IEM Cologne Major Stage One Round Three Recap: NA team guaranteed to make Stage Two after mixed day

Day two of the IEM Cologne Major has concluded, marking another mixed day for North America. NA went 1-2 today with a particularly heartbreaking 2-0 loss for M80 against B8, seeing no NA squads secure a spot in Stage Two. Fortunately for the region, M80 has been drawn against NRG in a 2-1 match guaranteeing we will have at least one team heading into Stage Two.

The day started with NRG taking a close win over FlyQuest on Mirage with Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek leading the charge in the win with a 1.80 rating and 27 kills. The second game of the day was a frustrating loss for Liquid as they posted a competitive CT-side on Mirage before falling flat on their T-side, giving MIBR a 13-10 win. This puts Liquid onto a 1-2 record, with the squad facing potential elimination tomorrow.

Finally, the day came to an end with M80 suffering a 2-0 loss to B8 despite a marathon overtime effort on Inferno. Unfortunately a number of key rounds did not go the way of the American side, with lackluster play from Elias "s1n" Stein not helping things in the map two 22-20 loss.

• NRG 13-10 FlyQuest on Mirage

• Liquid 10-13 MIBR on Dust2

• M80 0-2 B6 on Ancient, Inferno

In other news, Gaimin Gladiators were eliminated today after some truly dreadful play, winning only 16 rounds across four maps with their geriatric squad of Brazilian veterans. Meanwhile, BetBoom impressed greatly as they secured a spot in Stage Two with a 3-0 record after besting GamerLegion.

Round Four will feature the following matchups tomorrow:

• ThunderdOWNUNDER v. FlyQuest

• TYLOO v. Sharks

• GamerLegion v. BIG

• MIBR v. Lynn Vision

• Liquid v. HEROIC

• M80 v. NRG