IEM Cologne Major 2026 Pick’Em, Stage 3: The Easiest Call of the Whole Tournament?
The Major has finally reached its most exciting stage — the one where the strongest teams step in, the ones who had a little more time to prepare for the event. On top of that, for the first time every Swiss-stage round will be a Bo3, which means the teams that genuinely deserve it will be the ones moving on to the playoffs.
As for how Stage 2 wrapped up, there were no real surprises. The only team that flat-out disappointed was Astralis, but for the most part the squads that advanced were exactly the ones who were supposed to. Whether IEM Cologne finally serves up its first big upsets in Stage 3 — we’ll find out very soon. But the Pick’Em has to be locked in right now, so let’s get to it!
SIH's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Falcons, FURIA, G2, FUT, PARIVISION, NAVI
- 0-3 – B8, 9z
As we’ve said in previous predictions, using simulators to forecast the bracket is a thankless job. So once again, we’re focusing purely on the opening matches and building off their results. But the trouble starts right here: the matchups turned out surprisingly close, and calling the winners in most of them was extremely tough.
The biggest problem is that the teams’ form is a total unknown — most of them haven’t been on the server in over a month, and that fact alone is enough to drive you up the wall. That’s why we’d suggest making this Pick’Em on pure instinct and on what you saw in Stage 2, which we were watching just yesterday.
From the last stage, we saw that Spirit aren’t bothered in the slightest by the missing coach, donk is in absurd form, and he’s basically become the team’s good-luck charm. B8 barely scraped through, and the CS they’re putting out has dropped off noticeably since their 3-0 in Stage 1. 9z are simply the lucky ones — to reach the next stage they took down FlyQuest, Astralis and TYLOO, then managed just four rounds against Spirit. So putting them on 0-3 wasn’t a tough call for us.
As for who advances, almost nobody is questioning Vitality, Spirit, Falcons, FURIA and NAVI. The real headache is how to slot them in, which is exactly why we suggest trusting your gut. The one pick that actually needs explaining is PARIVISION. With Jame and company it’s pretty simple: sure, the guys are in a slump and nobody believes in them, but we know how this team can lock itself away at a bootcamp and patch everything up — so they could absolutely catch the whole field off guard.
PIMP's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Falcons, FURIA, The MongolZ, FUT, Legacy, NAVI
- 0-3 – PARIVISION, Aurora
PIMP, on the other hand, has zero faith in PARIVISION and Aurora, dropping both to 0-3. What’s the Dane’s grudge against teal-colored orgs? It’s a baffling pick, especially since their opening matches are against 9z and Monte — hardly the scariest opponents around. For us, it also doesn’t square with his The MongolZ pick: from the eye test, all three of those teams have looked like they’re on a downswing lately, and we just don’t see a solid reason to buy into the Mongols’ prep (with bLitz busy casting a chess tournament instead of playing CS).
fl0m's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Falcons
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Spirit, FURIA, 9z, FUT, The MongolZ, NAVI
- 0-3 – PARIVISION, B8
The former pro and current content creator stood out with his 3-0, slotting Falcons in over Spirit. To be fair, we don’t see anything reckless about it: the Falcons fairly often cruise through the group stage, and their opening match against G2 looks more winnable than NAVI does for Spirit. But there’s one thing that won’t let us rest — his 9z pick to reach the playoffs. Where’s that confidence coming from? Maybe fl0m is banking on a friendly bracket, but the catch is that there are basically no free wins at this stage, and the few soft spots that do exist are unlikely to make it to the decisive games for a quarterfinal slot.
Mauisnake's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Falcons, FURIA, MOUZ, FUT, Aurora, NAVI
- 0-3 – G2, Monte
So far the analyst’s Pick’Em just isn’t clicking — he hasn’t gotten through a single stage clean — but it tends to come together right when it stops mattering. His prediction reads as pretty experimental, and exhibit A is MOUZ. The guys have already announced roster moves, former captain Brollan is coming to the event as a player, and for the young xelex, Cologne will be his first Major. Sure, Mouz have always handled the group stage without much fuss, but the lineup is already mid-rebuild: they probably don’t believe in a title run of their own, and with a fresh roster to assemble over the summer, there isn’t exactly a ton of motivation left to push. You also can’t overlook the G2-on-0-3 pick — if there’s one thing these guys don’t deserve, it’s crashing out with a scoreline like that. In the elimination matches, their likely opponents would be the Stage 2 sides, next to whom the Samurai looked clearly sharper and more experienced.
n0rb3r7's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Falcons, FURIA, G2, FUT, BetBoom Team, NAVI
- 0-3 – B8, Monte
n0rb3r7, who’s following this Major from behind a screen, is in far better shape on his road to the diamond coin. He hasn’t slipped up once yet, and his Stage 3 pick looks pretty rock-solid too. The only surprise here is BetBoom Team, and it’s easy enough to explain. BoombI4 has already cleared two stages, so the bare-minimum goal is unquestionably in the bag. The guys have climbed into the top 15 of the VRS and can now play without any added pressure. Their individual skill is plenty high, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see an upset where a Stage 1 team – with a roster swap, no less – makes the playoffs.
Nade King's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – FURIA, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Vitality, G2, FUT, The MongolZ, NAVI, Falcons
- 0-3 – MOUZ, Monte
Last Pick’Em we turned to NartOutHere, and his predictions came up well short, so let’s see how his colleague Nade King fares. And there’s plenty worth a look. First up is the FURIA-to-3-0 pick, which makes a lot of sense. They’ve drawn one of the weakest first-round opponents in B8, so the chance they open with a loss is far lower than for everyone else. And we’ve already touched on Mouz’s current state — in a spot like that, a team really can just fail to show up at a tournament and head off to build a new roster ahead of time.
FL4MUS's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – BetBoom Team, FURIA, MOUZ, The MongolZ, NAVI, Falcons
- 0-3 – Monte, 9z
We’d almost forgotten the tradition of peeking at the Pick’Ems of players actually competing at the Major. Time to fix that and check in on one of the brightest stars who, frankly, shouldn’t even be at this event. Timur believes in his own run, but he’s also backed The MongolZ and MOUZ. Maybe they’ve already scrimmed against these teams and he’s got some read on their form. But a scrim is one thing — stepping up for an official match is another entirely.
Thorin's Pick'Em
- 3-0 – Vitality, Spirit
- 3-1 / 3-2 – Aurora, FURIA, Legacy, FUT, NAVI, Falcons
- 0-3 – Monte, 9z
Thorin is also running clean at IEM Cologne, but this time his reasoning has led him to some pretty unconventional conclusions. We’re talking, of course, about Legacy and Aurora cracking the top 8. Legacy have clearly found their rhythm: despite a relatively shaky start in Stage 2, they closed it out fairly confidently. Is that enough to advance? Thorin thinks so. As for the Turkish lineup, their main weapon and the reason for their success used to be Anubis, but over the past three months the guys have slid to a 40% win rate on that map. And, honestly, we doubt they’ll find a new key to beating the top teams and make the Major’s top 8.
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.
