mezii mauls Complexity to kick off IEM Cologne with a bang

William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman carried fnatic against Complexity, whilst 9INE dispatched OG in the other matchup of the round.

Another set of qualification and elimination bouts are set in the IEM Cologne Play-In, with fnatic set to face off against 9INE in the upper bracket and OG taking on Complexity in the lower bracket.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023 Play-in
26/07/2023	fnatic 21:00 9INE	Match
27/07/2023	Complexity 20:45 OG	Match

fnatic were forced all the way into overtime on the A stream, but ultimately Complexity couldn’t quite provide the firepower needed to compete with an immense performance by mezii, the score finishing 19-17.

In their off-season revamp, fnatic brough in Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong in order to free up mezii from the burden of calling, and the maneuver paid dividends for the international lineup. The Brit was in fine form throughout his team’s bout with Complexity, the highlight being a vital 3k Deagle that prevented the second half getting away from fnatic. mezii eventually finished on 39 frags.

Once again, Complexity were competitive and looked the better team at points throughout the match, but they faltered in key moments and were ultimately undone by it. They really seemed to have the wind taken out of their sails by the aforementioned mezii 3k, and had they recovered more quickly, it feels like their T side would have won them the game in regulation. Instead they went to overtime, and the game slipped away from them.

Over on the B stream, 9INE managed to triumph over a stubborn OG squad, but they needed overtime to do it.

OG started both halves well, running with their economic advantage to take early streaks of rounds, but once guns came up 9INE started to work their way back into things. By the end of the best-of-one 9INE had truly warmed up into the match, and a vital 2v4 victory in round 28 seemed it would be the defining moment of the match. OG still had something in the tank however, and they locked in overtime.

Overtime was a very tight battle between the two sides, but ultimately 9INE forced a couple of hard-fought retakes over the line when they needed to - the Poles duly locked in a 19-17 victory.