Complexity, MIBR and B8 have become the first teams to be eliminated from Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2025.
The North American, Brazilian and Ukrainian esports organisations failed to win any of their matches during the Play-Ins.
Complexity looked to build on a solid showing at FISSURE Playground 1 by making it to the Cologne group stage with a win over GamerLegion in its opening upper bracket match.
After being swept aside on Inferno, the North Americans showed signs of life on Nuke, but it wasn’t enough to advance in the upper bracket.
Waiting for Complexity in the lower bracket was FISSURE Playground 1 champions TYLOO. A victory on Overpass got the ball rolling, but the Chinese side issued an emphatic response to take the series 2-1 and eliminate Complexity from the tournament.
Elsewhere, B8 were defeated by Astralis in its opening Play-In match, dropping it to the elimination bracket against a FlyQuest side that was narrowly bested by FURIA.
A hard-fought contest between the two sides went in favour of the Australians with a 2-1 scoreline.
The final elimination match of day two saw HEROIC emerge victorious in the best-of-three series against MIBR, with the Europeans setting up a clash against Virtus.pro in the lower bracket’s second round.
GamerLegion, NiP, HEROIC, FaZe Clan Advance
Along with the first teams being sent home, the first wave of teams has earned their places in the Group Stage of IEM Cologne 2025.
The first to secure qualification was GamerLegion, which swept aside Complexity and Virtus.pro in the upper bracket to continue the strong run of form since signing Jeremy ‘Kursy’ Gast to the starting roster.
Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) marked its return to top-tier competition with an equally convincing performance. A 2-1 win over HEROIC and a 2-0 victory against 3DMAX sees the Ninjas earn one of the eight Group Stage spots.
FaZe Clan faced off against Team Liquid for the third spot in the Group Stage. Despite a sign of form on Inferno from Liquid, FaZe dominated Nuke to close out the series 2-1 to advance to the next stage of the tournament.
What’s Next at IEM Cologne 2025?
Day three of IEM Cologne 2025 sees the Play-Ins reach the final stage, with the five remaining Group Stage spots being decided.
Below are all of the matches taking place on July 25th, 2025:
Upper Bracket
- Astralis vs FURIA
Lower Bracket
- Virtus.pro vs HEROIC
- 3DMAX vs TYLOO
- Team Liquid vs FlyQuest
- BIG or PaiN Gaming vs Astralis or FURIA
