In a bumper day of local Counter-Strike LANs, which saw several tournaments played across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the VRS picture for the IEM Cologne 2026 Major cutoff is solidifying.
Dozens of rosters are fighting it out to be within the invite bubble for the Cologne Major by the April 6 VRS cutoff, meaning the majority of teams are now competing in their final tournament before the deadline.
3DMAX suffer significant fall from grace
3DMAX are guaranteed to miss the Major after elimination at Parken Challenger to B8. The series was a do-or-die series for the French roster, but they fell harrowingly flat in maps 2 and 3 in two 13-3 defeats to crash out of contention.
3DMAX are the most unexpected team to miss the major so far. The roster spent much of last year in the top 10, initially with Bryan ‘Maka’ Canda IGLing, then under Filip ‘Graviti’ Brankovic.
The latter experiment looked promising at first, but later fell flat with Maka returning to the IGL role this year and Kévin ‘misutaaa’ Rabier joining over loaned-out Alexandre ‘bodyy’ Pianaro.
The roster’s previous floor seemingly collapsed early in the year, as vital events to earn VRS points passed them by.
The roster will undoubtedly look back on the B8 series with regret, but in truth, it was their losses to FOKUS, Phantom, and two losses to Bestia at these local LANs that really put them on the back foot due to the Head-to-Head Elo element of the VRS model.
Those local LAN losses, combined with a loss of form in Tier 1 competition, mean that 3DMAX will not be playing the IEM Cologne 2026 Major.
B8, Monte, and M80 secure spots at IEM Cologne 2026 Major
B8’s victory over 3DMAX was the final piece of the puzzle the roster needed to guarantee their place at the Major.
Despite struggling with the AWP position after the decision to bench Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov, the roster has done enough with 16-year-old Tier 1 rookie Daniil ‘s1zzi’ Vinnyk.
The roster’s advantage over their rivals largely came from a huge swing due to their Pro League Season 23 win over FURIA. The roster’s 2-1 series victory vastly elevated their ‘Bounty Collected’ in the VRS, a measurement of the strength of the teams you defeated.
For M80, DracuLan Season 6 was finally when the roster managed to come together after a series of difficult exists. The decision to add Josh ‘JBa’ Barutt over Jadan ‘HexT’ Postma had not paid off on European soil until their DraculaN victory.
It was a strong run from M80, defeating Liquid, Aurora, and Alliance before getting revenge on Monte in the Grand Final.
For Monte, the main goal had already been completed by the time the Grand Final had started. The major is Monte’s first since its move to international rosters, away from their Ukrainian roots, representing a significant achievement for the org.
According to VRS expert Finn ‘Mischief’ Farrer, GamerLegion’s slim chances of missing the major have also been eradicated, with the roster set to face G2 in the Upper Final of Stake Ranked Ep 1.
Who do you want to make the Major? Discuss that on our Discord!
For more VRS shenanigans, see why FaZe still have a chance to qualify.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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