Overview
- FURIA beat Aurora in the semifinals on Saturday, June 20, to secure a place in the IEM Cologne Major grand final at LANXESS Arena.
- The opposite side of the bracket now produces the other finalist from Team Spirit and Team Vitality after Team Spirit eliminated G2 in an overtime quarterfinal.
- ESL and Valve ran Stage 3 as best‑of‑three matches with a best‑of‑five grand final to reduce single‑map variance and reward deeper rosters.
- Organizers returned to established commercial partners as no visible cryptocurrency or Web3 sponsorships appeared at the sold‑out event, a change traced to past crypto collapses and tighter regulation.
- Off‑platform prediction markets and traditional bookmakers reacted fast to match results, with FURIA’s probability to reach the final rising from lower levels to about 96% after the semifinal win.