Team Vitality has lifted the IEM Cologne trophy in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, netting a $400,000 grand prize and earning qualification to both IEM Katowice and the BLAST Premier World Final. It’s a monumental moment for the team, as no player on the squad has won this trophy previously, despite some having made it to the grand finals before.
Vitality handed the final loss to Natus Vincere, who as recently as yesterday was speaking honestly and openly about the need to sharpen up if it was ever going to beat a dominant Vitality side.
In The Cathedral
IEM Cologne is one of the most important and legendary events in the Counter-Strike esports calendar. This massive victory marks the first major win for Team Vitality in 2024, and it was achieved in a historic fashion. As Vitality carved through the group stage, it effortlessly powered past FURIA, FaZe, and MOUZ to qualify for the playoffs.
From there, the squad eliminated SAW from the tournament and then pulled off a 3-1 win over Natus Vincere, typically one of the most stalwart teams in the CS2 scene.
HLTV has mentioned that this is a competitor for the game of the year, with both teams putting on quite a show for the thousands of fans in attendance in Cologne. There was a special commendation handed to Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, who clutched up for Vitality in numerous spots and managed to secure more than 100 kills throughout the series, earning him his 20th MVP award.
As the sun sets on IEM Cologne, esports fans can now look forward to IEM Rio 2024, which is the next event under this banner that’ll take place in October in Brazil. Elsewhere, we’ve still got the ESL Pro League Season 20, BLAST Premier Fall Final, Thunderpick World Championship, BLAST Premier: World Final, and Perfect World Shanghai to play out before the year wraps up.
For more Insider Gaming Esports, check out the news that Atlanta FaZe won the Esports World Cup in MW3
