League of Legends returned to Cologne, Germany for the third installment of the Intel Extreme Masters series. IEM Cologne was the first international competition since the conclusion of the 2013 season and also one of the final premiere tournaments to feature Patch v3.13. Six professional teams and four amateur teams battled in two single elimination tournaments. Here is a recap of what went down this weekend In Germany:

DAY 1

Amateur Semifinals

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. TCM-Gaming

Ninjas in Pyjamas versus TCM-Gaming kicked off the Amateur Tournament. The series demonstrated NiP’s strength in lane phase as well as their struggle to close out games early. Poor late game decision-making despite significant gold leads led them into drawn-out games. TCM, on the other hand, was consistently weak in lane phase, but they did what they could to make a comeback. Despite bouncing back in Game 3 and winning the series (2-1), NiP were not particularly satisfied with their shaky performance and hoped for a smoother victory on Day 2.

SK Gaming vs. Copenhagen Wolves

Copenhagen Wolves dictated both games in the series, gaining early gold leads and capitalizing on their advantages. Mitch “Krepo” Voorspoels noted, “No scatter. No confusion. Their target-calling [was] on point.” Copenhagen Wolves stepped up their game completely and SK Gaming had nothing to answer to the dominance.

Pro Tournament Quarterfinals

Gambit Gaming vs. The RED

Gambit was convincingly dominant in both their games, snowballing early advantages, seemingly toying with the RED. Gambit swept their fellow Russians (2-0) with unparalleled teamwork and chemistry, which emulated the old Gambit at their peak. As Krepo said, “Gambit played well. They got really far ahead and then took the foot off the pedal…they were in complete control.”

Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Turquality

In typical fashion, CLG revolved their gameplay and composition largely around marksman Yiliang “Doubelift” Peng, who ended Game 1 with a KDA of 7/1/9. Though CLG relied on the old tactic of protecting Doubelift, they also demonstrated improved rotations, taking control of the flow of the game, and simply outplaying the competition. They eliminated Team Turquality (2-0) from the running.

DAY 2

Amateur Grand Finals: Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Copenhagen Wolves

Though most were expecting NiP to take the series, Copenhagen Wolves stepped up and swept NiP (2-0). Strong teamwork and coordination allowed Copenhagen Wolves to pressure NiP, forcing them to spread thinly across the map as Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool (Copenhagen Wolves top laner) persistently split push with Shen. Copenhagen Wolves jungler Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneide said, “In the end, I just think that talking to ourselves and mentally preparing for the finish helped us win the game.”

Pro Tournament Semifinals

Cloud 9 vs. Gambit

Early in Game 1, Danil “Diamondprox” Reshetnikov dictated the jungle by stealing the enemy blue buff. Cloud 9 regained some control as mid laner Hai “Hai” Du Lam got first blood on Alexey “Alex Ich” Ichetovkin. Though the game appeared close, Cloud 9 could not stop Gambit from taking objectives. Gambit eventually got Baron buff, aced Cloud 9, and won the game moments later.

Game 2 was incredibly close up until the twenty-nine minute mark when Gambit caught marksmen Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi in the top bush of mid lane. This gave Gambit the opportunity to push down an inhibitor due to Cloud 9’s poor positioning. Cloud 9 could not recover from their mistakes and were forced to concede the second game.

Fnatic vs. Counter Logic Gaming

In an interview before the matchup, Doublelift stated, “A stomp, that’s what you can expect… We are clearly much more practiced and I am really confident with…how we have been performing.” To which Fnatic marksmen Martin “Rekkles” Larsson warned Doublelift to prepare himself.

In Game 1, Fnatic forced Doublelift to eat his words by destroying every lane. Though CLG tried their best to even up the score, Fnatic had snowballed out of control, taking the first game. CLG managed to even up the series in Game 2, but it was not enough to take out the European powerhouse. In Game 3, Fnatic came out on top thanks in part to a level one Flash Death Sentence by Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim. Fnatic moved on to the finals (2-1).

Pro Tournament Final: Gambit Gaming vs. Fnatic

In Game 1, Evgeny “Darien” Mazaev demonstrated stellar top lane play as Aatrox. He was aggressive when he needed to be, helping Gambit take control of the map with incessant split pushing. Joe Miller noted, “[Darien’s] performance this tournament is possibly the best series of games…that we might have seen from Darien ever.” Though Fnatic attempted to catch up to Gambit by farming minions, they were ultimately unable to turn the tides, relenting Game 1.

Game 2 looked promising for Fnatic as they snatched first blood from Diamondprox, who was lurking alone in the jungle. However, Diamondprox made a staggering comeback by ganking the lanes, picking up kills across the map, forcing Fnatic further and further behind. Gambit became an unstoppable force and Fnatic had no answers. Gambit emerged victorious as the champion of IEM Cologne with a final score of 30-5.

Following the win, Alex Ich said, “We’ve won a lot of tournaments [with] this lineup, so we will win even more now.”