ESL One Cologne is set to be a spicy affair, featuring most of the top teams of the Counter-Strike ecosystem, as per the HLTV Rankings. ESL have now revealed the groups and Schedule for the event that is set to start from July 2, 2019.
Interestingly, Liquid open up their campaign against MVP.PK in Group A but do have other heavyweights like Natus Vincere, Faze, NRG and mousesports along with Renegades and the best-placed Brazilian team right now, FURIA.
Group B is stacked, albeit rather proportionally compared to Group A. Astralis will be keen to prove they still have the gumption of the best team in the world as they go up against BIG. The Group consists of teams like mibr, Vitality, ENCE, Heroic, NiP and fnatic.
While there are no easy fixtures at a premier event like ESL One Cologne, the statement is very true for Group B.
The tournament will also be the first event for the new-look mibr and Natus Vincere lineups, who have added Lucas1 and boombl4 to their respective rosters. ESL One Cologne will also be NRG’s debut under the leadership of stanislaw, who had joined earlier but could not participate in the ESL Pro League Season 9 Lan Finals due to the roster lock.
The opening fixtures are a best of one with every following fixture set to be a best of 3. The Group Stage will culminate into the playoffs with the Quarter-Final stage, which will be held at the Lanxess Arena.
