It’s time to lock in those Stage 1 pick’ems for the IEM Cologne Major, and this one is sneakily easy to pick.
Best-of-ones make Counter-Strike majors unpredictable, but there’s a very clear hierarchy among the 16 teams that will kick things off. While there’s still some room for flexibility and homerism, there are clear-cut best options in each category.
Here’s the full breakdown of which teams to lock in for your pick’em, why they’re likely to get you more stickers, and some viable alternatives.
The best IEM Cologne 2026 Major pick’ems for Stage 1
GamerLegion, THUNDERdOWNUNDER, and B8 are among the must-pick teams for Stage 1 of the IEM Cologne Major pick’ems. That said, not all of these teams are landing in the same category. GamerLegion stands as a fringe top-10 team, while THUNDERdOWNUNDER is rightly regarded as the tournament’s biggest longshot. Here’s the quick breakdown of who to pick:
- 3-0 Teams: GamerLegion, MIBR
- 3-1 and 3-2 Teams: B8, BetBoom Team, Heroic, BIG, M80, SINNERS Esports
- 0-3 Teams: FlyQuest, THUNDERdOWNUNDER
Best teams for 3-0 winner category
GamerLegion and MIBR are the best candidates for the 3-0 winner category in the major pick’ems.
As stated, GamerLegion stands as the top team in this stage. The team is coming off a second-place finish in IEM Atlanta and placed in the top four of BLAST Rivals Spring with wins over Furia and Astralis. GamerLegion is arguably a proper tier-one team at this point and should be looked at as a clear favorite over any of the teams here.
MIBR, B8, and BetBoom Team are all reasonable choices for the other 3-0 team. What makes MIBR the best option is its softball opening match against THUNDERdOWNUNDER and the probability it gets preferable draws for the remainder of the stage.
Best 3-1 & 3-2 Advanced teams
B8 and BetBoom Team are in consideration for the 3-0 category, so it goes without saying that they should be locked into the major pick’ems advanced category. Heroic and BIG are two more teams where it would be a surprise if they failed to advance. Past that is where things get a little bit shaky.
The best options to round out the category are M80 and SINNERS Esports. Throughout 2026, SINNERS has been a team that has stepped up when it plays on LAN, taking wins over G2, BetBoom Team, BIG, GamerLegion, and more. The last spot could hypothetically go to many different teams, with Team Liquid likely to be the kneejerk pick for many. For those looking to pick an NA team, however, M80 is the way to go.
Teams most likely to go 0-3 in IEM Cologne Major Stage 1
THUNDERdOWNUNDER and FlyQuest are the two teams to lock in as the first teams to wash out of the Cologne Major. At this point, FlyQuest has enough of a history of underwhelming at majors that it has taken the ceremonial 0-3 pick’em spot long reserved for Chinese teams. THUNDERdOWNUNDER is actually entering the tournament looking much better than FlyQuest, but all its wins come at the expense of extremely weak competition.
