The IEM Cologne 2025 Grand Final is here, and one thing is already certain: we will crown a new champion for the first time in the LANXESS Arena. On one side, you have Spirit, a team built around the brilliance of one individual: donk. On the other, MOUZ, more of a team unit, hot off the heels of slaying their demons vs. Vitality, now looking to slay the dragon of Spirit.
Both would be worthy winners of IEM Cologne 2025 on current evidence, that much is clear. However, only one can emerge victorious in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike and write their name into the history books. Will it be Spirit or MOUZ? Let’s take a look.
Cast your mind back just a few days, and you’ll recall that Spirit and MOUZ have already come face-to-face at IEM Cologne 2025. The first match-up ended in a 2:1 Spirit victory, although it could have easily been a 2:0 series in favor of either team. It’s these small margins that dictate the results between teams of this quality.
That was a different kind of pressure, but both of these teams have more than proven at the LANXESS Arena that when the lights are shining brightest, they can find new levels to their game and perform when it matters most. Pressure is for tyres, as the saying goes.
That first match between the two means nothing coming into this Final. That was a best-of-three series. Best-of-five is a totally different beast, especially with MOUZ coming in as the more stable roster given zweih’s recent arrival on Spirit.
If MOUZ are to get the win here, then Overpass and Nuke are going to be essential. In Overpass’ case, it’s the newest map in the Active Duty map pool. A classic, sure, but it’s still tough to come back into after over a year out. Prior to its removal, it was a map that Spirit loved to play. Remember donk’s highlight reel from IEM Katowice 2024? He made Overpass his home turf, so Spirit will be desperate to ensure it comes early in this series. But if MOUZ can snatch it away, then their chances of lifting the IEM Cologne trophy in the LANXESS increase exponentially.
Then, there’s Nuke, a map both teams are very familiar with. For me, this is a must-win for MOUZ, for one reason: zweih. Prior to arriving on Spirit, zweih had played Nuke just three times in his entire career, a permaban on his former team Nemiga. But with Spirit typically being so strong on Nuke, he’s very much had to learn on the job. In Tier 1, that’s brutal business, and zweih’s three Nuke maps at IEM Cologne 2025 have seen him average just a 0.82 rating. It’s fair to say things won’t get any easier against MOUZ, and they must look to exploit that coming into this Grand Final.
With Vitality out of the picture, the IEM Cologne 2025 Final is a much tougher affair to call. Previously, predicting a Vitality win felt too easy, but I expect this one to be a particularly tight affair. When all is said and done, I expect MOUZ to lift the trophy in a 3:1 series.
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