Vitality brush aside Renegades in Cologne; BIG win German derby against Sprout

The French team eased past their Australian opponents in a one-sided Overpass game.

Vitality and BIG are through to the second upper bracket round in IEM Cologne Play-In after posting victories against Renegades and Sprout, respectively. The French side will take on Spirit at 17:00 for a spot in the main tournament, while BIG will enter the server again only at 20:25 , against the winner of OG vs. TeamOne.

Vitality started the game firing on all cylinders as they raced to a 9-0 lead on the T side of Overpass before Renegades finally put their foot down to hold back their opponents. Liam "⁠malta⁠" Schembri and Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston helped the Australian team reduce the deficit to 10-5, but there would be no respite after the break as Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's troops ran riot on the CT side.

Meanwhile, BIG bounced back from their recent disappointments - which included an early exit in the ESEA Premier playoffs - with a statement victory against their German rival, who were on the back foot for most of the game. BIG went into the break up by five rounds after shutting down any chances of Sprout stringing rounds together in the first half, and they quickly put the game past their opponents after the side switch.