Astralis, Monte pick up opening wins in Cologne

Monte conceded just one round in what was a dominant T-side versus Imperial to secure their first win in Germany.

Astralis and Monte are off to ideal starts at the IEM Cologne Play-in following 16-10 and 16-9 wins over Liquid and Imperial, respectively.

The victors now advance to the upper bracket's second round in Germany, with the two rosters set to hop back in the server on Thursday at 12:30 for a chance to earn a spot in the IEM Cologne group stage.

The Danes will face the winner of the series between Apeks and BIG, while Monte will duke it out versus the victor of FURIA vs. Grayhound.

On the flip side of things, Liquid and Imperial subsequently fall down to the lower bracket in Germany, now one loss away from being sent packing from the tournament entirely. The two teams will play their must-win fixtures on Thursday at 19:30 .

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023 Play-in
27/07/2023	Astralis 12:30 Apeks	Match
27/07/2023	Imperial 16:00 Grayhound	Match
27/07/2023	Liquid 16:35 BIG	Match
27/07/2023	Monte 19:40 FURIA	Match

Astralis made it two wins in a row over the new-look Liquid to kick their IEM Cologne Play-in campaign off, the Danes also reigning supreme in their meeting at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups in Copenhagen on July 22.

Astralis enjoyed a hot start to their bout versus Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis and company on Ancient, with Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer leading by example with a 1.59-rated CT-side to power the Danes to a 10-5 lead at the side swap.

From there, it was clutch after clutch that helped Astralis remain one step ahead, with Christian "⁠Buzz⁠" Andersen in particular picking up numerous 1vsX scenarios to help the Danish cohort stay in control. Liquid did remain competitive and reached double digits thanks to a strong performance from Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic, but Astralis' initial lead proved too steep a hill to overcome and the Danes closed things out, 16-10, to send Liquid down to elimination territory in Germany.

Monte clashed with Imperial over on the B stream, with both teams debuting their new rosters after making changes over the off-season; Monte brought in Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro as a replacement for Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas whilst Imperial signed Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles and João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos.

The Brazilians were quick to jump in the driver's seat versus the BLAST.tv Paris Major quarter-finalists, with HEN1 hitting the ground running with 15 kills to power the Imperial to an 8-7 half.

Alas, this slender advantage came crashing down like a house of cards once it was Monte's time to attack. The Ukrainian-majority roster, spurred on by a vocal Sergiy "⁠DemQQ⁠" Demchenko, added six rounds in a row to extend their streak to nine on the trot, with a lone Imperial round being all the Brazilians could muster before Monte closed things out, 16-9.