MOUZ' duo showed up to secure their team a spot at the main stage of IEM Cologne.

With a 2-0 win over Evil Geniuses, MOUZ have advanced from the IEM Cologne Play-In, while Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz and co. will be heading into the tournament break early.

"ropz held it together", Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong said in the post-match interview, praising his teammate's heroics on Nuke. The Estonian picked up an ace to win a 2v5 early on kept delivering as the map progressed, ending two frags shy of a 40 bomb in the 16-12 win.

David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský picked up on Inferno where Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool left off on Nuke, securing 14 kills in the first six rounds. Regardless, Evil Geniuses weren't going to be pushed over so easily on their map pick, claiming an 8-7 lead as Terrorists by halftime, but they fell apart after the switch as MOUZ claimed nine in a row to take the win.

In the final game of the Play-In, Sprout put up a respectable showing, but Spirit was able to withstand the pressure and take a 2-1 victory that qualifies them for the group stage. The Germans didn't look too threatening on Ancient (16-10 for Spirit), but the following two maps came down to the wire.

Fritz "⁠slaxz-⁠" Dietrich's AWPing presence allowed his team to snatch away Dust2, 16-14, bringing over the momentum to Nuke where Sprout went up 8-2 as T. A bit of individual brilliance from Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov gave a lifeline to Spirit who made the most of it and completed the comeback, 16-13.

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robin 'ropz' Koolropz	55 - 33	+22	117.1	1.63
David 'frozen' Čerňanskýfrozen	42 - 29	+13	90.9	1.37
Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandacoR	40 - 31	+9	81.0	1.18
Aurimas 'Bymas' PipirasBymas	28 - 28	0	52.6	0.93
Christopher 'dexter' Nongdexter	28 - 35	-7	61.1	0.90

Evil Geniuses	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguzstanislaw	38 - 39	-1	76.4	1.05
Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU	33 - 41	-8	72.6	0.94
Owen 'oBo' SchlatteroBo	31 - 38	-7	73.7	0.92
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	29 - 40	-11	64.6	0.74
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovCeRq	22 - 36	-14	48.4	0.74

Spirit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nikolay 'mir' Bityukovmir	72 - 52	+20	93.7	1.36
Abdul 'degster' Gasanovdegster	66 - 45	+21	75.5	1.23
Boris 'magixx' Vorobievmagixx	58 - 54	+4	69.9	1.08
Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhevsdy	47 - 50	-3	69.3	1.02
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakovchopper	47 - 56	-9	62.3	0.92

Sprout	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Marko 'kressy' Đorđevićkressy	60 - 57	+3	75.2	1.02
Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrichslaxz-	51 - 52	-1	62.8	0.97
Josef 'faveN' BaumannfaveN	53 - 61	-8	70.7	0.94
Denis 'denis' Howelldenis	48 - 60	-12	64.5	0.83
Timo 'Spiidi' RichterSpiidi	44 - 62	-18	57.7	0.75