ESL One Cologne 2016
ESL One Cologne 2016, also known as ESL Cologne Major 2016 or Cologne 2016, was an Electronic Sports League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the ninth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and was held at the Lanxess Arena In Cologne, Germany from July 8–10. It featured 16 teams from throughout the world competing. Cologne 2016 had the second consecutive major with a prize pool of $1,000,000.
| 2016 | |
The ESL One Cologne 2016 logo | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Location | Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Dates | July 5, 2016–July 10, 2016 |
| Administrator | Valve ESL |
Tournament format(s) | 16 team double-elimination group stage Eight team single-elimination playoff |
| Venue | Lanxess Arena |
| Teams | 16 teams |
| Purse | $1,000,000 USD |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | SK Gaming (1st title) |
| 1st runners-up | Team Liquid |
| 2nd runners-up | Fnatic Virtus.pro |
| MVP | Marcelo "coldzera" David |
The playoffs featured eight teams. Astralis, Fnatic, Gambit Gaming, Natus Vincere, SK Gaming, Team Liquid, and Virtus.pro were returning Legends and FlipSid3 Tactics was the only new Legend. Ninjas in Pyjamas failed to retain its Legends status after eight straight majors of being Legends. The grand finals had SK Gaming, which was the defending champion from the previous major at MLG Major Championship: Columbus, against Team Liquid, which was the first ever North America team to reach the grand finals at a major. SK Gaming defeated FlipSid3 Tactics and Virtus.pro and Team Liquid upset Natus Vincere and Fnatic to reach the finals. In the end, SK Gaming defended its title 2–0 over the underdog Team Liquid and continued to be the only non-European team to win a title until the PGL 2017 Kraków Major Championship, in which Gambit Esports from Kazakhstan won the title. SK Gaming also joined Fnatic to be the only teams to have multiple major titles.