With their victory in Cologne, Team Spirit have now completed the trifecta of Counter-Strike's most prestigious trophies.
Russian Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) powerhouse 
Team Spirit have been crowned as champions of Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2025 in the iconic ‘Cathedral of Counter-Strike’ at the LANXESS Arena after they soundly swept 
MOUZ, 3-0, in the grand finals on Monday (4 August). With their victory, Spirit claimed the US$400,000 grand prize out of the tournament's prize pool, as well as their second title of the year.
This also marks a perfect debut for Spirit's newest rifler, 
Ivan “zweih” Gogin, who joined the team in early July to replace Boris “magixx” Vorobiev. Spirit have now also claimed the trifecta of the most prestigious trophies in CS2, namely IEM Cologne, IEM Katowice, and a Major championship. Last year, Spirit won IEM Katowice 2024 in February, claimed their first Major title in the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 in December, and then completed the full set eight months later.
As ever, Spirit were led by 18-year old superstar rifler Danil “Donk” Kryshkovets, who won the tournament MVP honour with a stellar 1.50 rating. After a breakout year in 2024 saw him lauded as the best CS2 player in the world, Donk is now making a case this year by achieving the rare feat of winning MVP awards in IEM Cologne, IEM Katowice, and a Major.
Spirit dominate IEM Cologne as Vitality's historic streak ends
With IEM Cologne serving as zweih's debut tournament with his new team, Spirit were not seen to be among the biggest favourites to lift the trophy. Instead, most expected the tournament to be won by
Team Vitality, who were coming off a fiery streak of seven straight tournament wins, most recently at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 in late June.
However, Spirit would go on to claim ultimate victory in Cologne in dominant fashion–dropping just two maps throughout their entire run–while Vitality's historic match and tournament win streaks finally came to an end.
Spirit started IEM Cologne 2025 in the double-elimination format Group Stage, where they finished as the top seed of Group B after dominant victories over 
HEROIC, 
Aurora Gaming, and MOUZ. As the top team of their group, Spirit were seeded directly into the semifinals of the single-elimination Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Vitality joined Spirit in securing a direct berth to the semifinals after topping Group A with victories over 
Astralis, 
G2 Esports, and their Austin Major grand finals opponents 
The MongolZ.
Rounding out the Playoff picture at IEM Cologne 2025 were MOUZ, MongolZ, 
Natus Vincere (NAVI), and 
FURIA, who all had to start in the quarterfinals.
MOUZ and NAVI defeated FURIA and the MongolZ, respectively, to advance to the semifinals to face the top seeds of the Group Stage. Spirit dispatched NAVI in three maps to become the first team in the grand finals, with many expecting a showdown between Spirit and Vitality for the IEM Cologne trophy.
However, MOUZ defied expectations by sweeping Vitality in their semifinals match, finally scoring a victory over their rivals after losing their last eight matchups. With the biggest threat to their title hopes now out of the picture, Spirit found themselves with a relatively clear path to the trophy.
The grand finals kicked off in Mirage, where Spirit started strong with a 10-2 first half on the CT side, before securing their first win of the series with a 13-2 score. All Spirit players recorded at least 12 frags in Mirage, with Donk leading the way as expected, with 17 frags and six assists on 10 deaths.
Game two at Ancient was a much closer affair, as Spirit on the T side kicked things off by winning the first four rounds of the map before MOUZ responded with an eight-round streak to close out the first half. MOUZ would extend their lead to 11-5 and were within reach of claiming their first map of the grand finals, only for Spirit to pull out their own eight-round streak to steal away the 13-11 win.
Donk put on a masterclass in Ancient to give his team a commanding 2-0 series lead, finishing with 26 frags and three assists on 17 deaths–including a 1v2 clutch in round 22 to tie up the score at 11-11–for a stellar 1.50 map rating.
MOUZ looked deflated in game three at Nuke, where Spirit put their opponents on the ropes by dominating the first half 8-4 as the CT side. While MOUZ would win the first two rounds of the second half, six rounds were all they would get as Spirit methodically racked up five straight rounds to secure the IEM Cologne 2025 championship with a 13-6 stomp.
Donk closed out the 3-0 grand finals sweep for his team by recording an imperious 1.64 rating off of 19 frags and five assists on 14 deaths.
