Securing 1st place in their respective groups gave both Navi and FaZe a ticket to the semi-finals. Pinnacle favors Navi to win the entire event at 2.06 as their dominance continues. They also currently hold the HLTV #1 ranking.
Meanwhile, the star-studded FaZe clan is in a bit of a slump losing the #1 rank to Navi coming into the IEM playoffs. Winning the previous IEM in Katowice should certainly boost their confidence however. Pinnacle has them winning at 2.87 odds. 
Navi’s star awper S1mple is the highest-rated player in this event at 1.37, which is no surprise given his status as the reigning number 1 player. This is also the first ESL event as an igl for electroNic who proved lethal as a fragging igl posting a 1.16 rating despite calling the shots for the team. Stand-in sdy looks to become a permanent member of the team with his second event in the roster and showing impact.
Meanwhile, FaZe Clan’s Twistzz is gunning for his first MVP event being the highest-rated player on his team at 1.21 and a +19 K/D. Outside of their igl Karrigan, only Twistzz is yet to win one in the three tournament victories FaZe has achieved this year with rain, ropz, and broky each getting their MVP awards.
An unexpected turn of events saw all four other playoff teams for IEM Cologne coming outside HLTV’s top 10 ranking with Astralis sitting at #11, Movistar Riders and Mouz at #13 and #14 respectively, and North America’s sole representative Team Liquid at #17.
CS:GO’S household name Astralis will face off against Mouz in the quarterfinals. It seems like Astralis are finally finding their stride with star riflers BlameF and k0nfig looking good. BlameF is just behind S1mple in this tournament’s ratings at 1.32. Mouz’s core of frozen, bymas, and igl dexter is gunning for their first major event win after a year of playing together. Academy standouts torzsi and JDC have certainly been positive additions in their current run.
Team Liquid’s stand-in, explosive entry fragger YEKINDAR, showed quick results giving TL their first playoff appearance since ESL Pro League Season 15 in his first event playing with the team. Their first playoff test will be against Spain’s Movistar Riders who are proven underdogs and can certainly surprise any team with their unpredictable game-play.
Will the dominance of FaZe and Navi continue or will the Cinderella run of one of the four teams outside of HLTV’s top 10 reach the summit in Cologne?
