Cloud9 and CLG are the first two to advance to the ESL One Cologne North American offline qualifier playoffs from first places in their respective groups.

Group A was first on the schedule in ESL's studios in Burbank, California, and it was Cloud9 to start it all off with a one-sided de_cbble against Noble. They were soon joined by Liquid in the winners' match, as Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina's side overcame Tempo Storm 16-11 on de_cache.

For first place in group A, Cloud9 and Liquid chose to duke it out on de_dust2 and Cloud9's trio Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham, Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert and Ryan "⁠freakazoid⁠" Abadir turned in a good performance (all above 1.30 rating) to secure a spot in the semi-finals.

ESL One Cologne 2015 NA QualifierBest of 1 Cloud9Matchpage 16 10 1st August 2015 Liquid 16Dust2 10

On the other side, in group B, both Mythic and CLG had tough initial matches, but both also managed to prevail over their opposition, Maximum Effort and eLevate, respectively.

Once again the first-place decider was played on de_dust2 and CLG got off to a good start, securing a 14-9 scoreline soon after the sides swapped. The tides soon turned and Mythic were onto a comeback thanks to clutch play, but in the last possible round in relegation, CLG closed it out at 16-14.

ESL One Cologne 2015 NA QualifierBest of 1 CLGMatchpage 16 14 2nd August 2015 Mythic 16Dust2 14

Noble are already out of the competition, as Tempo Storm advanced over them to the deciding match in group B versus Liquid. Next up in group B though will be Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin's Maximum Effort up against eLevate to decide who will meet Mythic in the decider taking place tomorrow.