Spirit sweep MOUZ to claim IEM Cologne trophy

Spirit have now completed the prestigious trifecta of winning IEM Cologne, IEM Katowice, and a Major.

Spirit have secured the IEM Cologne trophy thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win over MOUZ, adding another prestigious title to their ever-growing collection.

The Russian side were well worth their victory, easily dismissing MOUZ on two of the European squad's map picks, Mirage and Nuke, either side of a majestic CT-side comeback on Ancient.

MOUZ were punished for their woeful T sides across the series, in which they managed to post only two gun vs. gun round wins. Their total winrate on T side (Top 20 filter) over the last three months now sits below 42%, a real issue if they are to challenge for titles moving forwards.

Meanwhile Spirit were lead by Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, as they always are, but were aided in their victory by impact across the server, with no player failing to produce a highlight moment or impactful multi-kill.

The tournament win sees Spirit notably claim a title in their first outing with Ivan "⁠zweih⁠" Gogin among their number. Whilst the 17-year-old did not always produce his best CS but he closed this series with a tidy highlight, and the confidence this trophy will give him could be a real boon moving forwards.

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The series kicked off on a sour note for MOUZ as they put forth a turgid and flat-footed offense on Mirage, falling to a hefty 2-10 deficit by halftime.

MOUZ bagged the pistol and converted to give themselves a glimmer of hope as they switched over to their CT side, but when they got chances to really put Spirit's economy under pressure, they fumbled them.

donk's clean 4K destroys MOUZ's A hold

First donk came marauding through Connector for a 4K and round win, then Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov exposed a massive hole in MOUZ's defense by sneaking into Window and cutting down rotators as they sought to reinforce the B site, leading to an easy victory for Spirit.

MOUZ endured another slow start on Ancient, but up stepped captain Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin to kickstart their CT side. The Swede picked up his team's first two rounds alone with aggressive multi-kills around Lane and Heaven, and continued his audacious pushes as his team began to grow around him. Spirit quickly wilted in the face of such proactive play, and fell to a 4-8 score by the end of the half.

Brollan 4K helps MOUZ take hold of Ancient

A force-buy win seemed to set MOUZ up for an easy victory, as they ran with that win up to an 11-5 lead, before Spirit began to wake up. A Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov 2K in a 2v2 began the comeback attempt, before a string of donk multi-kills in Middle helped power Spirit to eight defensive rounds in a row, sealing the map in their favour.

MOUZ seemed to have wilted by the time Nuke came around, unable to capitalize on a 3-0 start on offense. The European side struggled badly in mid-late round situations, Spirit outplaying them time and time again even when losing the opener.

zweih's 1v1 clutch wins IEM Cologne for Spirit

Thus Spirit headed into the second half with an 8-4 lead and it was one they did not let slip, answering back MOUZ's pistol and conversion with a series of confident gun rounds, easily securing victory.

More highlights:

• Spirit win unlikely 2v4 retake

• donk 1v2 ties the score on Ancient

• chopper clutches wild pistol round and waves to crowd

• torzsi collateral helps him to 3K