SkinLords CS2 Esports IEM Cologne CS2 Major Stage 2: Best Players, Teams, and Moments

IEM Cologne CS2 Major Stage 2: Best Players, Teams, and Moments

The list of invited teams to the IEM Cologne Major is dwindling day by day as yet another stage has concluded. Stage 2 of the Cologne Major featured more unexpected early exits to go along with a few obvious results.

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Astralis Underperformed In Cologne

Where do we even begin with Astralis. Gone are the days when they were the greatest team in all of Counter-Strike, sure, but there were still expectations that they’d win their advancement matches and secure a spot in Stage 3 at the very least.

They looked great against GamerLegion and disposed of them 13-4 in the opening match, just to never win again. 9z and TYLOO picked up comfortable victories while paiN swept them, sending Astralis home with disappointed fans and a dismal 1-3 record.

In the immediate aftermath of the Cologne Major, coach Casper “⁠ruggah⁠” Due left the organization effective immediately.

Team Spirit’s Incredible Dominance

Even before Stage 2 of the Major began, everyone knew that Spirit would advance easily. No one was ready for the absolute one-sidedness that a Spirit match would end up becoming. Their opening battle against BetBoom was a 13-5 victory, and from that point on, they’d only drop five more rounds across three maps.

Danil “donk” Kryshkovets led Spirit in a 13-1 annihilation of MIBR before sweeping 9z in no time with map scores of 13-3 on Mirage and 13-1 on Nuke. All in all, Spirit lost only ten rounds across four maps they played in Stage 2 and really showed just how much better they were compared to the rest.

Legacy Escapes To Stage 3 of the IEM Cologne Major

Legacy were the highest-ranked team that fell to near elimination at 1-2 and still progressed further at the IEM Cologne Major 2026. The eighth-ranked team in the whole world were staring early elimination before an all-out war against M80 in the 1-2 pool match and a strong closeout series against TYLOO kept them alive.

Unsurprisingly, Bruno “latto” Rebelatto was their best player and one of the top performers statistically throughout Stage 2. He logged a 1.24 rating on HLTV and was Legacy’s best player in both of their elimination matches.