How to Watch ESL One Cologne 2018 - Stream and Groups
By Nicholas Barth ·
One of the most prestigious tournaments in professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is set to return for 2018 on July 3rd in ESL One Cologne 2018, and we have all of the details you need to know covered.
Taking place in Cologne, Germany, ESL One Cologne 2018 is set to begin on Tuesday, July 3rd and run till July 8th where 16 professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams will battle for a share of the $300,000 prize pool and title of ESL One Cologne 2018 Champions.
The group stages of ESL One Cologne 2018 will take place between July 3rd to July 5th where two groups of eight teams will face off against one another to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the event or a trip to the quarterfinals of ESL One Cologne 2018. Only six teams will be able to survive the brutal CS:GO action of the group stage to advance to the ESL One Cologne 2018 playoffs.
Best-of-one matches will take place before best-of-three winners and losers matches take place in the group stage. Matches will be played until three playoff teams are determined from each group. Two losses will eliminate a team from the event.
You can find the teams competing in both groups of ESL One Cologne and the opening matches taking place tomorrow below.
ESL One Cologne 2018 Group A
- Astralis vs. ENCE Esports (5am CT)
- Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Cloud9 (5am CT)
- Mousesports vs. Gambit Esports (6:10am CT)
- G2 Esports vs. Natus Vincere (6:10am CT)
ESL One Cologne 2018 Group B
- FaZe Clan vs. BOOT-dS (7:20am CT)
- MIBR vs. Renegades (7:20am CT)
- Fnatic vs. North (8:30am CT)
- BIG vs. Team Liquid (8:30am CT)
Playoff matches will begin on Friday, July 6th with the top-seeded teams in each group who place first in the winners bracket will receive a direct spot in the semifinal matches. The two lower seeded teams from the losers bracket will head to the quarterfinals. LANXESS Arena will be the venue where the 2018 champion will be crowned. Semifinal matches will take place on Saturday, July 7th with the grand final taking place on Sunday, July 8th.
The former SK Gaming roster of Gabriel "Fallen" Toledo, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, Marcelo "coldzera" David, Ricardo "boltz" Prass and Jacky "Stewie2K" Yip will be looking to give the trio of Fallen, fer and coldzera their third straight ESL One Cologne championship in 2018 after winning the 2016 and 2017 titles under their new organization of Made in Brazil (MIBR) that is owned by Immortals.
Fans will be able to watch all of the action unfold on the official ESL Facebook page. We will update this article with an embedded version of the stream when it becomes available.
ESL One Cologne 2018 promises to bring the same adrenaline pumping professional CS:GO action that the tournament has been known for in past years with a field of talented and motivated teams ready to claim a championship.
(cover photo courtesy of ESL)