After a gruesome CS:GO series between G2 Esports and ENCE at the Lanxess Arena, G2 Esports won Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023. G2 Esports defeated ENCE with a scoreline of 3-1 to crown themselves as the champions of IEM Cologne 2023. With a mammoth prize pool of $1,000,000, G2 Esports took home the lion's share, totaling $400,000.
Additionally, G2 Esports booked a slot in IEM Katowice 2024 while ENCE could only grab a $180,000 cash prize as the runners-up.
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G2 Takes Down ENCE in the Grand Finals of IEM Cologne 2023 With a 3-1 Scoreline
On 06 August 2023, G2 Esports met ENCE at the Lanxess Arena for the final battle of IEM Cologne 2023. After remaining undefeated throughout the tournament, both teams entered the grand finals with their eyes on the magnificent trophy.
The game was a best-of-five matchup starting with G2 Esports decimating ENCE on the map of Nuke with a 16-4 scoreline. After the first map, G2 looked unstoppable as they entered the second map of Mirage. G2 Esports consolidated their lead by winning the map with a 16-10 scoreline.
After trailing with 0-2 map points, ENCE had to win the following three maps to reverse sweep the series. Anubis was the third map, and after a tough battle on both halves, ENCE went on to win the third map with a 16-13 scoreline. With the third map in the bag ENCE had to win the fourth map of Ancient, to tie the series.
Unwilling to go the distance in the series, G2 lifted the trophy after winning the fourth map with a 16-9 scoreline. With that, G2 Esports won the Grand Finals of IEM Cologne 2023 and were crowned champions.
G2's Nikola "NiKo" Kovač was named the MVP of the CS:GO tournament. In the post-match interview, NiKo said:
This trophy definitely makes my career look a bit better, even though there is no Major; at least now there's Cologne.