HLTV.org live from Cologne

It's day one of the season finale at the iconic IEM Cologne, and we're here for the full two weeks to guide you through it.

The HLTV.org crew has arrived in Cologne, Germany, to begin our coverage of the final event of the season before we head into the summer off-season.

One of the staples of the calendar, IEM Cologne is about to kick off with the Play-in stage, where 16 teams, headlined by three top-ten teams Vitality, BIG, and HEROIC, will play over the next couple of days for eight spots in the group stage.

We'll then move on to the second phase, where teams like FaZe and Natus Vincere already await after having been directly invited, to see who will be the six teams who make it to the playoffs, played in front of the iconic LANXESS Arena crowd at the end of the two-week event, from July 15-17.

To see the full schedule, team list, and everything else you might need to know about the event and how to follow it, check out our viewer's guide.

We also wrote about some of the biggest moments and runs that helped shape the legacy Cologne has in the CS:GO calendar in Marco "Rizzolini" Rizzo's 'Nine moments that made Cologne what it is today,' and about the stacked competition in Arron "Dempz" Dempsey's 'IEM Cologne: No clear favorite going into the season finale.'

As always, you can look forward to a full coverage as the event progresses, including galleries from Radoslaw "MAKKU" Makuch and Josip "brcho" Brtan — the first photos are already rolling in — as well as interviews both written and recorded on video from yours truly, Milan "Striker" Švejda.