Everyone has an opinion on how best to get that diamond coin for IEM Cologne Major 2026, but lets see how the various talent, players, and creators think Stage 2 will go.

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3-0 Picks

It isn’t even close for this category, as 15 of the 17 people collated are all in agreeance that Team Spirit, who are currently ranked in A-Tier on our Tier Rankings and #3 by HLTV, will be finishing the stage undefeated.

It would be a fair assumption then to look at the next highest ranked team of Legacy (B-Tier) to be the second most common pick – but that would be wrong as only three people selected them. Instead it is G2 Esports (C-Tier) who have over 40% of the field selecting as a 3-0.

Last time we saw G2 was at PGL Astana and they managed to take out some tough teams and slot in 5-8th. It wasn’t a stand-out performance, but it was better than fellow Stage 2 competitors Monte who ended in 9-11th.

0-3 Picks

There are three teams that all appear frequently in the 0-3 column and they are TYLOO (8), FlyQuest (7), and Monte (7). There are other votes on 9z, paiN, BIG, M80, and MIBR, but they are scattered around the board with no consensus.

TYLOO and FlyQuest are both Unranked in on our Tier Rankings, both just fought through Stage 1, and both from Asia-Pacific. TYLOO picked up wins against weaker teams in SINNERS (2-0), Sharks (2-1), and Lynn Vision (2-0), while FlyQuest shocked a few with a big win over Team Liquid (2-0).

The standout here is Monte (D-Tier) who were a direct invite to Stage 2 and haven’t played yet in Cologne. They do have four major rookies though, with Bymas being the only player to have made the major before, that being PGL Major Stockholm 2021 when he was on MOUZ.

Other Qualified Teams

There are a few teams that people are near-unanimous on; Legacy (B-Tier), GamerLegion (C-Tier), Astralis (C-Tier), B8 (C-Tier), BetBoom (D-Tier), and FUT (D-Tier). That is all six of the slots you have for this category filled in.

We’ve already seen B8, and BetBoom stomp their way through Stage 1 in undefeated fashion and GamerLegion was only one win behind them due to a loss against BetBoom. If it is teams with momentum that you are looking at, these are the three to keep an eye on.

If you wanted to buck the trend and pick some less popular teams, then it is the Americas region to look at as 9z, M80, paiN, and MIBR all had three or four picks for them.

Full Table

Courtesy of statsmeister1 on Twitter