Monte Esports has locked in their spot at Stage 3 of the IEM Cologne Major 2026, advancing past Stage 2 after a grueling set of matches on June 8-9. For a squad that entered the tournament ranked somewhere between 22nd and 24th globally according to HLTV, this is the kind of result that turns heads.
The tournament, hosted at the LANXESS arena in Cologne, carries a prize pool of $1.25 million. It’s also the first Major held in Cologne in ten years, which means the stakes feel heavier than usual. Stage 3 runs from June 11-15, and key days have already sold out.
How Monte got here
The IEM Cologne Major uses a Swiss-system format, a structure where teams don’t follow a traditional bracket but instead get matched against opponents with similar win-loss records round by round.
Monte’s path through Stage 2 included a matchup against paiN Gaming, among other opponents. The roster of Rainwaker, Bymas, afro, Gizmy, and AZUWU, coached by kakafu, played their way into the next round. That puts them among the surviving squads in a tournament that started with 32 teams spread across four stages.
