Cologne's Asian curse

After a promising run in the IEM Cologne 2024 Play-In and shocking Spirit in their Group Stage opener, it looked like The MongolZ would be breaking the IEM Cologne curse as bLitz and co. were set to become the first Asian team to head to the Playoffs.

Two heartbreaking losses followed, which means that we will have to wait for another year to see an Asian team at the LANXESS arena.

The Colgone event is one of Counter-Strike's most iconic tournaments, also having served as Majors previously. ESL One Cologne 2014 till date remains the only event where there was an Indian team taking part, as Team Wolves finished 13-16th at the third Counter-Strike Global Offensive Major. Australian team Vox Eminor were also present and finished 13-16th as well.

ESL One Cologne 2015 did not have any Asian team at the event, although there were two Australian teams in Renegades and Immunity. Renegades, who boasted the likes of SPUNJ, jks and AZR, finished in the 9-12th bracket, missing out on Playoffs, while Immunity with Rickeh, USTILO and emagine, finished 13-16th.

ESL One Cologne 2016, which saw SK Gaming win their first Major, had no Asian team make it to the main event. ESL One Cologne 2017, which had SK triumph again, had two teams from Asia participate as XANTARES and MAJ3R's Space Soldiers started the event with a 16-14 win over the eventual champions SK while BnTeT and co.'s TYLOO took part as well. Space Soldiers ended up at 12-14th, not being able to capitalise on their opening game win while TYLOO left the event without a single win.

ESL One Cologne 2018 saw jks, AZR and USTILO's Renegades finish 9-12th, representing the Oceania region while HObbit, AdreN's Kazak-core Gambit finished 13-16th, although they played in the European qualifier.

ESL One Cologne 2019, which saw the rise of ZywOo, had South Korea's MVP PK boasting of XigN, zeff and xeta represent the Asian region, although the Korean team couldn't do much, finishing 13-16th after going down to Liquid and MOUZ. jks' Renegades were also at the event, being the sole representatives of the Oceania region but they finished in the 13-16th bracket as well, suffering losses to FaZe and FURIA.

ESL One Cologne 2020 Europe, during the COVID-pandemic was held online with European teams only, as HEROIC triumphed over Vitality in the Final with ZywOo having a stellar tournament once again.

IEM Cologne 2021, saw the tournament recent to a LAN stage but there was no representatives from the Asian region. INS, aliStair, Sico were in attendance as Renegades were the sole representatives from Oceania once again, although they finished 13-16th once again, as s1mple powered Natus Vincere to a title.

IEM Cologne 2022, which had karrigan pick up his Cologne trophy, had no teams in the main event from Asia or the Oceania region. The MongolZ made their Cologne debut at IEM Cologne 2023, but they failed to make it to the Playoffs, finishing 13-16th after suffering losses to HEROIC and GamerLegion.

IEM Cologne 2024 looked set to break the long drought for Asian teams at the LANXESS arena, but The MongolZ fumble in the Play-In stage meant they went home in the 9-12th place.