MOUZ and SAW won their respective quarterfinal matches Friday to advance to the final four of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne playoffs in Germany.
MOUZ swept G2 Esports 2-0 and SAW outlasted FaZe Clan 2-1 to move into the semifinals. MOUZ will meet Natus Vincere in the next round, while SAW draws Team Vitality.
Sixteen teams began play in the double-elimination play-in stage of the $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament.
The group stage featured two double-elimination groups of eight. The group winners moved directly to the playoff semifinals, the group runners-up advanced to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds, and the third-place teams advanced to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.
The single-elimination playoffs will run Friday through Sunday. All tournament matches are best-of-three with the exception of the grand final, which will be best-of-five. The champion earns berths in the IEM Katowice event and the BLAST Premier World Final while also pocketing $400,000.
On Friday, MOUZ edged G2 13-9 on Dust II and 13-8 on Mirage. MOUZ was paced by Finland’s Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo, who had 37 kills and a plus-14 kills-to-deaths differential.
SAW beat FaZe Clan 13-6 on Inferno before FaZe answered with a 13-11 victory on Anubis. The final map, Nuke, required overtime before SAW prevailed 16-14. Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto had a match-high 60 kills and a plus-15 K-D to guide the all-Portuguese SAW squad.
The tournament continues Saturday with the playoff semifinals:
–Natus Vincere vs. MOUZ
–Team Vitality vs. SAW
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool, with money and BLAST Premier points
1. $400,000, 3,000 points
2. $180,000, 2,000 points
3-4. $80,000, 1,200 points
5-6. $40,000, 500 points — G2 Esports, FaZe Clan
7-8. $24,000, 300 points — paiN Gaming, Team Liquid
9-12. $16,000, no points — The MongolZ, Astralis, Team Falcons, Complexity Gaming
13-16. $10,000, no points — 9z Team, Team Spirit, Virtus.pro, FURIA Esports
17-20. $4,500, no points — BIG, HEROIC, MIBR, Eternal Fire
21-24. $2,500, no points — ALTERNATE aTTaX, 3DMAX, Imperial Esports, FlyQuest
–Field Level Media
