Liquid demonstrated their resilience and depth by overcoming FURIA 2-1 in a dramatic reverse-sweep, where the new and improved Counter-Strike 2 roster continued their upward spiral.

A reverse sweep sees @TeamLiquidCS best @FURIA 2-1 in their advancement match

Anubis 8-13
Nuke 13-11
Mirage 13-7 pic.twitter.com/8Jp8rE9YUP

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 8, 2024

After dropping their Anubis pick, Liquid found themselves in trouble but bounced back on Nuke.

Key performances from Russel “?Twistzz?” Van Dulken and Roland “?ultimate?” Tomkowiak helped Liquid turn the tide.

The decider on Mirage saw Liquid dominate, with Justin “?jks?” Savage and Keith “?NAF?” Markovic anchoring both ends of the map, allowing Mareks “YEKINDAR” Ga?inskis and ultimate to roam freely.

Liquid’s strong map pool and adaptability carried them to victory, with a final win securing their spot in the top-16.

It went to DOUBLE OT but @ComplexityCS still defeat @eternalfiregg 2-0 in order to advance at #IEM Cologne 2024 without dropping a map in Stage 1

13-9 Vertigo
19-17 Dust 2 pic.twitter.com/BCEKQbOL1q

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 8, 2024

Complexity also punched their ticket to the group stage with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Eternal Fire.

After a rough start on Vertigo, Complexity managed a comeback, fueled by a 1vs3 pistol clutch and stellar terrorist-side play from Jonathan “?EliGE?” Jablonowski.

The battle on Dust2 was even more intense, with Complexity and Eternal Fire trading rounds in a messy but entertaining match.

Michael “?Grim?” Wince’s 1vs2 ace clutch was pivotal, and despite some shaky moments, Johnny “?JT?” Theodosiou’s clutch in double overtime secured the win.

And it's @sawggofficial who best @BIGCLANgg over the 3 map series to secure their spot in #IEM Cologne Stage 2!

7-13 Anubis
13-5 Ancient
13-11 Inferno pic.twitter.com/AylbhdCrFk

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 8, 2024

SAW became the first team to advance to the group stage from the play-in.

The Portuguese squad triumphed over BIG in a three-map series that culminated in a nail-biting Inferno decider.

After trading each other’s map picks, SAW came back from a deficit on Inferno, with Jo?o “?story?” Vieira’s 1vs2 clutch in the final round sealing the victory.

The win was a significant milestone for veterans Ricardo “?roman?” Oliveira and Christopher “?MUTiRiS?” Fernandes, who credited their younger teammates for the success.

While those three teams have qualified for the main event at IEM Cologne, FlyQuest, 3DMAX and ALTERNATE aTTaX were eliminated from the play-in stage on Thursday after suffering their second loss.

Friday will be the final day of the play-in stage, and the remaining 10 squads will battle it out for the last five places in the main event.

Friday’s IEM Cologne play-in matches

• 9z Team (-227.27) vs MIBR (+162) @ 1:30pm CEST
• Imperial (+150) vs paiN Gaming (-200) @ 1:30pm CEST
• BIG (+125) vs Falcons (-175.44) @ 3:45pm CEST
• FURIA (-120.48) vs Heroic (-120.48) @ 3:45pm CEST
• The Mongolz (-163.93) vs Eternal Fire (+120) @ 6:45pm CEST
• Winner of Imperial/paiN Gaming vs Loser of MIBR/9z Team @ 6:45pm CEST

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FlyQuest and BIG have enough talent on their rosters to qualify for the IEM Cologne 2024 main event. However, it is tough to pick a winner between these two, and betting on the total maps market looks to be the safest play.

The Mongolz broke into the top 10 on the ESL world rankings for the first time, but they have since dropped to 11th. The Mongolian squad is ranked 18 spots higher than SAW and shouldn’t have much trouble beating the Portuguese roster.

Heroic will have to play at IEM Cologne with Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk as a stand-in, which should make this clash against MIBR closer than first expected. Neither team enters this event in great form, so taking the underdog at the match line is the play.

9z Team surprised everyone when they finished in third-fourth place at IEM Dallas 2024, where they defeated the likes of Liquid, Vitality and MOUZ. 3DMAX have had little time to prepare for their IEM Cologne campaign after being added as a replacement for BetBoom Team on Monday. At -125 with top esports bookmakers, 9z represent great value.

These teams are separated by 84 spots in the ESL world rankings, so it is no surprise that Complexity are -1666.67 favourites. There is no value in head-to-head or match-line betting with esports betting sites, so the round-line market is the value option.

Falcons have yet to win an S-Tier tournament since their inception into Counter-Strike; however, recent results suggest they are improving steadily. Eternal Fire enter this series as favourites, but given the improvement of this Falcons squad, the underdogs can spring a surprise.

FURIA are heavy favourites to beat Imperial, as they are 16 spots higher in the ESL world rankings. Following a strong performance at the Esports World Cup, it is hard to bet against this new and improved FURIA outfit.

Team Liquid have looked better under the leadership of Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, defeating Natus Vincere twice en route to qualifying for the BLAST Premier Fall Final. PaiN Gaming have been competing against South American teams in qualifiers and A-Tier events, so it is hard to see them beating Liquid in this series.

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