Cologne 2025: Smells Like Team Spirit

The champions cup has been raised over the heads of the winning team, the fireworks have burst all around them, the last shreds of golden ticker tape have fallen on their heads from the ceiling of the Lanxess Arena… It’s time to look back on the record-breaking feast of gaming that was Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025. From July 26th to August 3rd, 16 teams were whittled down to two finalists in the esports phenomenon that is IEM. Expectations were overturned, newcomers made names for themselves, and a million-dollar pot was up for grabs. Of course, in the end, there can be only one squad standing, and the Russian team Spirit were triumphant, routing Germany’s MOUZ 3-0 in a best of five final. But the conclusion is just the beginning of the story.

We won’t say no one saw it coming, but few were predicting it. The all-conquering French team Vitality went into the tournament on a high; an extraordinary streak of IEM victories at Katowice, Melbourne, and Dallas earlier in 2025 saw them walk into Cologne’s Lanxess Arena—the Cathedral of Counter-Strike—as favorites. In front of an 18,000-strong crowd, they didn’t drop a single game in the group stage, and seemed on course to once again hoist some silverware (no one can say these particular gamers have never worked their deltoids). But what draws the crowds, online and in person, to these tournaments over and over is not the certainty of winning but the thrill of the unknown, the undecided, and the unpredictable. In this case, a winning streak struck out. Vitality went up against MOUZ in the semi-finals and when two teams that are widely reckoned to be the best and second-best in the world at CS2 face off, the status quo can either be maintained or overturned. And the first option is, let’s face it, less fun.

 The tension had built over seven head-to-head matches (and, for MOUZ, defeats) over the past year, and the capacity crowd at Lanxess were treated to a fierce battle. A commanding first half performance by Vitality wasn’t enough to sustain them, and MOUZ pushed back successfully to take the semi-final, and their first shot at the Cologne IEM title. Victory was sweet, but, for MOUZ, form proved elusive. After a dramatic semi-final, the final was an unbalanced affair, as MOUZ failed to reproduce the nail-biting reverse of the previous round, and succumbed 3-0 to the unconquerable Spirit, who raised the trophy and pocketed the $400,000 winner’s cut. It was a sensational finish to Spirit’s tournament.

The shifting dominance on the leaderboard reveals not only that this tournament is a truly live affair, but that each team is evolving and coming back fresh from the breaks, not only in tactics but in lineup. As a commentator remarked, the standout players in Cologne were the youngest members of the teams, players that seemed like they were still playing at home in their bedrooms. This was not a slur on the youth of the players, but a reflection of their preternatural ease at being on this global stage. It’s an incredible rush to be on that stage, but with 18,000 esports fans screaming for their team—who, by the time of the final, may not be yours—it’s also an intense trial of skill, concentration, and resilience. Spirit’s unflappable 18-year-old Danil “donk” Kryshkovets was awarded MVP of the tournament for his 1.50 HLTV rating average, one of the highest recorded by an MVP at Cologne. There was still a lot of attention left over for his 17-year-old laser-focused teammate Ivan ‘zweih’ Gogin who’s marked for future greatness, beyond an already impressive performance here. It’s not that zweih is stealing anyone’s thunder, more that zweih and donk generate a lot more noise together.

As the IEM tournaments progress and evolve, so the talent pipeline is keeping the teams well supplied. Not every team has an academy program, but MOUZ cites the stat of 60% of grand final players coming from an academy background as an argument for the programs to continue and expand. But it doesn’t have to begin there. If you’re feeling inspired and want to game like the pros, the Predator Orion 7000 is the official, IEM-ready tournament PC, with unparalleled performance, seamless multitasking, and lightning-fast responsiveness. Game like you’re going to the show, and who knows where it could take you? IEM is the longest running esports tournament (est 2006) and Cologne 2025 is the most watched edition yet in this location with a staggering 35+ million hours viewed, and double the number of active channels from last year. IEM Chengdu is up next, we hope to see you there. 

IEM Chengdu commences November 2025, and IEM moves to Krakow for the first time in February 2026. Keep up with every date here.

Find out more about the Predator Orion 7000 here.