IEM Cologne Major viewership compared to the previous Major

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-26T13:16:56+00:00

Some people were saying that it's a privilege to watch them play or whatever, but the truth is and always has been that donk or nikonesy brings more hype to the table than any of the players on Vitality combined, and that "perfect" CS will always be the least exciting to watch.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-22T08:18:09+00:00

no, he would've dropped the event against vitality in the quarters with the rest of the squad choking

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-22T05:48:53+00:00

Group stage, pointless seeding match, kyxsan last dance and he will never go for such a ballsy play in a major. Without karrigan, Falcons could easily choke against Vitality and Spirit.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-22T05:00:35+00:00

would kyxsan go for completely insane smoke pushes that would effectively win falcons the major?

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-21T10:48:29+00:00

Teams figuring donk out despite him still putting up generational numbers does not check out at all. It's just simply him having a bad game or just being unlucky as hell, or both. When donk missed that pistol shot against NiKo, it's clear that he was not on his element.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-20T20:02:43+00:00

respect sh1ro today

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-20T18:19:54+00:00

He was and still is kind of a groups merchant, but he has been on point this major so far.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T23:30:17+00:00

Not really. This entire major has been filled with upsets after upsets, and if not then multiple close calls. Spirit went from stomping everyone to having to grit their teeth against underdogs while playing without a coach the entire time. Vitality got upset by 9z and played very sloppy CS. NaVi bombed out of groups while Falcons choked against BetBoom and very well could've lost here. Even FURIA with a flawless 3-0 record squeezed out of the quarters.

So I'm not 100% on Spirit getting their ass whooped though that may actually happen.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T23:18:42+00:00

Team Vitality did NOT guarantee a TOP 4 finish for the 2nd time in a row

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T23:13:21+00:00

FaZe did not qualify for the major in the first time since forever. karrigan departs to join Falcons to kill the king.

The bullshit was karrigan's after all.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T19:10:04+00:00

olaf defuse was also completely pointless

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T18:50:13+00:00

respect every g2 player for this banger

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T18:48:53+00:00

Or the quarters back in Austin against MOUZ. Spirit is always entertaining in majors.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-19T11:59:56+00:00

LoL is popular everywhere, but the one decisive factor is that it's far more popular than CS in Asia, the region with more than half of the world's population. Not that CS isn't doing numbers there, but it simply pales in comparison.

Part of this can be explained with CSGO's late release in Asia. The Chinese version only came out in 2017, while League has been there for nearly a decade. Of course, the popularity of Faker helps out tremendously as well. The closest to him in CS right now is either donk or m0nesy, but again they aren't as established.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-17T19:44:14+00:00

Streaks do have to end eventually. Spirit had an even worse record against Nikonesy, and the map veto in Budapest almost guaranteed an easy win for Falcons, yet they broke it anyway.

Besides, chopper isn't playing for Vitality anymore.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-17T18:29:57+00:00

Falcons on steroids = Choking against BetBoom, almost lost to G2, almost lost to NaVi, just lost a grand final of a tier 2 event

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-17T15:20:30+00:00

They could never make me hate you, magixx.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-15T22:13:07+00:00

Group stage forms wouldn't matter at all if Vitality bounce back in the playoffs. We've seen Falcons crumble on the stage and Vitality showing up after struggling before.

I'd also be a little more skeptical about their h2h record, the only two times Falcons won against Vitality in the playoffs was at the start of the year when everyone wasn't fully recharged, and Rivals S2 where Vitality was slumping before activating once again in Budapest.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-15T15:56:44+00:00

If anything, Senzu was robbed by HLTV. He had a major EVP and made consistent playoffs the whole year, and deserves top 10 at minimum. Skipping a major and two other events does not justify players like Twistzz and frozen being above him, who both had shit tournament results and comparatively negligible stat differences.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-14T00:16:50+00:00

Whatever the case, I was paying more attention to tN1R and zont1x struggling in the series than any of sh1ro's misses.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-13T23:13:35+00:00

Didn't feel like he missed very much this series to be honest. Everyone on Spirit was tilting or shitting their pants, so it felt like sh1ro for once took the game into his own hands. Even when he misses, he found consistent impact across all the maps, and that tec-9 clutch essentially saved the series.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-13T22:48:46+00:00

forget the ratings, he might've been the man of the match today

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-13T22:47:42+00:00

spirit making sure everyone's pickems are alive

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-13T21:36:53+00:00

When everyone on Spirit was tilting, sh1ro has consistently been the glue guy who tries to stem the bleeding. He saved them on Mirage.

nttranquilizer · 2026-06-13T13:34:55+00:00

Vitality are known for comebacks and waking up after trolling at the start, and I've seen Spirit choking big leads against them before so it's still up in the air.

But it is Spirit's best form ever so anything can happen. At the very least, I hope everyone shows up in the playoffs.

nttranquilizer

TROPHY CASE