pro 16 Mirage 6 Fnatic Virtus.pro 14 Inferno 16 Fnatic Virtus.pro 7 Cobblestone 16 Fnatic Finals[] Casters: Deman, Anders Blume, & HenryG nV-Fnatic Vetoes Map Vetoes Team EnVyUs BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM Overpass Mirage Dust II Cobblestone Cache Train Inferno Fnatic BAN PICK RANDOM RANDOM RANDOM With its third title, Fnatic would be the only team to win back-to-back majors and have multiple titles until SK Gaming, which won MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016. Flusha was named the most valuable player of Cologne 2015. Team EnVyUs vs. Fnatic Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 15 Dust II 19 Fnatic Team EnVyUs 7 Cobblestone 16 Fnatic Team EnVyUs – Inferno – Fnatic Final standings[] Place Team Prize Money Seed Roster Coach 1st Fnatic US$100,000 DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 JW, flusha, pronax, olofmeister, KRiMZ vuggo 2nd Team EnVyUs US$50,000 kioShiMa, Happy, kennyS, NBK, apEX 3rd–4th Team SoloMid US$22,000 karrigan, dev1ce, cajunb, dupreeh, Xyp9x 3k2 Virtus.pro TaZ, NEO, pashaBiceps, byali, Snax kuben 5–8th Luminosity Gaming US$10,000 FalleN, fer, steel, coldzera, boltz nak Natus Vincere Edward, Zeus, seized, flamie, GuardiaN starix Ninjas in Pyjamas f0rest, GeT RiGhT, Xizt, friberg, allu natu Team Kinguin Maikelele, dennis, fox, ScreaM, rain LEGIJA 9–12th Cloud9 US$2,000 DreamHack Open Stockholm 2015 Skadoodle, sgares, fREAKAZOiD, n0thing, shroud Counter Logic Gaming hazed, reltuC, tarik, jdm64, FNS FlipSid3 Tactics B1ad3, bondik, markeloff, WorldEdit, DavCost Johnta Renegades SPUNJ, Havoc, jks, AZR, Yam 13–16th mousesports US$2,000 nex, Spidii, denis, chrisJ, gob b Team eBettle peet, GruBy, Hyper, rallen, Furlan Team Immunity SnypeR, USTILO, Rickeh, James, emagine Titan shox, Rpk, SmithZz, Maniac, Ex6TenZ References[] ^ Rittfeldt, Joachim (August 8, 2015). "ESL One Cologne – About". Aftonbladet. Retrieved November 18, 2015. ^ Chalk, Andy (August 25, 2015). "ESL One Cologne drug tests come up empty". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 16, 2015. ^ Neuman, Scott (August 13, 2015). "Video Game League Announces Random Drug Tests For Competitors". NPR. Retrieved November 16, 2015. ^ Chalk, Andy (July 23, 2015). "ESL to begin randomized drug testing at ESL One Cologne". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 16, 2015. ^ Wynne, Jared (August 26, 2015). "ESL One Cologne pulls in $4.2 million in revenue for teams, sets viewer records". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2015. ^ Rad, Chloi (August 25, 2015). "27 Million People Watched the Biggest Counter-Strike Tournament Ever". IGN. Retrieved November 16, 2015. ^ "The format for ESL One Cologne 2015". ESL One. Retrieved 12 February 2021. ^ Nordmark, Sam. "All 16 teams for ESL One Cologne have been determined". OnGamers. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2021. ^ Mira, Luis (July 17, 2015). "Cold set to join ex-Keyd Stars". HLTV.org. ^ Kulasingham, Nilu (July 28, 2015). "Luminosity picks up ex-Keyd Stars roster". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017. ^ Pricedate=July 20, 2015, Kieran (20 July 2015). "Titan, EnVyUS switch players". Gosu Gamers. ^ Mira, Luis (May 4, 2015). "mouz sign PENTA trio". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017. ^ Lundgren, Tobias (May 6, 2015). "Maikelele: "I've never heard of anyone with a contract as good as the one we have"". Aftonbladet. ^ Carter, Dan (April 24, 2015). "CLOUD9 REMOVES SHAHZAM AND SEMPHIS, REPORTEDLY ADDS FREAKAZOID". . ^ Gonzales, Dennis (April 29, 2015). "Cloud9 add fREAKAZOiD and Skadoodle to CS:GO roster". The Score eSports. Retrieved November 12, 2017. ^ Mira, Luis (July 14, 2015). "ex-INSHOCK join eBettle". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017. ^ Mira, Luis (June 2, 2015). "CLG complete jdm64 signing". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017. External links[] Official page