Pick’Em Challenge IEM Cologne Major 2026 Stage 1 – How to Get the Diamond Medal? A Look at the Most Popular Picks.
The legendary Cologne tournament is less than a week away, and this time Valve have given us plenty of time to lock in our Pick’Em Challenge selections. While the way you earn cosmetics (team stickers and player autographs) has changed significantly with the introduction of the Major Shop replacing the old capsule system, Pick’Em itself remains untouched. The one key difference — correct predictions now reward you with tokens instead of a coin for a souvenir package. Those tokens can be spent on stickers in the Major Shop or used to craft your own souvenir item.
Stage 1 of Pick’Em is usually the most nerve-wracking and the most punishing. For one, it determines whether you stay in contention for the diamond medal at all. On top of that, Stage 1 features a fair number of teams that have barely been seen at Tier 1 events, and how they’ll handle that environment is anyone’s guess.
To make your decision a little easier, we’re sharing not just our own picks but also those from around the community. Let’s get into it.
SIH's Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, MIBR
- 3:1, 3:2 – BetBoom Team, B8, TYLOO, BIG, Liquid, M80
- 0:3 – FlyQuest, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
Before we break down our picks, there’s something worth keeping in mind: Valve have overhauled the sticker revenue model this year. Teams no longer earn the same cut just by showing up — their share of the total pot now scales with how far they go at the event. That means every match matters financially, and you can forget about seeing teams coast through the Swiss stage once they’ve secured their spot.
Starting with the 3:0 picks, we built these around recent Tier 1 results. GamerLegion were outstanding at IEM Atlanta 2026, finishing second and putting up genuinely impressive CS along the way. Snax is in the middle of yet another prime, hypex has grown into a reliable AWPer, and the core trio of REZ, PR, and Tauson keep trading off big performances in a way that makes the whole team hard to read. MIBR, meanwhile, had a strong run at CAC 2026, reaching the semifinals before falling to eventual champions Legacy. Crucially, both teams also drew some of the weakest first-round opponents in the field — and in a BO1 format, that kind of bracket luck matters a lot.
That’s exactly why BIG didn’t make our 3:0 list — they open against Liquid, who are more than capable of showing up for a single map. As for BetBoom, the absence of FL4MUS is a real concern. We consider him one of their most important players recently, and d1Ledez hasn’t had competitive LAN experience in quite some time.
On the elimination side, both Oceanic teams look like the weakest in the stage to us. The Australian scene hasn’t been producing results, and splitting into two separate rosters seems more likely to hurt than help. If anything, they’ve made it easier for us to feel confident about at least one 0:3 call.
ash's Pick'Em
- 3:0 – B8, MIBR
- 3:1, 3:2 – BetBoom Team, GamerLegion, HEROIC, BIG, Gaimin Gladiators, M80
- 0:3– Lynn Vision, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
Now for the former GamerLegion coach – who, perhaps surprisingly, left his old team out of the 3:0 bracket entirely and went with B8 instead. The Ukrainian squad does show up to Tier 1 events fairly regularly and can look competitive, but consistency has never been their strong suit, which is a real liability in BO1s. What surprised us more, though, is the Gaimin Gladiators pick. They’re the second-lowest ranked team at the event according to HLTV — but it looks like the seasoned ash is banking on a dark horse run. And honestly, what’s a Major without at least one upset?
Thorin's Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, BetBoom Team
- 3:1, 3:2 – MIBR, B8, TYLOO, BIG, HEROIC, M80
- 0:3 – Sharks, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
Thorin usually brings a contrarian angle to pro scene takes, but his picks here don’t stray too far from the consensus — though as you’ll notice, we don’t agree with him in a few spots. The one place he does stand out is the 0:3 bracket, where he’s gone with Sharks. That’s not an unreasonable call — the Brazilian side doesn’t look like a team with multiple wins in them, and when we ran through potential bracket scenarios, they ended up in a 0:2 situation facing THUNDER dOWNUNDER in the elimination match, which we gave to the Brazilians.
STYKO's Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, BIG
- 3:1, 3:2 – BetBoom Team, B8, SINNERS, MIBR, HEROIC, M80
- 0:3 – FlyQuest, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
The former pro and current analyst is clearly banking on the home crowd effect with BIG at 3:0, and honestly, we’re not sure what to make of that level of confidence. The team hasn’t played official matches since April, and their recent form was nothing to get excited about. Yes, everyone remembers the win over FaZe that knocked karrigan’s squad out of Major contention — but the losses that followed, against Nemesis, HEROIC, NIP, and Nemiga, make a 3:0 prediction hard to justify.
STYKO is also one of the few people backing SINNERS to advance, which isn’t completely without logic – but their showing at IEM Atlanta 2026 left a lot to be desired.
NiKo's Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, BIG
- 3:1, 3:2 – BetBoom Team, B8, TYLOO, MIBR, Liquid, HEROIC
- 0:3 – Gaimin Gladiators, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
Moving from former pros to current ones: Nikola Kovač joined the diamond medal race on a recent stream from a Chinese platform. We’ve already covered the BIG pick, but TYLOO is worth discussing. A lot of people aren’t buying them, but their performance at CS Asia Championship 2026 was genuinely impressive. The Falcons star watched them beat MOUZ with his own eyes and saw two extremely tight BO3s against Legacy and paiN — and it sounds like he came away believing.
chopper's Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, B8
- 3:1, 3:2 – BetBoom Team, MIBR, HEROIC, BIG, Liquid, M80
- 0:3 – Gaimin Gladiators, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
The former Team Spirit captain agrees with Kovač on the 0:3 side, sending out Gaimin Gladiators. Given their seeding, it’s far from the worst call — but we’ve stuck with both Oceanic teams in that bracket ourselves. One pick we do want to highlight is M80, who appear in our advancement picks as well. Again, CAC 2026 is the reference point: they pushed Falcons to the brink in two maps (15:19, 11:13) and took a map off MOUZ. Results like that suggest they’re capable of handling the weaker opposition they’ll face in Stage 1.
Banks' Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, BetBoom Team
- 3:1, 3:2 – MIBR, B8, TYLOO, BIG, Liquid, HEROIC
- 0:3 – NRG, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
The British host and biggest showman of recent years has so little faith in the North American region that he not only left M80 out entirely but threw NRG straight into the 0:3 bracket. It’s not an outrageous take, but in our bracket simulations NRG were matched up against opponents that seemed very manageable for them.
We also want to talk about HEROIC — they don’t appear in our Pick’Em, but they show up in most other people’s. Two things bother us about this team: the lack of a dedicated AWPer (yxngstxr handles it well enough, but it’s not the same), and a persistent mental fragility. They consistently underperform in the Swiss format, and even when they start well, they tend to collapse when it matters most. We’ve seen it too many times to think a Major is suddenly where that changes.
launders' Pick'Em
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, B8
- 3:1, 3:2 – BetBoom Team, MIBR, HEROIC, BIG, Liquid, M80
- 0:3 – FlyQuest, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
Finally, a word on Liquid — a team that has been genuinely dreadful lately, and backing them feels almost irresponsible. And yet, as you can see, they appear in the 3:1/3:2 bracket across almost everyone’s picks, including ours. The frustrating part is that it’s hard to explain why. The individual talent is there, though, and on paper that class should be enough to scrape together three wins in Stage 1.
Most Popular Picks - Community Breakdown
Based on publicly available data, the most common Pick’Em among players looks like this:
- 3:0 – GamerLegion, BetBoom Team
- 3:1, 3:2 – B8, MIBR, HEROIC, BIG, Liquid, M80
- 0:3 – Gaimin Gladiators, THUNDER dOWNUNDER
It’s a reasonable set of picks, and we’ve already given our take on where we agree and where we don’t. One thing worth keeping in mind: Majors almost always produce surprises – but Stage 1 this year doesn’t exactly have the kind of talent gap that leads to jaw-dropping results. This time around, we decided to tune out the “chaos factor” entirely, since there are simply too many ways it could go wrong. Even a GamerLegion elimination wouldn’t genuinely shock us, because there’s no massive skill gulf separating these teams. That’s precisely what makes Stage 1 picks the most dangerous ones of the whole tournament.
Author: Alex
Alex is an author and esports observer with more than seven years of experience. He specializes in analyzing new releases in the world of computer games, gaming services, and in-game economies. Alex shares practical experience and an expert perspective on the development of gaming, helping readers understand complex mechanics and stay up to date with the latest news.
