Team Vitality beat Team Navi in overtime at IEM Cologne 2024.
Team Vitality beat Team Navi in overtime at IEM Cologne 2024.
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How Intel Extreme Master Cologne became the Cathedral of Counter-Strike

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 9 min

Intel Extreme Master Cologne drew a record 39,000 people to watch six of the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 players square off over a $1 million prize pool.

That record was set as the weekend event hit a thrilling conclusion as Team Vitality emerged as Champions in the Grand Final, narrowly beating Navi in overtime with a score of 16 to 14. It was the first time I was able to watch the event in person, and I interviewed Michal Blicharz, one of the original creators of the event, which is known as the Cathedral of Counter-Strike.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.