ESL One Cologne 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]

ESL One Cologne 2015
2015
The ESL One Cologne 2015 logo
Tournament information
SportCounter-Strike: Global Offensive
LocationCologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
DatesAugust 14, 2015–August 18, 2015
Administrator(s)Valve
ESL
Tournament
format(s)
GSL double elimination group stage
Eight team single elimination playoff
VenueLanxess Arena
Teams16 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

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.

Maps
  • Cache
  • Cobblestone
  • Dust II
  • Inferno
  • Mirage
  • Overpass
  • Train

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
Challengers

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

  1. Rittfeldt, Joachim (August 8, 2015). "ESL One Cologne – About". Aftonbladet. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  2. Chalk, Andy (August 25, 2015). "ESL One Cologne drug tests come up empty". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  3. Neuman, Scott (August 13, 2015). "Video Game League Announces Random Drug Tests For Competitors". NPR. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  4. Chalk, Andy (July 23, 2015). "ESL to begin randomized drug testing at ESL One Cologne". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  5. 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.
  6. Rad, Chloi (August 25, 2015). "27 Million People Watched the Biggest Counter-Strike Tournament Ever". IGN. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  7. "The format for ESL One Cologne 2015". ESL One. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. 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.
  9. Mira, Luis (July 17, 2015). "Cold set to join ex-Keyd Stars". HLTV.org.
  10. Kulasingham, Nilu (July 28, 2015). "Luminosity picks up ex-Keyd Stars roster". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  11. Pricedate=July 20, 2015, Kieran (20 July 2015). "Titan, EnVyUS switch players". Gosu Gamers.
  12. Mira, Luis (May 4, 2015). "mouz sign PENTA trio". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  13. Lundgren, Tobias (May 6, 2015). "Maikelele: "I've never heard of anyone with a contract as good as the one we have"". Aftonbladet.
  14. Carter, Dan (April 24, 2015). "CLOUD9 REMOVES SHAHZAM AND SEMPHIS, REPORTEDLY ADDS FREAKAZOID". GFINITY.
  15. Gonzales, Dennis (April 29, 2015). "Cloud9 add fREAKAZOiD and Skadoodle to CS:GO roster". The Score eSports. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  16. Mira, Luis (July 14, 2015). "ex-INSHOCK join eBettle". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  17. Mira, Luis (June 2, 2015). "CLG complete jdm64 signing". HLTV.org. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
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