ESL One Cologne viewer's guide

With ESL One Cologne just around the corner, we have prepared a viewer's guide which contains all the information you need to keep up with the Major, including the group draw, the schedule and the talent lineup.

Running from Tuesday to Sunday at the LANXESS Arena, ESL One Cologne - the second Major of the year - will see 16 of the world's top teams face off for their share of a $1 million prize purse.

The group stage, featuring a best-of-one format in the first three matches and then a best-of-three format in the decider clashes, will be played behind closed doors.

 CS:GO Major returns to LANXESS Arena - now with $1 million on offer

The top two teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination, best-of-three playoffs, which will be played in front of a live crowd at the sold-out indoor arena.

Below are the groups for the Major:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Astralis	Natus Vincere	Liquid	SK
CLG	Ninjas in Pyjamas	Virtus.pro	fnatic
Gambit	OpTic	MOUZ	FaZe
Dignitas	FlipSid3	Envy	G2

The complete tournament schedule looks as follows:

Tuesday, July 5
11:00	Astralis	vs.	Dignitas
12:15	Gambit	vs.	CLG
13:30	Natus Vincere	vs.	FlipSid3
14:45	OpTic	vs.	Ninjas in Pyjamas
16:00	Liquid	vs.	Envy
17:15	MOUZ	vs.	Virtus.pro
18:45	SK	vs.	G2
20:00	fnatic	vs.	FaZe
Wednesday, July 6
11:00	Group A - Winners' Match
12:15	Group A - Elimination Match
13:30	Group B - Winners' Match
14:45	Group B - Elimination Match
16:00	Group C - Winners' Match
17:15	Group C - Elimination Match
18:45	Group D - Winners' Match
20:00	Group D - Elimination Match
Thursday, July 7
11:00	Group A - Decider Match
14:30	Group B - Decider Match
18:15	Group C - Decider Match
22:00	Group D - Decider Match
Friday, July 8
10:00	Quarter-final #1
13:45	Quarter-final #2
17:45	Quarter-final #3
21:45	Quarter-final #4
Saturday, July 9
15:00	Semi-final #1
18:45	Semi-final #2
Sunday, July 10
15:00	Showmatch
17:00	Grand final

Like at MLG Columbus, the $1 million prize pool will be distributed between the participating teams as follows:

1. $500,000
2. $150,000
3-4. $70,000
5-8. $35,000
9-12. $8,750
13-16. $8,750

Taking viewers through all the action over the course of this six-day event will be a 14-person panel led by stage host Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner and that includes Duncan "Thorin" Shields, who returns to casting duties with ESL after a prolonged absence.

Below you can find the full talent lineup for the Major:

Stage Host

Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner 

Roaming Host

 Mitch "UberShouts" Leslie

Analyst desk

 Alex "Machine" Richardson
 Duncan "Thorin" Shields
 Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović
 Jason "⁠moses⁠" O'Toole 

Commentators

 Anders Blume
 Auguste "Semmler" Massonat
 Henry "⁠HenryG⁠" Greer
 Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett
 Daniel "⁠ddk⁠" Kapadia
 James "⁠BARDOLPH⁠" Bardolph
 Lauren "Pansy" Scott
 John "BLU" Mullen

Make sure to give our previews a read, as we have prepared one for each group during this past week:

Group A preview by Michal "stich" Malachowski
Group B preview by Milan "Striker" Švejda
Group C preview by Michal "stich" Malachowski
Group D preview by Milan "Striker" Švejda 

We have also released interviews with players from some of the teams who will be in attendance at ESL One Cologne. Check them out below if you missed any:

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev: "We'll do everything we can"
Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo: "Have to beat them all"
Jacob "⁠pyth⁠" Mourujärvi: "We will definitely recover"
Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke: "Main goal is top eight"
Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele: "Focus on getting out of groups"

G2 #2 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyEdouard 'SmithZz' DubourdeauxAdil 'ScreaM' BenrlitomAlexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro Ninjas in Pyjamas #5 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundRichard 'Xizt' LandströmAdam 'friberg' FribergJacob 'pyth' Mourujärvi Damian 'daps' Steele Age: 22 Team: OpTic Rating 1.0: 0.91 Maps played: 271 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.68 FaZe #16 Ricardo 'fox' PachecoFabien 'kioShiMa' FieyPhilip 'aizy' AistrupHåvard 'rain' NygaardJoakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Natus Vincere #3 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsDenis 'seized' KostinEgor 'flamie' Vasilyev OpTic #17 William 'RUSH' WierzbaOscar 'mixwell' CañellasPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzKeith 'NAF' MarkovicDamian 'daps' Steele CLG #22 Faruk 'pita' PitaStephen 'reltuC' CutlerJames 'hazed' CobbTarik 'tarik' CelikKenneth 'koosta' Suen James 'BARDOLPH' Bardolph Age: 32 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.52 Maps played: 7 KPR: 0.33 DPR: 0.74 Daniel 'ddk' Kapadia Age: - Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.76 Maps played: 2 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.90 Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvi Age: 22 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 425 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.68 Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo Age: 25 Team: SK Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 342 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.60 SK #1 Lincoln 'fnx' LauGabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de Melo Liquid #10 Spencer 'Hiko' MartinNick 'nitr0' CannellaOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievJosh 'jdm64' MarzanoJonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Gambit #20 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevDmitry 'hooch' BogdanovMihail 'Dosia' StolyarovRustem 'mou' TelepovIvan 'spaze' Obrezhan MOUZ #13 Chris 'chrisJ' de JongNikola 'NiKo' KovačJohannes 'nex' MagetTimo 'Spiidi' RichterDenis 'denis' Howell Janko 'YNk' Paunović Age: 23 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 96 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.71 Jason 'moses' O'Toole Age: 29 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 13 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.68 Envy #9 Kenny 'kennyS' SchrubNathan 'NBK-' SchmittDan 'apEX' MadesclaireVincent 'Happy' SchopenhauerTimothée 'DEVIL' Démolon Henry 'HenryG' Greer Age: 27 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.68 Maps played: 1 KPR: 0.48 DPR: 0.78 Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke Age: 19 Team: Dignitas Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 308 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.69 FlipSid3 #21 Yegor 'markeloff' MarkelovAndrey 'B1ad3' GorodenskiyOleksandr 'Shara' HordieyevGeorgi 'WorldEdit' YaskinJan 'wayLander' Rahkonen Dignitas #15 Ruben 'RUBINO' VillarroelRené 'cajunb' BorgJesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannMathias 'MSL' LauridsenKristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke fnatic #4 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerDennis 'dennis' EdmanRobin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson Virtus.pro #7 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasFilip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiJanusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiPaweł 'byali' Bieliński Astralis #6 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenAndreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenNicolai 'device' ReedtzLukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 18 Team: LiquidB Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 431 KPR: 0.84 DPR: 0.71