Today saw the start of the 3rd CSGO Major taking place in Cologne, Germany. 16 of the worlds best teams battling for their share of the $250,000 kitty. Below we take a look at how the first day of matches played out and who we can expect to progress in day 2.

Group A:

Group A continues on Day 2.

The first match of the day was between number 1 team in the world, the Ninjas in Pyjamas and the absolute biggest underdog at the event, team Wolf from India. Having had just a couple of weeks to practice with their newly appointed coach Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović, it came as no surprise that they proved no match for either NiP in the opening game, or Hellraisers in the losers match. They exited the tournament with a total of 11 rounds from their 2 matches.

In what did come as a surprise, Epsilon made mincemeat out of Hellraisers despite the latter team having skipped G3 to bootcamp and study other teams. Epsilon had previously defeated Hellraisers in similar fashion in a 16-0 whitewash 3rd map at Dreamhack Valencia on dust2 but this was believed to just be based on an outstanding performance from Richard “shox” Papillion at the time. This was however the first of two times that Epsilon would beat HR in a bo3. The 2nd time being less than a week later during CaseKing of the Hill #2. Perhaps Epsilon are Hellraisers kryptonite?

Group B:

Group B continues on Day 2.

Group B was a little more interesting as there was much tighter competition between the recently impressive London Conspiracy and Copenhagen Wolves. Unfortunately LC could not repeat their impressive performance at G3 and were knocked to the losers match after a very one-sided defeat at the hands of LDLC that ended 16-2 in favour of the French side.

Na’Vi would make similar light work out of CPH Wolves on inferno where the Danes were unable to get going in a 16-6 thrashing, meaning the Wolves would battle against the Conspiracy to decide who was going home. Despite both teams having similar losses it was the Wolves who proved to be the better team on the day, and they sent LC packing after a 16-5 defeat on cache.

Group C:

Group C continues on Day 2.

In Group C we had the G3 and defending ‘major’ champions Virtus.Pro, matched up with the newly on-form fnatic, American power-house iBUYPOWER and the Russian underdogs ‘dAT team’. The opening match saw VP manhandle dAT team in a 16-7 victory in the first ‘Overpass’ game of the event. The poles seemed to know their way around the map better than the Russians and ran away with the game, putting themselves through to day 2 and forcing dAT to play against the loser of fnatic and iBUYPOWER.

The latter game as well as the decider would take place on the new Cobblestone, making this quite an interesting group to watch as we got to see the Valve maps in action for the first time. Fnatic made light work of the American’s despite claiming to have little knowledge or experience with the new map as the new recruit Olof ‘olofm’ Kajbjer decimated Steel and co. with 29 kills in a 16-7 victory.

iBUYPOWER would also prove too much for the Russians, however. As they took a comfortable victory of their own on Cobblestone, sending their opponents home before day 2.

Group D:

Group D continues on Day 2.

Group D featured underdog Australian team Vox Eminor who we have not seen play on European soil since EMS Katowice. Unfortunately it showed as they were again unable to handle their first opponents in the form of Dignitas on dust2, losing out 16-9. The second match of this group would prove to be far and away the best match of the day and one of the tournament highlights as Titan went up against Cloud9, formerly known as Complexity. After winning the first pistol round Cloud9 were eco’d by a pistol-armor buy on Titan who almost ran away with the game until 15-10 when they hit a brick wall they couldn’t break through. C9 would bring the game to a tie and force overtime, of which there were 2 before the French/Belgian team ran out of steam and gave the match away to the Americans 22-18.

The decider match would be between Titan and Vox, with the former team reeling after their loss to Seangares and co. They showed absolutely no mercy to the Australians, decimating them in a 16-1 battering on nuke, with KennyS putting up 26 frags to just 6 deaths. It has to be handed to Vox as they tried a variety of strategies against Ex6tenZ’ team but it seemed like wherever they went, KennyS was there picking up at least 2 picks per round.

Predictions for Day 2

Group A

It is still currently unclear whether NiP are back to their former selves after their embarrassing showing at G3 as they got an easy pass through the first group stage today against Wolf. Epsilon however have looked to be a much stronger team since their addition of Joey “fxy0” Schlosser as their primary AWPer. Destroying Hellraisers in such a way a second time in the space of a month and with a comeback victory against NiP at g3 shows how strong they are and Shox himself said they fear nobody. Hellraisers may bounce back from their defeat and may still be the stronger team over NiP, but my money for this group is on NiP and Epsilon to progress to playoffs.

Group B

LDLC seem to be performing as well, if not better than their French comrades in Epsilon. Their strength is in their coordination and teamwork as opposed to the raw skill and aim in the latter team and it showed in their recent victories. They have already beaten their group opponent Na’Vi recently and so I am confident that they are one to go through day 2 safely. Na’Vi and CPH Wolves will be the game to watch here as Na’Vi have recently had a string of upsets to teams deemed to be beneath them. If CajunB and Nico are on top form we could see an early exit for Na’Vi, but likewise if Dosia and Markeloff step up then it will be them going to the playoffs with LDLC instead of the underdog Danes.

Group C

Group C would be considered to be the ‘group of death’ this time around as no outright favorite can really be determined among iBUYPOWER, fnatic and Virtus.Pro. However Virtus.pro are on form lately and they are in their element among stiff competition as shown at G3 where they took a comfortable victory after a rocky group stage. The new fnatic lineup look stronger than ever and have already defeated the Americans once without them putting up much of a fight. I think Taz and co. will take the game over fnatic, and fnatic will repeat their victory over iBUYPOWER. Therefore my verdict on Group C is that the poles and the swedes will advance to Day 3.

Group D

Group D saw the best game of the tournament so far in the form of Cloud9 vs Titan and we will no doubt see an epic rematch today as Titan are out for blood and I do not feel Dignitas will lose their winners match over the Americans. Despite recent vacation, similar to NiP and Virtus.Pro, Dignitas showed very little error at Gfinity and I think their form will continue here at Cologne. Should C9 fall to Dig as expected then we will see the rematch between the French and the Americans today. Who will come out on top is anyone’s guess, but I am hoping that Ex6tenZ will be able to iron out errors made on day 1 and they will be able to defeat Hiko and company to advance to the playoffs.

Be sure to tune in to all the action taking place in the ESL One Cologne CS:GO Championships between 10am and 8pm BST by heading over to Twitch.tv/esltv_cs or by watching the games in your CS:GO Watch tab. (You can also stay on the ESL TV twitch to watch rebroadcasts after regular match hours if you miss anything.)

And remember to stay tuned to Baconcape as we bring you all the latest news and event coverage over this action-packed weekend of CS.