MOUZ, Team Spirit score key wins at IEM Cologne

A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.

Jordan Woodruff

MOUZ and Team Spirit clinched spots in the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne playoffs by earning 2-0 sweeps Monday in Germany.

MOUZ swept Natus Vincere and Team Spirit blanked Aurora Gaming in the Group B upper-bracket semifinals. The winners advanced to the upper-bracket final, but both are assured of spots in the six-team playoff bracket that begins Friday.

Elsewhere Monday, FaZe Clan and Ninjas in Pyjamas advanced in the Group B lower bracket, while FURIA and G2 Esports set up a showdown in the Group A lower bracket.

The group stage, which followed the completion of the play-in phase on Friday, consists of two double-elimination groups contesting best-of-three matches. The two group winners will advance directly to the semifinals, the two runners-up will move to the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the two third-place teams will head to the quarterfinals as low seeds.

The playoffs will be single elimination. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be best-of-three ahead of the best-of-five final on Aug. 3.

The winning team in the $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament will receive $400,000 and the runner-up will get $180,000.

On Monday, MOUZ bested Natus Vincere 13-10 on both Mirage and Nuke for the sweep. Adam “torzsi” Torzsas of Hungary had 40 kills and a plus-16 kills-to-deaths differential to guide MOUZ.

Team Spirit defeated Aurora 13-8 on Dust II and 13-10 on Nuke. Russian Danil “donk” Kryshkovets had a massive day for Spirit, racking up 60 kills on a plus-32 differential.

In the lower bracket of Group B, FaZe Clan handled Team Liquid 13-6 on Mirage and 13-2 on Ancient. FaZe’s top performer was Slovakian David “frozen” Cernansky (33 kills, plus-20).

Ninjas in Pyjamas eliminated HEROIC, winning 13-4 on Train and 13-6 on Nuke. Portugal’s Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto posted 38 kills and a plus-20 K-D to pace NiP.

Over in Group A, FURIA won the only 2-1 scoreline of the day by rallying past Team Falcons. FURIA fell 13-7 on Train before pulling out a 13-11 result on Mirage and a 13-7 win on Dust II. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato of Brazil led FURIA with 49 kills on a plus-9.

Finally, G2 Esports topped 3DMAX 13-8 on Ancient and 13-6 on Inferno. Four players for G2 scored between 28 and 30 kills, and Spaniard Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia stood out with 29 kills on a plus-12 K-D.

The group stage concludes Tuesday with six matches:

–Team Vitality vs. The MongolZ (Group A upper-bracket final)

–FURIA vs. G2 Esports (Group A lower-bracket final)

–MOUZ vs. Team Spirit (Group B upper-bracket final)

–Aurora Gaming vs. FaZe Clan (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)

–Natus Vincere vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)

–TBD vs. TBD (Group B lower-bracket final)

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool:

1. $400,000

2. $180,000

3-4. $80,000

5-6. $40,000