HellRaisers and OpTic Gaming are one step closer to ESL One Cologne after defeating dignitas and FlipSid3 Tactics, respectively.

The first set of matches featuring teams with a 1-1 record began with a Nuke clash between dignitas and HellRaisers. The Danish team had pulled off a fantastic comeback the day before on this very same map after a strong CT display, but this time around they were simply outgunned.

A blazing start from HellRaisers saw them get out to a quick 5-0 lead as dignitas struggled to keep up with the pace of their opponents. After getting their economy stabilised, dignitas were able to get a couple of rounds, but HellRaisers still had plenty of money in the bank and hit back in the following round.

Down 2-7, dignitas were handed a heavy blow as they allowed Kirill "⁠ANGE1⁠" Karasiow to win a 1vs3 clutch. HellRaisers continued on a roll, eventually reaching 10 rounds, with their streak coming to an end thanks to a quadra kill from Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke. But that did little in the way of stopping the European mixture, which took a commanding 11-4 half-time lead.

HellRaisers acquitted themselves really well against dignitas 

The second half began with Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný getting a trio of kills during dignitas' ramp rush to give his team a more substantial lead. After picking up both anti-eco rounds, HellRaisers went on to win the first full gun round to reach match point, when dignitas' Terrorist side finally flourished.

The Danish team went on a six-round winning streak, forcing HellRaisers to call a tactical pause. The break gave HellRaisers the time they needed to adjust their defense as they came back into the game in full force and stopped dignitas' rush without losing a single member to seal a convincing 16-10 win.

ESL One Cologne 2016 Main QualifierBest of 1 DignitasMatchpage 10 16 11th June 2016 HellRaisers 10Nuke 16

HellRaisers	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Martin 'STYKO' StykSTYKO	27 - 17	+10	108.8	1.60
Vladyslav 'bondik' Nechyporchukbondik	18 - 14	+4	84.3	1.20
Kirill 'ANGE1' KarasiowANGE1	22 - 16	+6	82.6	1.19
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastnýoskar	16 - 16	0	67.9	1.17
Patrik 'Zero' ŽúdelZero	15 - 14	+1	58.0	0.97

Dignitas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kristian 'k0nfig' Wieneckek0nfig	22 - 21	+1	93.7	1.13
René 'cajunb' Borgcajunb	20 - 17	+3	77.8	1.10
Ruben 'RUBINO' VillarroelRUBINO	13 - 18	-5	65.3	0.96
Mathias 'MSL' LauridsenMSL	14 - 22	-8	69.5	0.83
Jesper 'TENZKI' PlougmannTENZKI	8 - 20	-12	37.6	0.47

Next up was an intercontinental battle between FlipSid3 Tactics and OpTic Gaming on Train. The Ukrainian team came out the brighter, picking up the pistol round in a B retake and following it up with an anti-eco round to get a 2-0 lead.

But once OpTic bought up, the impetus of the game changed completely as the Canadian team secured seven rounds in a row. The rounds FlipSid3 edged out were few and far between as OpTic sat on a comfortable 11-4 lead at the end of the half.

OpTic barely broke a sweat against FlipSid3

After the break, OpTic came out with fire in the belly and reached match point with a string of four rounds. FlipSid3 would still get three rounds on the board before the Canadian team eventually locked down the map, 16-7.

ESL One Cologne 2016 Main QualifierBest of 1 OpTicMatchpage 16 7 11th June 2016 FlipSid3 16Train 7

OpTic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Damian 'daps' Steeledaps	25 - 11	+14	119.7	1.82
Oscar 'mixwell' Cañellasmixwell	22 - 9	+13	78.6	1.55
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	16 - 14	+2	86.4	1.25
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	14 - 12	+2	59.2	1.07
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguzstanislaw	13 - 14	-1	67.9	1.00

FlipSid3	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Jan 'wayLander' RahkonenwayLander	20 - 17	+3	90.3	1.11
Oleksandr 'Shara' HordieyevShara	13 - 20	-7	70.7	0.81
Georgi 'WorldEdit' YaskinWorldEdit	13 - 17	-4	60.9	0.75
Andrey 'B1ad3' GorodenskiyB1ad3	8 - 17	-9	50.0	0.60
Yegor 'markeloff' Markelovmarkeloff	6 - 19	-13	43.8	0.39

Kirill 'ANGE1' Karasiow Age: 26 Team: HellRaisers Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 920 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.70 Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke Age: 19 Team: Dignitas Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 297 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný Age: 24 Team: HellRaisers Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 349 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.66