ESL One Cologne 2020 EuropeSprout upset BIG; OG edge out NiP in Cologne openers
The German derby saw Sprout manage a surprising 2-0 win over BIG while OG mustered a 2-1 victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas after a tightly-contested series.
The two German sides crossed paths for the fifth time in 2020 as ESL One Cologne Europe kicked off. Interestingly, it is Sprout that had a 3-1 win record over BIG going into the game, but Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz and co. were still overwhelming favorites as they sit atop the world ranking and are fresh off a DreamHack Summer Europe win.
Denis "denis" Howell led the fragging for his team in the first half of Mirage, Sprout's map pick, pushing his team to a 9-6 lead with a 5-0 opening kill record and 104.7 ADR. BIG managed to equalize the score at 11-11, but after Michał "snatchie" Rudzki and Paweł "dycha" Dycha won their team a key round Sprout looked good and claimed the map 16-12.
On Nuke, BIG were in control despite starting on the T side, limiting Sprout to sporadic rounds as tabseN and co. powered on to a 10-5 lead. Nothing changed initially after the side switch, BIG extended the lead to 14-6, but then things started looking tricky for the favorites as Sprout went on a streak to make the score 14-13. In the final stretch, Tizian "tiziaN" Feldbusch, dycha, and Josef "faveN" Baumann pulled off clutches, sending the map to OT where Sprout closed it out to complete the upset, 19-16.
OG were off to a flying start on Inferno, taking a 6-0 lead as Terrorists before Ninjas in Pyjamas figured out how to counter their opponents slow pace, making the comeback from 0-6 to 7-7 and then taking a 14-11 lead. Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski waking up with a B site ace stopped the bleeding and allowed OG to close out Inferno in overtime, in large thanks to Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså's consistent contributions.
Train was a more straightforward affair, as Ninjas in Pyjamas led through the majority of the T side and found stability shortly after switching to the defense. Nicolas "Plopski" Gonzalez Zamora looked sharp for the Swedes who made finished Train confidently, 16-12, to head over to the decider map. OG's 4-0 start on Mirage was answered on by Ninjas in Pyjamas who went on a 10 round streak to take control of the final map. It all seemed like a done deal after the Swedes won the second-round force buy as CT, but Mirage ended up going the distance as OG made a comeback and valde's heroics pushing his team across the line, 22-19.
  BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 - 46 | +8 | 89.3 | 77.8% | 1.27 | |
| 42 - 48 | -6 | 74.0 | 63.5% | 0.98 | |
| 45 - 53 | -8 | 81.4 | 74.6% | 0.94 | |
| 30 - 44 | -14 | 52.3 | 61.9% | 0.78 | |
| 30 - 47 | -17 | 56.7 | 68.3% | 0.74 |
 Sprout |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 - 39 | +9 | 85.2 | 77.8% | 1.24 | |
| 44 - 39 | +5 | 88.8 | 77.8% | 1.22 | |
| 54 - 43 | +11 | 73.3 | 81.0% | 1.21 | |
| 46 - 38 | +8 | 72.7 | 77.8% | 1.15 | |
| 45 - 42 | +3 | 80.5 | 73.0% | 1.13 |
 OG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93 - 65 | +28 | 92.2 | 76.0% | 1.31 | |
| 75 - 65 | +10 | 77.5 | 76.0% | 1.20 | |
| 66 - 67 | -1 | 60.0 | 72.1% | 0.96 | |
| 57 - 73 | -16 | 70.4 | 61.5% | 0.92 | |
| 59 - 69 | -10 | 66.3 | 68.3% | 0.92 |
 Ninjas in Pyjamas |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 - 72 | +10 | 89.4 | 73.1% | 1.20 | |
| 77 - 60 | +17 | 79.4 | 74.0% | 1.20 | |
| 63 - 71 | -8 | 74.0 | 69.2% | 1.01 | |
| 62 - 73 | -11 | 69.3 | 62.5% | 0.94 | |
| 54 - 74 | -20 | 52.7 | 64.4% | 0.77 |
Nicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora
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