Now that all 16 participating teams are confirmed for ESL One Cologne from July 4th to 9th, it’s time for us to unveil the tournament format, as well the day-by-day schedule for the event.

For this, we asked every team to provide us with feedback regarding the group stage format and we made our final decision based on the result of the player’s votes, which are as follows:

• 10 votes for the Swiss system
• 6 votes for Double Elimination Groups

Tournament Format

The results of the vote leave us with the following tournament format.

Group Stage (July 4th - July 6th)

• Swiss Format - Bo1
• Top Eight teams advance to Playoffs
• Seeding and Match-ups of first round to be announced next week

Playoffs (July 7th - July 9th)

• Single Elimination Bracket
• Quarterfinals and Semifinals - Bo3
• Grand Finals - Bo5

Schedule

Now that the group stage format is decided, we can also release schedule for the entire tournament. Keep in mind, all times listed below are in CEST.

Group Stage (Bo1)

Tuesday, July 4th

• 11:30 - 12:00: Pre-Show
• 12:00 Start time for first matches
• Follow up matches will be played back-to-back
• 16 matches in total, two simultaneous matches at a time
• Match starts after the first depend on the previous matches

Wednesday, July 5th

• 11:30 - 12:00: Pre-Show
• 12:00 Start time for first match
• Follow up matches will be played back-to-back
• Eight matches in total
• Match starts after the first depend on the previous matches

Thursday, July 6th

• 11:30 - 12:00: Pre-Show
• 12:00 Start time for first match
• Follow up matches will be played back-to-back
• Nine matches in total
• Match starts after the first depend on the previous matches

Playoffs in Lanxess Arena

Friday, July 7th

• 8:00: Doors open
• 9:20 - 10:00: Pre-Show
• 10:00 - 13:15: Quarterfinal #1 (Bo3)
• 13:50 - 17:05: Quarterfinal #2 (Bo3)
• 17:40 - 20:55: Quarterfinal #3 (Bo3)
• 21:30 - 00:45: Quarterfinal #4 (Bo3)
• Match starts after the first depend on the previous matches

Saturday, July 8th

• 11:00 Doors open
• 15:25 - 16:00: Pre-Show
• 16:00 - 19:15: Semi final #1 (Bo3)
• 19:50 - 23:05: Semi final #2 (Bo3)
• Match starts after the first depend on the previous matches

Sunday, July 9th

• 12:00: Doors open
• 15:25 - 16:00: Pre-Show
• 16:00 Grand Finals (Bo5)

You can find the detailed match by match schedule right here!

Everything is set for the CS:GO tournament of the summer! Don’t miss out on any of the action and watch the pros from the front row by securing yourself a ticket today.

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