LAN action is back in Germany this week for CS:GO fans, with the IEM Cologne 2023 kicking off on 26th July. With 24 teams competing across three different phases in the next 10 days, there’s plenty of both entertainment and betting to be had in this tournament. We offer all the best CS:GO IEM Cologne 2023 predictions based on the latest IEM Cologne 2023 odds ahead of the event’s first match.
The current CS:GO season has to be one of the most competitive in recent memory, with a handful of teams all entering IEM Cologne 2023 as genuine threats to win the title. Just look at the past eight S-Tier events in the sport – there have been five different winners! Heroic are the most recent team to grab some momentum, but FaZe will be eager to defend their title and grab another big win in 2023. Who will come out on top? Read on for our 2023 CS:GO IEM Cologne predictions.
| Tournament: | 2023 Intel Extreme Masters Cologne, Esports (CS:GO) |
| 🧾 Format: | CS:GO Offline S-tier tournament with 24 teams and three stages |
| 🏟️ Venue: | LANXESS Arena, Cologne, Germany |
| 🗓️ Dates: | Wednesday 26 July to Sunday 6 August |
Before we give our 2023 IEM Cologne CS:GO betting tips, here’s a look at the IEM Cologne 2023 odds from the top esports bookmakers:
Looking at these online esports odds, it’s clear the IEM Cologne 2023 will be a tight race. Team Vitality have their noses in front at 4.00 (3/1), but Heroic aren’t far behind on 4.50 (7/2). A tight race also exists at third and fourth, with FaZe Clan on 5.50 (9/2) and G2 Esports at 6.00 (5/1). Cloud9 rounds out the top five betting favorites with odds of 8.00 (7/1) to win the IEM Cologne 2023.
This will be the third consecutive time the IEM Cologne has been played, with both editions occurring post-pandemic as LAN events. With $1,000,000 in total prize money and $400,000 going to the winner alongside 3,000 BLAST Premier points, there’s plenty on the line here in Cologne.
This tournament will consist of 24 different teams and three distinct phases.
16 teams will compete in the first phase, known as the Play-In Stage. This will be a double elimination bracket, with best-of-one matches in the opening round and best of three for all following matches. The top eight teams will move through to the next stage, while eight will be eliminated.
Here’s how the path of those teams will go in the Play-In Stage:
Next, the Group Stage occurs, which consists of eight teams that have automatically qualified due to their results this season, plus the top eight from the Play-In Stage. These teams will be split into two groups, where they compete in the Upper and Lower brackets, with all the matches being Bo3. The winner of the upper bracket goes directly to the semifinals, while the loser goes to the quarterfinal. The winner of the lower bracket will join the playoffs also from the quarterfinals stage, facing the loser of the upper bracket of the opposite group.
Here’s a look at who’s directly qualified for the Group Stage of the IEM Cologne 2023 and what groups they’ll be competing in:
| Group A | Group B |
| Heroic | Team Vitality |
| GamerLegion | Natus Vincere |
| Cloud9 | G2 Esports |
| ENCE | FaZe Clan |
Since there will be six teams in the playoffs, there will be two quarterfinals and two semifinals. The playoffs unfold in a single elimination bracket, with the best of three in the quarters and semis and the best of five in the Grand Final.
That is what the playoffs bracket looks like at the moment:
Whether it’s CS:GO high odds or conservative bets that you’re after, our 2023 IEM Cologne CS:GO betting tips have it all. Here are the top four wagers to make for those who want to bet on CS:GO IEM Cologne 2023:
1 (100%)
0
This is our safest and most conservative bet to make on the IEM Cologne 2023. Team Heroic have won the past two S-Tier events in the CS:GO calendar, winning the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 and also topping the most recent Fall Groups as well. Prior to this impressive run, they have made two other S-Tier finals, going deep at the IEM Rio 2023 and IEM Katowice 2023.
Given that Heroic have been present in 50% of the S-Tier finals this year and won their past two, backing them to be around in the final match of the IEM Cologne is a strong wager too.
0
(100%) 1
This bet is a little riskier but has a bigger reward. We say that despite only being the third favorite, FaZe Clan will rise to the top of a congested field and defend their IEM Cologne 2022 title next Sunday. The team has had a solid season so far, winning both the BLAST Premier: Spring and Fall Groups 2023 and coming top in ESL Pro League Season 17 too. They’ll need ‘karrigan’ and ‘rain’ to step up if they’re to overcome Heroic and Team Vitality in Cologne, but they’re our pick to do so.
0
(100%) 1
Fancy a bit of a long-shot bet? Sure, NAVI aren’t having their best ever season, but this is a stage on which Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev absolutely thrives. In fact, no other player has won the MVP award at the IEM Cologne 2023, with ‘s1mple’ taking the award for the past two years. As one of the most decorated esports athletes of all time, if NAVI are going to be competitive at this tournament, he’ll have to step up, and he showed he can during BLAST Fall Groups 2023.
While it’s not the most likely outcome, considering NAVI’s long odds of being in the tournament until the end, a return of 10.00 (9/1) for the 21-time MVP is too appealing to get away from for us. The main competitiveness should come from Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut from Team Vitality or someone from Heroic of FaZe squad, but picking the Ukraining at such odds looks worthy.
The Play-In stage is a warm-up for the main event, and this is our prediction on whom we see in the main group stage:
In this regard, that are our betting tips for play-in stage and its opening matchups:
1 (100%)
0
Team Liquid vs Astralis is one of the matches to watch in the Play-In Stage at the IEM Cologne 2023. Both teams are evenly matched, hence the reasonably high return odds for this early stage of the tournament. We give Astralis the edge here, and they should take a tight victory over Team Liquid in the similar manner they did in the fresh-memory BLAST Fall Groups 2023.
1 (100%)
0
The clash between the Paris Major semifinalists, Apeks, and the team that was far from passi the Legends Stage, BIG, looks like an obvious matchup. However, Berlin International Gaming made reshafles and warmed up against teams like NAVI, Astralis, and Vitality at the BLAST Fall Groups. Apeks, instead, lost their key player ‘jL’ and played their last official game month and half ago. Of course, the ball is on the Apeks’s side, but chances that BIG will stole the victory in the opening matchup looks pretty attractive.
It’s LAN time in Cologne, as the best 24 teams in CS:GO head to Germany for 10 days of action this week. There are plenty of viable candidates to win the IME Cologne 2023, but we say it will be FaZe Clan beating Heroic in the final next Sunday for a healthy return of 5.50 (9/2) for those who get their bets in on time. For a faster return from Esports betting tips, we recommend to pay attention at the Astralis vs Team Liquid and BIG vs Apeks matchups, where odds are pretty attractive.
