Natus Vincere wins IEM Cologne with an outstanding s1mple and collects 400,000 US dollars for it. These are the three things we learn from the event
The IEM Cologne ended on Sunday and is considered one of the most important CS:GO tournaments of the year. Natus Vincere impressed in the one million dollar event and takes home the title. Here are three things we learned from the event.
s1mple is currently the best
With the next MVP title from IEM Cologne, Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev proved once again that he is one of the best CS:GO players in the world. The performance in Cologne was a very special one, as the Ukrainian shone with outstanding statistics in every game of Natus Vincere. In one of the shooter’s most important tournaments, s1mple thus helped his team win 400,000 US dollars in prize money. With a total of 15 MVP titles won in major tournaments, he is hot on the heels of Denmark’s Nicolai “device” Reedtz of the Ninjas in Pyjamas, who already has 18 of these trophies in his cabinet. At the moment, s1mple is in absolute top form, and hardly any opponent is a match for him.
Marvelous, as always! @s1mpleO gets the #IEM Cologne 2021 MVP award!
📰: https://t.co/SLoLVbzgVq#CSGO #navination pic.twitter.com/mWon0u3MIe
— NAVI (@natusvincere) July 18, 2021
G2 can’t win a best-of-five against Na’Vi
Not for the first time, G2 Esports were defeated 3-0 by Na’Vi in the final of a prestigious tournament. The Ukrainian team thus repeated the final result of the IEM World Championship from the previous year. In March 2020, G2 left the best-of-five encounter without winning a map. At least the three maps of the IEM Cologne were a lot closer than back then in Katowice, when the defeat was tantamount to humiliation.
LAN events are something else
Playing on a stage instead of from home or the office can make a difference, as Gambit Esports proved. The world number one was considered a favourite before the event and has had a strong season so far. In the quarter-finals of the IEM Cologne playoffs, however, the team surprisingly lost to FaZe Clan and was eliminated earlier than expected.
