G2 secure a $400,000 prize and the trophy of IEM Cologne 2023 by defeating ENCE in a 3-1 domination
The final edition of the tournament in CSGO, IEM Cologne 2023, has concluded with G2 winning the Grand Final Bo5 against ENCE. With this victory, G2 are the winners of the last IEM event of the Global Offensive era, writing down their name in Counter-Strike history. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov enjoyed an incredible series in the Grand Final, with HLTV ratings of 1.49 and 1.42, respectively.
Credit: nerdstreet
“This is the biggest trophy of my career.”@OJBorg got @G2NiKo‘s reaction to winning #IEM Cologne 2023 and the Katowice & Cologne DOUBLE 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/7D7iAppnQG
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 6, 2023
Map 1 of the Grand Final started on Nuke, where G2 already proved to be a much stronger contender with a 16-4 victory, thanks to NiKo’s incredible start with a 22-8 K-D. The first half of map 2 was looking much closer, with ENCE trying to pick up their form. However, NiKo’s squad enjoyed a stronger CT side, winning Mirage with a 16-10 scoreline. The young Russian m0NESY was the hero of the second map, as he secured a 1.60 rating through a K-D of 27-16.
THIS KID GREW UP ON MIRAGE @G2m0nesy 🎯#IEM pic.twitter.com/YT3Cc2s7JJ
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 6, 2023
Going into the third map, ENCE finally started to look dominant with a 10-5 T side in their favor. Anubis was the playground for Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer for the Finnish squad, but NiKo from the other side was still on top of the leaderboard with a 1.33 rating.
Crisis averted. @ENCE#IEM pic.twitter.com/x34mYDszhd
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 6, 2023
Ancient was the fourth and final map of the Bo5, where G2 started out hot with a strong T side, ending it with even stronger CT holds. m0NESY once again secured the best statistics with a 1.72 rating, exciting the crowd with 29 frags on the map.
THE MOMENT @G2esports BECAME THE FINAL #IEM COLOGNE CS:GO CHAMPIONS 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/svtuNdpeKK
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 6, 2023
G2 Prove Dominance with Undefeated IEM Cologne 2023 Journey
G2 didn’t lose a single series at IEM Cologne, guaranteeing victories in all of their Group Stage matches. During this dominant journey, the roster defeated some of the strongest names of this year, including FaZe and Paris Major winner Vitality.
This trophy is also G2’s second IEM victory this year after Katowice 2023. Along with the $400,000 prize, the team has also confirmed qualification for next year’s IEM Katowice.
