ESL One Cologne 2016 was the ninth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major and the second with a $1,000,000 prize pool. The Brazilian team that had won MLG Columbus 2016 as Luminosity Gaming arrived under the SK Gaming name and won again, beating Team Liquid 2-0 in the final. Liquid were the first North American team to reach a Major final. For collectors, this is the set where the champions' logo changed from Luminosity to SK.
The tournament
ESL ran the Major in Cologne, Germany, from July 5 to 10, 2016. HLTV reported that the group stage, July 5 to 7, was played behind closed doors, and that the playoffs from July 8 to 10 took place in front of a sold-out LANXESS Arena, the venue of the 2015 playoffs.
- Teams: the eight Legends from Columbus were invited. The eight Challengers came from a 16-team Swiss-format main qualifier.
- Group stage: four GSL groups of four. Every match was best-of-one except the best-of-three decider for the second playoff place.
- Playoffs: a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three series.
- Maps: Cache, Cobblestone, Dust II, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass and Train. Between the two Majors, Valve took Inferno out of the pool and brought back a rebuilt Nuke.
Of the $1,000,000 prize pool, SK took $500,000 and Liquid $150,000. Losing semifinalists received $70,000, quarterfinalists $35,000 and every other team $8,750.
From Luminosity to SK
Less than two weeks before the event, SK Gaming reached an agreement with Luminosity to take over the Brazilian roster from July 1. HLTV noted that the Cologne 2016 stickers already used the SK logo for the team, with no Luminosity sticker in the set.
| Player | Real name |
|---|---|
| FalleN | Gabriel Toledo |
| fer | Fernando Alvarenga |
| coldzera | Marcelo David |
| fnx | Lincoln Lau |
| TACO | Epitácio de Melo |
| zews (coach) | Wilton Prado |
SK won Group D by beating G2 Esports 16-11 and FaZe Clan 16-6. In the quarterfinals they beat FlipSid3 Tactics 2-0, 16-7 on Mirage and 19-17 in overtime on Nuke. The semifinal against Virtus.pro went the distance: SK lost Cobblestone 17-19 in overtime, then won Nuke 16-5 and Mirage 16-12.
Liquid's run
Team Liquid, with Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, lost Group C's winners' match to Virtus.pro but beat mousesports 2-0 in the decider. They then knocked out Natus Vincere 2-1 in the quarterfinals, losing Train 11-16 before winning Nuke 16-12 and Cobblestone 16-6. ESL wrote that the community gave Liquid less than a 20% chance against Fnatic in the semifinal, but they won 16-13 on both Cobblestone and Cache. That put the first North American team into a Major final, and, as ESL pointed out, made it the first Major final with no European team.
The final
The grand final was played on July 10:
| Map | SK Gaming | Team Liquid |
|---|---|---|
| Train | 16 | 7 |
| Cobblestone | 16 | 6 |
Train was level for a half, with SK ahead 8-7 at the switch. Liquid did not win another round, and SK took the map 16-7. On Cobblestone, Liquid won the pistol round and Josh "jdm64" Marzano later scored an AWP ace, but SK led 10-5 at the half and finished 16-6.
It was the roster's second Major in a row, matching Fnatic's back-to-back titles from 2015. HLTV awarded coldzera the MVP medal, which made him the first player to be named MVP at two consecutive Majors.
Other storylines
- Astralis' patched lineup. Astralis had swapped René "cajunb" Borg for Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye in May, but Kjaerbye had just played the European Minor with Team Dignitas. HLTV explained that the rules barred him from playing the Major for another team, so Astralis brought in Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander. Then Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen needed surgery for an appendix infection, and coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen played from July 7. Astralis lost both quarterfinal maps to Virtus.pro in overtime.
- New Legends. Gambit Gaming and FlipSid3 Tactics reached the quarterfinals and took the Legend spots of Ninjas in Pyjamas and Counter Logic Gaming.
- Ninjas in Pyjamas out. NiP went out in the group stage after reaching the playoffs at all eight previous Majors.
Stickers and autographs
Valve released the set on June 24, 2016, less than two weeks before the event. Its Pick'Em page said team and autograph stickers were on sale "with 50% of the proceeds going to players and organizations". Autographs were game pieces for the Fantasy Team Game and team stickers for Pick'Em, and stickers used in either game were locked for a time. Our guide to Major sticker capsules explains how the money was split.
| Item | What it held |
|---|---|
| Team stickers | Paper team logos, bought one at a time in the in-game store |
| Cologne 2016 Legends (Holo-Foil) | Holo and foil logos of the eight Legends plus holo and foil ESL stickers |
| Cologne 2016 Challengers (Holo-Foil) | Holo and foil logos of the eight Challengers plus holo and foil ESL stickers |
| 16 team autograph capsules | Paper autographs of one team's five players |
| Legends (Foil) and Challengers (Foil) autograph capsules | Foil autographs of the 40 Legends or 40 Challengers players |
Gold team logos and gold autographs exist only on Souvenirs.
The roster changes left marks on the set. The SK autograph capsule holds FalleN, fer, coldzera, TACO and fnx. Astralis' capsule contains device, dupreeh, Xyp9x, karrigan and gla1ve, but neither Kjaerbye nor zonic, so there is no Cologne 2016 autograph for either of them.
Souvenir packages
Viewers watching in-game or on Twitch could receive Souvenir packages for the seven maps in the pool. With Inferno gone, Cologne 2016 has a Nuke package instead, drawing from the original Nuke Collection. According to the Counter-Strike Wiki, each Souvenir carried a gold ESL sticker, gold logos of both teams and a gold autograph of the round MVP.
The final was played on Train and Cobblestone, so those two packages hold the final drops. The Cobblestone package, the seventh of the ten that could contain an AWP | Dragon Lore, is covered in our Dragon Lore history. Our souvenir packages guide explains the drop system.
The next Major moved to Atlanta, where Astralis finally had Kjaerbye available: see ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017.
Collecting Cologne 2016 items today
- Read the full name. Cologne hosted Majors in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2026. Note that the 2016 capsules and packages are named "Cologne 2016", without "ESL One".
- Know the finishes. Team logos come in paper, holo, foil and gold. Autographs come in paper, foil and gold, and gold only appears on Souvenirs.
- Don't look for a Luminosity sticker. The 2016 champions' Cologne stickers say SK Gaming. Luminosity Gaming logos exist from Cologne 2015, Cluj-Napoca 2015 and MLG Columbus 2016.
- Check Souvenir stickers. The gold stickers show the teams and round MVP, and scrape wear on them changes the look and appeal of the gun.
- Search by sticker. The sticker filter on Buy finds guns carrying a specific Cologne 2016 sticker.
Sources
- ESL One: Cologne 2016 — Liquipedia
- SK beat Liquid to win Cologne Major — HLTV.org
- Cologne 2016 – Champions — Counter-Strike blog (Valve)
- ESL Cologne 2016 stickers in update — HLTV.org
- ESL One Cologne 2016 Pick'Em Challenge — counter-strike.net (Valve)
- ESL One Cologne 2016 and the dawn of a new era — ESL
- Seven years of Cologne MVPs — HLTV.org
- Astralis to use gla1ve at major — HLTV.org
