Wisdom of the Crowd: IEM Cologne Stage 3

IEM Cologne is an event that has told many stories. From the legends who lifted the trophy, to the shed tears of the losers. But one story is ever changing, the story of the fans. The people who make the plays on our screen feel alive, cementing them as moments in our minds as opposed to simply gameplay.

So, to kick off our on-site Cologne coverage, we spoke to fans attending Stage 3 games to find out who they’re there to support, who they think will win the whole thing, if anyone is actually getting a diamond coin, and more.*

We’ll be showing you the percentage of each answer, and highlighting anything notable.

Is this your first time at IEM Cologne?

• Yes - 86.4%
• No - 13.6%

It’s unclear whether this opening stage being in a smaller venue attracted more locals who’d otherwise be priced out of the Lanxess frenzy. It’s undeniable however that there’s a lot of Cologne cherries being popped. The church is entering a golden age with this many new faces at the cathedral.

Is this the first Major you’re attending?

• Yes - 90.9%
• No - 9.1%

It makes sense that people who haven’t been to Cologne, haven’t been to a Major either. Most of the attendees we spoke to were new to the LAN scene, and are here for their first, or second Esports event.

Who are you supporting here?

• NAVI & Spirit - 18.2% each
• Vitality & FURIA - 13.6% each
• MOUZ - 9.1%
• 9Z - 4.5%

NAVI’s fanbase remains insanely strong, while Spirit seems to have become a new gen favourite. A group of Brazilians we spoke to made sure to put FURIA up there, while the favourites are always going to get fans.

Shoutout to the German MOUZ fans. They are standing on business. Oh and to the 9z fan we spoke to, you must be buzzing.

Who is your favourite to win?

• Vitality - 59.1%
• Spirit - 27.3%
• FURIA - 13.6%

At first glance this all checks out, Vitality are the main favourites, Spirit are the second, and the Brazilian’s picked FURIA. The natural order of things.

What is a little surprising though, is that NAVI aren’t on here at all. They seemingly have no credit in the bank for being the team to end Vitality’s perfect streak. It’s not terribly crazy, especially when you look at how good Spirit has been, but not even one NAVI fan had the guts to say they’d win it.

Maybe they just don’t want to jinx it. We can hardly blame them.

What’s your favourite map

• Nuke - 31.8%
• Ancient - 22.7%
• Mirage - 13.6%
• Overpass - 9.1%
• Dust 2 - 9.1%
• Inferno - 9.1%
• Anubis - 4.5%

Honestly, it’s a little shocking how popular Nuke and Ancient are. Playing premier definitely doesn’t match this impression. But, these are the people attending events, and therefore ball knowers. Especially unsurprising was the Germans who picked Overpass. On the nose much?

Can you still get the Diamond Coin?

• No - 95.5%
• Yes - 4.5%

This pick’em has been a bloodbath. Even our supercomputer, which hasn't missed a stage yet, is on the ropes. (Thanks 9z) We could barely find anyone who both participated, and still had a chance. Even the people still in play will need a good amount of luck to close this stage out.

The good news for any fans in a similar situation is that our supercomputer is free, and could have prevented an early exit. Keep it in mind, and maybe next Major we’ll see these numbers be much kinder. Diamond coin not guaranteed.

Conclusion

Is it the largest sample size? No. Is it scientific? Also no. Is it fun? We sure do hope so.

There’s something about finding out the composition of CS fans that tells us about ourselves. Whether it’s the fact no one actually likes playing Mirage, or how bad we all are at pick’ems. Some stuff seems to be more universal than online discussions will have you believe.

What really stood out to us though, was the mix of people coming to IEM Cologne Major.

Sure, there were plenty of Germans, but we spoke to Americans, Brits, Danes, Brazilians, Russians, and more. The beauty of this game is that people from all over the world come together in one place to watch heads being popped by the best players in the world. Unified by a shared love for a game, a team, or even just a map. That unity and passion is what turns those moments from some dude playing a game, to a piece of history.

What’s there not to love?

*Interviews with fans were done on Saturday morning before the games of that day