Imperial sends the Aussies packing

After facing initial losses in their Best-of-one openers, Imperial found themselves facing Grayhound in the lower bracket of the IEM Cologne Play-in.
With Grayhound picking Inferno and Imperial picking Mirage, Nuke was locked in as the third map.

Grayhound kicked off their own map pick Inferno in prime fashion, able to secure the first three rounds without breaking a sweat. While Imperial was able to pressurize Banana and came ahead in the engagements, securing the two buy rounds comfortably, they fell to the 4 glocks and a saved AK of aliStair. Nevertheless, this unexpected setback didn't deter Imperial, as they continued their dominant fashion in the buy rounds, taking the lead and then extending it to 10-4. In the final round, Vexite carried across Grayhound as he got a triple entry in Banana.

With the tall order of CT ahead of them, Grayhound faltered in pressure as they conceded the first three rounds without putting up much resistance. It was a captain's knock from VINI, as his 1.73 rated performance propelled Imperial to a flawless T-side, closing the game 16-5.

With eliminations on the line, the Aussies started their CT campaign on MIrage with a pistol win, recovering from a 4v5 deficit. As the rest of the half unfolded, both teams struggled to gain a sustained advantage or establish a consistent momentum. The match remained highly contested with neither side able to dominate the other. Nevertheless, Imperial's lackluster flair in their T attacks and their disjointed approach proved costly, and Grayhound capitalized on these shortcomings. As the back-and-forth affair settled, Grayhound concluded the half with a solid defensive showing, securing 9 rounds.

The high-intensity battle persisted in the first four rounds, with both teams trading blows and toppling each other with force buys. Imperial was the first team to find their footing, as they rallied to a 4-round streak to level the score 11-11. Imperial then tried to throw some aggression on Mid, but instead ended up giving two openers, and ultimately the round. The nail-biting tension continued to grip the match as VINI and HEN1 shouldered the responsibility to level the score by recovering from a 2v5. However, as the game headed to the endgame, Grayhound managed to find the edge, closing the map 16-14

After letting Mirage slip away in the final moments, Imperial made sure they started the CT side of Nuke on the right foot. After collecting the pistol, they embarked on an impressive streak of eight consecutive rounds, with Grayhound not even being close to contention in any of the rounds. However, the Aussies managed to make work with some desert eagles and an AWP to get on the board in the 10th round, but Imperial dashed any comeback hopes, giving away only one round to end the half with a commendable 13-2 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Grayhound, as, despite winning the pistol, they lost to the force buy of Imperial. In dire straits, Grayhound turned their heads with desert eagles, securing their 4th with 3 impressive headshots from the hand cannon. They started weaving their comeback, as they strung 4 rounds in a row, but Imperial ultimately sealed the game with an authoritative 16-8 triumph.

IEM Cologne 2023 Play-in

Bo3

Imperial

2 - 1

Grayhound

All maps

Imperial	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Henrique 'HEN1' Teles	59 - 36	+23	85.9	82.7%	1.35
Ricardo 'boltz' Prass	60 - 42	+18	90.5	77.3%	1.28
Jhonatan 'JOTA' Willian	56 - 42	+14	82.0	80.0%	1.27
Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo	57 - 45	+12	77.7	76.0%	1.20
João 'felps' Vasconcellos	49 - 44	+5	68.0	72.0%	1.07

Grayhound	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Alistair 'aliStair' Johnston	52 - 49	+3	67.0	60.0%	1.02
Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas	45 - 59	-14	81.4	62.7%	0.96
Joshua 'INS' Potter	43 - 54	-11	61.4	57.3%	0.79
Declan 'Vexite' Portelli	35 - 64	-29	63.1	57.3%	0.71
Simon 'Sico' Williams	31 - 55	-24	48.0	57.3%	0.64