IEM Cologne 2025 was an event of firsts. For Team Spirit, it was their first-ever championship in the legendary LANXESS Arena. For Vitality, it was their first tournament loss in six months after a period of near-unprecedented dominance. And it was also my first event attending and working as a CS2 esports journalist, so I thought it’d be interesting to reflect and share the process as I experienced it as a tournament newbie.
When our Hotspawn editor-in-chief Sophie McCarthy and I flew out to Germany, we knew that the IEM Cologne 2025 media day would be our first port of call. We provided our interview requests to ESL ahead of time, before heading to the player hotel, where the media day was held.
And so our first official day working the event began. The teams arrived at the conference room in 30-minute time slots, players hopping from one publication to the next according to their allotted spaces. To ESL’s credit, what could have been an extremely chaotic experience ran pretty much perfectly, and we were very well-accommodated with our requests. +1 to ESL for that one.
Throughout the day, we had the chance to interview the following players:
With our allotted time slots, we opted to film a longer interview with each player as well as a TikTok “game.” After all, the people yearn for short-form content featuring their favorite Counter-Strike players.
In my time as a CS2 esports journalist, I’ve interviewed tons of players via Discord. But, as I would soon find out, interviewing players that you’re a fan of in the flesh is a different skill entirely. After all, as we like to say at Hotspawn, I’m just a nerd with a really cool job. I’d love to say that my in-person interview debut went perfectly smoothly, but that would be a lie. As a Brit, I was a nervous wreck to be interviewing mezii, the king of UKCS. He put me immediately at ease with some great answers, and frankly, I could tell he knew he was dealing with someone on the lesser experienced side. I just appreciated him not saying anything.
It was FalleN up next, and I decided to get brave by attempting to read my first question from memory rather than from a card. Rookie error – I flubbed my lines immediately, and had to restart the interview. The Professor, ever the professional, was great about my amateur hour moment, and again gave some really thoughtful answers to my questions. Despite my initial error, it was a career highlight moment, for sure.
Next up was chopper, who struggled with English. It was far from his fault, and to his credit, he was very apologetic and kind about the situation. Again, not a bad word to say, and I appreciated the real effort he made to give good answers despite the language barrier and to their team manager, who stepped in to help translate. Last up was torzsi, and at this point, the nerves were gone, aided by my positive experiences with the previous players. So, yeah, torzsi was a smooth one.
Interview transcriptions aside, that was the IEM Cologne 2025 media day, done and dusted. It was time to enjoy everything the beautiful city of Cologne has to offer with a free day before the IEM Cologne Playoffs. Should you go to Germany for the IEM Cologne Major 2026, things like the Cologne Cathedral, Museum Ludwig, and the Rheinpark are absolute must-sees.
Now for the Playoffs. After collecting our media badges, we made our way to the LANXESS Arena’s press room nice and early. As someone who had zero knowledge of what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised. Multiple TVs showing the broadcast for those working during the matches, and free food and drink throughout. GG, ESL.
As the matches got underway, I was shocked by the scale of it all. The noise and atmosphere of the LANXESS is everything it was touted to be. Fans in every corner, banging the (sometimes literal) drum in favor of their favorite teams. Fan groups like Vitality’s Golden Hornets making their presence known. Try to explain it to a non-gamer and you’ll sound crazy, but it’s not for them to get. It’s an atmosphere by and for the fans who just love everything Counter-Strike.
We eventually found seats next to some very enthusiastic NAVI fans for the IEM Cologne Quarter-Finals and settled in for the matches. Without much actual work to do, it proved to be the calm before the storm. An electric evening of matches came to an end, and day one of the Playoffs was complete.
It was a similar story for the Semi-Finals day, albeit we were unable to secure a seat. Paying customers (understandably) get priority for seats, and a full house in the LANXESS meant we watched the matches largely on our feet. Looking up at a screen for hours on end is a pretty surefire way to damage your neck, especially when holding a fairly hefty DSLR camera. This meant I spent a lot more time than anticipated in the press room, but honestly? It was fine – instead, I was able to come into the LANXESS Arena for the big moments; I wasn’t going to miss the atmosphere of MOUZ’s famous win for anything. So, after two fairly chill days, it was time for an all-action Grand Final, with MOUZ and Spirit setting the stage.
The IEM Cologne 2025 Grand Final had finally arrived, and the time for play was done (sort of). We decided to vlog throughout the day, participating in all the activities that LANXESS had to offer. We played a “Pick a map to add and remove” at the Team Liquid booth, while Sophie obtained a Team Liquid-branded banana (seriously). Meanwhile, I paid an eye-watering amount of money for a NAVI jersey at the ESL shop set up on site, much to the eventual dismay of my non-esports partner. When in Cologne.
We were standing for the Final again, which was always to be expected. The game itself was Spirit dominance from start to finish, and after they came back from 11:5 down on map two to beat MOUZ, I got to work on a winner’s article in favor of Spirit. It was clear which way the wind was blowing, and in this business, timing is everything.
Next on the agenda was the trophy lift. Getting a great picture of the winners lifting the trophy is the real money shot, so it was important we were there to try to capture the moment. Naturally, crowds are an issue here, so I made my way to the trophy plinth right as they erected the barrier at half-time of map three while Sophie went into the stands for an aerial view. So confident of the eventual result, sjokz was brought out once Spirit hit 11 on map 3, and it wasn’t long before the job was done.
After fighting for a spot at the trophy lift, I retreated back to the press room to hit Publish on my winner’s article. It did mean I missed the audience reaction as the IEM Cologne Major 2026 was announced, but alas, sacrifices had to be made. With content done and the matches over, just one thing remained: the winner’s press conference. In this, we were lucky – Spirit wasted little time following their win to head to the press conference, and gave good answers considering the fatigue they must’ve been feeling following the IEM Cologne 2025 win.
And with that, my first in-person event as a CS2 esports journalist was at an end. Five days in Germany dedicated to the pinnacle of Counter-Strike excellence, which has been immediately followed by three days in England suffering from post-event blues. Huge props to ESL for another epic event in Cologne – and to next time, when teams will be fighting for a Major title under the bright lights of the LANXESS Arena.
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