ESL One Recap: Top 10 Storylines From ESL One: Cologne
That. Was. Incredible! Team Liquid making history, s1mple’s knife, GeT_RiGhT’s story, and a lot more. This is the DreamTeam’s ESL One: Cologne 2019 recap. Let’s go!
1. Team Liquid are the ESL One: Cologne 2019 winners
Lately, when it comes to picking a “tournament winner”, you can pretty much default to “Team Liquid”. ESL One: Cologne 2019 was no exception. By beating Team Vitality in the Grand Final 3:1, TL have put all the questions on who the #1-team-in-the-world is to bed.
2. A bigger prize
By winning in Cologne, Team Liquid secured their fourth victory (in a row!) at tournaments in the Intel Grand Slam Series. Having done that in just 63 days, they completed IGS Season 2 and won $1 million.
A phenomenal performance by Liquid. Congratulations and respect.
3. An MVP for a runner-up
Despite losing in the Grand Final, Team Vitality’s ZywOo claimed his third MVP award this year. His performance during the tournament was simply outstanding.
Before Cologne 2019, an MVP medal had been awarded to a player from the runners-up twice. Both times s1mple was the one to receive it.
4. What a run
Team Vitality’s loss to NiP in their opening match was a surprise. What happened next was also a surprise, but a good one. The French squad performed incredibly.
They managed to get through the lower bracket, beating ENCE, Fnatic, and Heroic on their way to the playoffs. Their quarter-final matchup against NRG was a cakewalk, beating them 16:7 on two maps.
Astralis seemed a formidable foe on paper, but even they couldn’t prevent Team Vitality from reaching the Grand Final. Only Team Liquid managed to stop the French side.
5. The fifth attempt
It was ChrisJ’s fifth consecutive ESL One: Cologne with Mousesports in which he failed to reach the playoffs.
Na’Vi were the first and the last team Mousesports saw in Cologne this year.
Firstly, the CIS power managed to pull off a comeback in the opening match after being down 10:14 on Train, sending mouz into the lower bracket. And then they stopped mouz one step away from the quarterfinals winning it 2:1 in round 3 of the Lower Bracket.
Considering the fact that the karrigan-led squad has played together for only 3.5 months, they’ve made steady progress. Hopefully, they will make it through the European Minor and we’ll see them playing at the StarLadder Berlin Major in August. Good luck, mouz!
6. A terrible blow for two
ESL One: Cologne was a disaster for ENCE (#2) and MIBR (#12). Both teams were sent packing early in the tournament with 0–2 records.
It might have been not a big deal for MIBR if it had been a one-time deal: they replaced felps with LUCAS1 only a week before the start of the event, so it wasn’t surprising that the team failed so miserably. But it was the last straw for coldzera.
Read more on our blog…
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