Today marks the start of prominent and legendary tournament IEM Cologne 2025. Multiple teams will battle it out to see who will be heading to the main stage in Cologne. We have a full recap of the opening day of Cologne here for you.

TYLOO vs Virtus.Pro

The first game of the day was between TYLOO and Virtus.Pro, who recently played against each other in the opening game of Fissure. In that tournament, the scores were reversed with TYLOO beating VP 2:0 with the coach as their stand-in! However, in Cologne Virtus.Pro displayed that they are here to play and make it to the playoffs beating TYLOO 2:0 in the series, denying them double digits in both games.

GamerLegion vs Complexity

The second game of the day was between that of GamerLegion and Complexity. Complexity really showed they were struggling in this match-up. GamerLegion on the other hand came flying out the gates, playing with incredible confidence. They were able to take down the N/A side of Complexity 2:0 in the series at the opening day of Cologne.

Astralis vs B8

The next game to be played was between new IGL team Astralis and the Ukrainian side of B8. With the newly signed IGL of HooXi, Astralis’s first map was flawless, they obliterated B8 13-2 on Mirage. On the second map, B8 were able to take the Danish side to OT. However, they were unable to finish the job and allowed Astralis the 16th winning round, leading to their opening day game being a loss.

FlyQuest vs FURIA

Next up was between the Aussie FlyQuest and Brazilian FURIA. FURIA were looking to show their fire power with newly full signed YEKINDAR and FlyQuest were hoping to boast newly acquired jks to help them through Cologne. Unfortunately for the Australian team they were beat 2:1 in the series, however they were able to bring FURIA to double OT on Dust2 and close it out in their favour. FlyQuest had some exceptional executes on Dust2 causing FURIA to save at least 4 to 5 rounds on their CT side. jks had a great map lurking and getting some needed frags and bringing his tier 1 knowledge to the side of FlyQuest.

3DMAX vs MIBR

Next up it was the French to take on Brazilian side of MIBR. 3DMAX smoked MIBR 2:0 in the opening day with an exceptional 13:9 and 13:5 score line respectively.

Faze vs BIG

Faze, who you would think should not been in Stage 1 of Cologne, took on the Germans of BIG. BIG have had a horrendous couple of years at tournaments and here seems no different. Unable to beat the side of Faze with the return of AWPer broky. broky demolished BIG with the AWP on Ancient, showing that he is back and ready to play after taking a break from competitive play. They beat BIG 2:0 in the series.

NiP vs HEROIC

Ninjas in Pyjamas took on HEROIC. In an unexpected turn of events, NiP were able to clutch up and take the victory in this match up 2:1. HEROIC looked strong on map 1 but NiP woke up after that loss and reverse swept the side of HEROIC.

Liquid vs paiN

Liquid were last to take on paiN in the final game of day 1 at Cologne. Liquid came out the gates fast and ready destroying paiN 2:0 in their opening day game. paiN looked better than they had been previously but the powerful side of Liquid took them down in day 1 of Stage 1 Cologne 2025.