Counter-Strike's legacy in Cologne

There is no other place in the world that has borne witness to as many essential moments of CS history as Cologne.

IEM Cologne is a pillar of competitive Counter-Strike. It is one of the marquee events in the calendar, one of the most prestigious events outside of the Majors, alongside IEM Katowice. Since HLTV's rankings were introduced by ESL One Cologne 2016, at least eight of the top 10 teams have attended every single one. Everyone wants to win it, the winners go down in history and are remembered forever, and it is an indelible part of the legacies of the players who count the trophy among their spoils.

Whilst the strength of the field is part of what makes IEM Cologne so special, a far more important factor is the history. The first ESL CS event took place 20 years ago in 2004, and since then a plethora of tournaments have taken place in Cologne, both in 1.6 and in CS:GO, and now in CS2.

With the 10-year anniversary of Cologne's unbroken streak of yearly CS events on the horizon, there is no better time to take a look back at the history of Cologne's contribution to our game. Remember the best moments, the legacies that were forged, and the intangibly vital pieces of CS history that took place in the city.

The early days of CS history

The city of Cologne is deeply embedded in Counter-Strike's history, from the early days of the professional scene. ESL was actually founded in Cologne in 2000, and so it is no surprise they forged such a strong link between CS and the city from the early moments of the game.

CS 1.6's release came in 2003, and it was only a year later that ESL hosted their first event in Cologne, European Nations Champions 2004, which was won by a Team Sweden featuring legends like Abdisamad "⁠SpawN⁠" Mohamed and Emil "⁠HeatoN⁠" Christensen who were in the early stages of forging their legacies.

These were the days when the very foundations of Counter-Strike esports were being laid, when first place meant tens of thousands of dollars at best, when even the top LAN events were a far cry from the arena spectacles that take pride of place among the circuit today.

Cologne continued to host a smattering of CS tournaments over the 1.6 years, including IEM Season IV Global Challenge Gamescom in 2009. Swedish legend Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg was present playing for fnatic, Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund played alongside him having only joined the team earlier that year, but it was Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik and Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen who fought on opposite sides of the server in the final, in which the German triumphed. Some of the most notable, successful, and historic figures in our game put down the early milestones of their career in Cologne, and the city was an integral part of building the rich tapestry that makes CS so compelling.

There was a gap in the history of Cologne's relationship with CS starting in 2010, but the city returned to the forefront of the professional scene early in CS:GO with a series of RaidCall EMS One tournaments over 2013, played in ESL's offices in the city.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and VeryGames' rivarly, a defining feature of the early GO days, was prominent across these tournaments. Ninjas in Pyjamas got the better of VeryGames in Spring in the semi-finals, but the Frenchmen, bolstered by Belgian Adil "⁠ScreaM⁠" Benrlitom, came roaring back to claim revenge in the grand final in Fall.

The Major years

Cologne truly announced itself as a place right at the heart of CS history in 2014 with ESL One Cologne. It was a historic tournament not just because it was a Major, but also because it was the first and only Major won by the dominant force of the initial stages of CS:GO, Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Having ensured their place in the annals of CS history by building the immense 87-0 LAN streak and winning countless trophies, one thing eluded the legends of Ninjas in Pyjamas: a Major title. They had been thwarted by a miraculous underdog performance by fnatic in their first attempt and mowed down by the unstoppable Virtus.plow in Poland at the second time of asking.

Fittingly, Ninjas in Pyjamas took down their Swedish rivals of fnatic in a nail-biting grand final that went down to the wire on the final map of Inferno, with players like GeT_RiGhT and f0rest getting the Major their early dominance deserved. Of all the Ninjas in Pyjamas squad it was Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg who got the MVP nod however, thanks to his immense impact and two career-defining plays in the grand final: his clutch on Cobblestone and his 3HP ace on Inferno, the latter of which earned him Valve's in-game recognition.

Cologne hosted two more Majors in the following years, and both featured perhaps equally historic victories. fnatic rubber-stamped the second era of CS:GO by claiming their third Major trophy and second in a single year at ESL One Cologne 2015, ensuring the enduring legacies of the squad. In the grand final of said tournament, fnatic earned a team-wide in-game immortalisation with their quadruple AWP peek down Middle on Dust2.

The Brazilian legends, with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David at the forefront, bagged the second of their back-to-back Major victories at ESL One Cologne 2016, in a tournament which featured a plethora of spine-tingling highlights. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev's falling double-noscope was the best of the bunch, which earned the GOAT an in-game graffiti of his own.

In fact, of all the in-game graffitis that ever found their way into Counter-Strike, many of them happened in Cologne, and almost all of them happened in the Major years.

Legends made time and time again

Cologne continued to carve itself into the annals of CS history even after it had hosted its three Majors, the only city to ever do so three years consecutively.

In 2017 one of the more light-hearted memorable moments took place, the football match between Virtus.pro's legendary Polish lineup and the Brazilians of SK, who had just won the Cologne trophy. Dubbed "Round 31," the unusual face-off emphasized the respect and camaraderie present even between heated rivals in the game, and was a credit to our professional scene. It may not be a rousing trophy win, but this moment sits fondly in the memories of those who were around to witness it.

Read more

Photos from Round 31, the SK - VP football match

One of the greatest underdog runs in CS history graced Cologne's soil in 2018, and in poetic fashion it was made by home-town heroes BIG. Far before BIG became a world-class force in the online era, gob b and Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz rocked the CS world by taking down the likes of Liquid, MIBR and FaZe on their way to the grand final, leaving a litany of legends and Major-winners in their wake. Aided by a little slice of UKCS in the form of Owen "⁠smooya⁠" Butterfield, BIG could not quite overcome a s1mple-powered Natus Vincere in the final, but nonetheless they did their nation proud and ensured their memorable run would go down in history.

Who remembers the Liquid of 2019? The real NA juggernaut, one that in a furious and frenetic run of a handful of tournaments rocketed themselves to the pinnacle of the scene and claimed the top spot among a field of incredibly strong challengers. This Liquid sealed the second season of the Intel Grand Slam in a staggering 63 days, and where did they seal it? At ESL One Cologne 2019. Liquid's run of five elite tournament wins back-to-back over the summer of 2019 might be the most immense run of all time, and Cologne was an integral piece.

The online era might have put a bit of a dampener on the professional scene, but Cologne's name still managed to attach itself to another piece of history. HEROIC, helmed by Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and featuring Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen, put themselves on the map and won the organization's first-ever elite tournament win in staggering fashion in ESL One Cologne 2020 Europe, dominating the World No. 2, Vitality, 3-0 in the grand final. cadiaN and HEROIC would go on to become one of the most consistent tier-one squads across the next few years, and it all started with ESL One Cologne.

The modern era

The online era ended in 2021 and there was no better place to return to LAN than at IEM Cologne. Gambit's youthful squad had emerged from the woodwork and positioned themselves as the No. 1 team in online play, but were brought crashing down to reality when the pressures of LAN CS took hold. Instead it was Natus Vincere who emerged triumphant. It was the first LAN victory of NAVI's mini-era, s1mple bagged the MVP, NAVI continued their journey towards the Intel Grand Slam, and another vital chapter of CS lore was written in Cologne.

IEM Cologne 2022 is more memorable than anything for its grand final, the epic five-map affair between two of the greatest sides the game has ever seen, FaZe and Natus Vincere. Natus Vincere had been comfortably the best team in the world in 2021 and had the No. 2 spot after winning the previous LAN. FaZe had dominated the first half of 2022 and won PGL Major Antwerp, but form had dipped.

What ensued was one of the greatest series in all of CS:GO's long history. Four of the five maps featured 29 rounds of Counter-Strike or more, both teams played at the peak of their powers in front of a packed crowd, and there was highlight after memorable highlight. FaZe triumphed to cement 2022 as their year, having won IEM Katowice and the Major prior to their Cologne triumph. Yet again Cologne was a moment in time where a team cemented their legacy.

There are plenty of historic individual tournament showings that have taken place in CS down the years. One happened just recently, when Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets emphatically announced his credentials as a superstar by dominating IEM Katowice. One that isn't spoken about enough is Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's demolition of IEM Cologne 2023, a performance that delivered the Katowice-Cologne double to a GOAT rifler who didn't quite have the trophy cabinet that his immense skill deserved.

At IEM Cologne 2023 NiKo put in star performances against FaZe, Vitality and ENCE, who at that exact moment were perhaps the three best teams in the world. He put up immense numbers in terms of kills and damage all whilst playing a marauding style of Counter-Strike, leading the tournament in total opening kills and impact rating. It was a historic individual performance as well as a historic tournament victory in context, a beautiful way for CS:GO's best rifler to capture the second of a pair of trophies that finally decorated his trophy cabinet in a way befitting his stature.

10 years of unbroken history

IEM Cologne 2024 is a particularly momentous occasion as it will mark 10 years of unbroken CS history in Cologne, and 10 Cologne LAN tournaments back-to-back. Only Katowice can claim to be as intrinsically embedded within the annals of CS, and even then Katowice cannot lay claim to the sheer number of incredible highlights and momentous happenings that have taken place in Cologne over the years.

Three different iterations of the game can credit Cologne as a place where history has been made. Many of the graffiti-worthy, legend-making moments that were immortalized in the very game we all love took place in Cologne. Every single great team and player had to firmly stamp their greatness upon Cologne, and to not do so was a mark against them. More history will be made at IEM Cologne 2024. We all have the utmost privilege to see who writes it.