ESL One Cologne 2015 was the sixth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship that was held from August 14–18, 2015 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. It was organized by Electronic Sports League. The Cologne event was the first ESL tournament that required competitors to take drug tests, which all came up negative. The tournament had a total prize pool of US$250,000. The online livestream was viewed by around 27 million viewers with a peak of 1.3 million concurrent viewers.

Eight teams were in the playoffs. Fnatic, Luminosity Gaming, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team EnVyUs, Team SoloMid, and Virtus.pro were returning Legends. Team Kinguin was the only new Legend in the tournament, replacing mousesports, which failed to make the top eight. Fnatic, which defeated Luminosity Gaming and Virtus.pro, was the winner of the event after defeating Team EnVyUs, which defeated Natus Vincere and Team SoloMid, 2–0. Fnatic was the first team to have consecutive major titles and would be the only team to do so until SK Gaming (which was Luminosity Gaming at this tournament) when the Brazilian team won MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016.

Format The top eight teams from ESL One Katowice 2015 ("Legends") received direct invitations to Katowice. In addition, eight other teams (the "Challengers") emerged from offline qualifiers: four from the European qualifier, two from the Asian qualifier, and two from the North American qualifier.

Teams were split up into four groups, and all group matches were best-of-ones. In the first group stage, the highest seed played the lowest seed in each group and the second and third seeds played each other. The winner of those two matches then played each other to determine which team moved on to the playoff stage; the loser of this match received a "high seed" in the second group stage. The two losers from the initial matches were given "low seeds" in the second group stage, while the high seed received a bye. In the second group stage, the groups were shuffled so that teams faced new opponents. However, each group still contained one high seed and two low seeds. The two low seeds in each group played each other, and the winner of that match played the high seed in the group. The winner of that match qualified for the playoff stage.

The playoffs bracket consisted of eight teams, two from each group. All of these matches were best-of-three, single elimination. Teams advanced in the bracket until a winner was decided.

Map pool There were seven maps to choose from. However, Nuke was taken out of the active map pool and Train was brought back in for the first time since the second Major, EMS One Katowice 2014. Before each match in the group stage, both teams banned two maps. The map for the match was then randomly selected from the remaining three maps. In the playoffs, each team first banned one map, then chose one map. The two chosen maps were the first two maps in the best-of-three. If the series were to require a third map, the map was randomly selected from the three remaining maps.

Maps

Cache Cobblestone Dust II Inferno Mirage Overpass Train

Qualifiers Four teams from the European Qualifier, two teams from the Asian Qualifier, and two teams from the North American Qualifier moved on to the major.

Sixteen European teams were placed in two separate brackets. Two teams from each bracket moved on to the major. In the Asian and North American Qualifiers, eight teams were placed in two groups and were played out like in previous majors' group stages. The top two moved on to a four team bracket. The winners of the matches move on to the major.

European Qualifier

Asian Qualifier

North American Qualifier

Broadcast talent Hosts Oliver James "OJ Borg" Borg D'Anastasi William "Chobra" Cho

Analysts Henry "HenryG" Greer Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson Casper "cadiaN" Møller Jason "moses" O'Toole

Commentators Anders Blume Jason "JKaplan" Kaplan Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat Joe Miller Alex "Machine" Richardson Lauren "Pansy" Scott Leigh "Deman" Smith

Observers Yanko "YNk" Paunović Simon "pAn" Schumacher

Others Sean Charles (Reporting) Soe "Soembie" Gschwind-Penski (Esports in Cinemas)

Broadcasts All streams were broadcast on Twitch in various languages.

ESL CSGO 99Damage Bebe BiDa Castpoint CNONE ESL China ESL CZSK ESL Italy ESL Poland ESL Spain ESL Turkey Fraglider GPlayTV Hungarian Esport TV KeitaTV Mito NVIDIA France ON Storm Studio striimIT Strimok VsnT WeAreInVICtus

Teams Legends

Fnatic Ninjas in Pyjamas Team EnVyUs Virtus.pro Luminosity Gaming mousesports Natus Vincere Team SoloMidChallengers

Cloud9 Counter Logic Gaming FlipSid3 Tactics Renegades Team eBettle Team Immunity Team Kinguin Titan

Group stage 1 + Key Team automatically advanced to Playoffs Team advanced to second Group Stage as high seed Team advanced to second Group Stage as low seed

Group A PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Team SoloMid 2 0 32 24 +18 6 2 Ninjas in Pyjamas 1 1 19 29 −10 3 3 Counter Logic Gaming 0 1 13 16 −3 0 4 Renegades 0 1 11 16 −5 0

Group A Scores Team Score Map Score Team Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 Dust II 13 Counter Logic Gaming Team SoloMid 16 Train 11 Renegades Ninjas in Pyjamas 3 Cache 16 Team SoloMid

Group B PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Team EnVyUs 2 0 35 19 +16 6 2 Luminosity Gaming 1 1 32 25 +7 3 3 Team Kinguin 0 1 6 16 −10 0 4 FlipSid3 Tactics 0 1 3 16 −13 0

Group B Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 16 Inferno 3 FlipSid3 Tactics Luminosity Gaming 16 Overpass 6 Team Kinguin Team EnVyUs 19 Cobblestone 16 Luminosity Gaming

Group C PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Fnatic 2 0 32 4 +28 6 2 Natus Vincere 1 1 21 33 −12 3 3 Titan 0 1 17 19 −2 0 4 Team eBettle 0 1 2 16 −14 0

Group C Scores Team Score Map Score Team Fnatic 16 Mirage 2 Team eBettle Natus Vincere 19 Overpass 17 Titan Fnatic 16 Inferno 2 Natus Vincere

Group D PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Virtus.pro 2 0 32 16 +16 6 2 Cloud9 1 1 24 26 −2 3 3 mousesports 0 1 10 16 −10 0 4 Team Immunity 0 1 8 16 −8 0

Group D Scores Team Score Map Score Team Virtus.pro 16 Cobblestone 8 Team Immunity mousesports 10 Overpass 16 Cloud9 Virtus.pro 16 Cobblestone 8 Cloud9

Group stage 2 + Key Qualified for Playoffs Eliminated from tournament

Group E PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Natus Vincere 1 0 16 14 +2 3 2 Counter Logic Gaming 1 1 30 30 +0 3 3 Team eBettle 0 1 14 16 −2 0

Group E Scores Team Score Map Score Team Counter Logic Gaming 16 Mirage 14 Team eBettle Natus Vincere 16 Cobblestone 14 Counter Logic Gaming

Group F PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Team Kinguin 2 0 32 26 +6 6 2 Cloud9 0 1 13 16 −3 0 3 Team Immunity 0 1 13 16 −3 0

Group F Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team Kinguin 16 Dust II 13 Team Immunity Cloud9 13 Dust II 16 Team Kinguin

Group G PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Ninjas in Pyjamas 1 0 16 5 +11 3 2 Renegades 1 1 21 25 −4 3 3 Titan 0 1 9 16 −7 0

Group G Scores Team Score Map Score Team Titan 9 Mirage 16 Renegades Ninjas in Pyjamas 16 Inferno 5 Renegades

Group H PosTeamWLRFRARDPts 1 Luminosity Gaming 1 0 22 18 +4 3 2 FlipSid3 Tactics 1 1 34 36 −2 3 3 mousesports 0 1 14 16 −2 0

Group H Scores Team Score Map Score Team mousesports 14 Cobblestone 16 FlipSid3 Tactics Luminosity Gaming 22 Cobblestone 18 FlipSid3 Tactics

Playoffs Bracket

Quarterfinals Team EnVyUs vs. Natus Vincere

Casters: Anders Blume, Deman, & JKaplan

Team EnVyUs vs. Natus Vincere Scores Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 16 Inferno 13 Natus Vincere Team EnVyUs 16 Mirage 10 Natus Vincere Team EnVyUs Dust II Natus Vincere

Team SoloMid vs. Team Kinguin

Casters: Pansy, HenryG, & Machine

Team SoloMid vs. Team Kinguin Team Score Map Score Team Team SoloMid 16 Dust II 6 Team Kinguin Team SoloMid 16 Overpass 8 Team Kinguin Team SoloMid Inferno Team Kinguin

Virtus.pro vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

Casters: Anders Blume, Semmler, & moses

Virtus.pro vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas Team Score Map Score Team Virtus.pro 16 Train 14 Ninjas in Pyjamas Virtus.pro 16 Inferno 5 Ninjas in Pyjamas Virtus.pro Cache Ninjas in Pyjamas

Fnatic vs. Luminosity Gaming

Casters: Deman, Joe Miller, & Fifflaren

Fnatic vs. Luminosity Gaming Team Score Map Score Team Fnatic 16 Train 5 Luminosity Gaming Fnatic 16 Mirage 14 Luminosity Gaming Fnatic Cache Luminosity Gaming

Semifinals Team EnVyUs vs. Team SoloMid

Casters: Anders Blume, Semmler, & moses

Team EnVyUs vs. Team SoloMid Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 16 Cache 12 Team SoloMid Team EnVyUs 8 Dust II 16 Team SoloMid Team EnVyUs 16 Inferno 9 Team SoloMid

Virtus.pro vs. Fnatic

Casters: Pansy, Machine, & Fifflaren

Virtus.pro vs. Fnatic Team Score Map Score Team Virtus.pro 16 Mirage 6 Fnatic Virtus.pro 14 Inferno 16 Fnatic Virtus.pro 7 Cobblestone 16 Fnatic

Finals

Casters: Deman, Anders Blume, & HenryG

With its third title, Fnatic would be the only team to win back-to-back majors and have multiple titles until SK Gaming, which won MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016. Flusha was named the most valuable player of Cologne 2015.

Team EnVyUs vs. Fnatic Team Score Map Score Team Team EnVyUs 15 Dust II 19 Fnatic Team EnVyUs 7 Cobblestone 16 Fnatic Team EnVyUs Inferno Fnatic

Final standings Place Team Prize Money Seed for DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 Roster Coach 1st Fnatic 100,000Legends status JW, flusha, pronax, olofmeister, KRiMZ 2nd Team EnVyUs 50,000 kioShiMa, Happy, kennyS, NBK, apEX– 3rd–4th Team SoloMid 22,000 karrigan, , , dupreeh, Xyp9x 3k2 Virtus.pro TaZ, NEO, , , Snax 5–8th Luminosity Gaming 10,000 FalleN, , , , Natus Vincere Edward, Zeus, , , GuardiaN Ninjas in Pyjamas f0rest, GeT RiGhT, Xizt, friberg, allu Team Kinguin Maikelele, , , ScreaM, LEGIJA 9–12th Cloud9 2,000 Main qualifier invitation Skadoodle, sgares, fREAKAZOiD, n0thing, – Counter Logic Gaming hazed, , tarik, , FNS – FlipSid3 Tactics B1ad3, , , WorldEdit, DavCost Johnta Renegades SPUNJ, Havoc, , AZR, Yam – 13–16th mousesports 2,000 , Spidii, , , – , GruBy, Hyper, , Furlan – Team Immunity SnypeR, USTILO, Rickeh, James, – Titan , Rpk, SmithZz, Maniac, Ex6TenZ –

References

External links Official page