Last reviewed: June 17, 2026 by the CS2Bet editorial team.
The IEM Cologne Major 2026 has already produced some of the most memorable moments of the 2026 Counter-Strike season, and tournament photographers Josip ‘brcho‘ Brtan and Radosław Brychcy have documented the highs and lows that define a Major championship. HLTV’s curated photo gallery captures the structural narrative of the opening three Swiss stages before the action shifts to the LANXESS Arena.
The defining visual moments
The gallery anchors around a handful of structurally significant moments from Stage 1-3:
- BetBoom’s underdog rise — from the M80 13-2 demolition through the GamerLegion win and the MongolZ Stage 3 R1 upset
- 9z’s history-making run — luchov’s career-best 2.83 Overpass rating, the Vitality 2-1 upset, BIT’s celebration framing
- NRG’s 0-12 comeback against BIG — one of the most memorable comeback moments of the entire 2026 season
- Emotional exits — GamerLegion’s 0-3 elimination, HEROIC’s opening upset loss to Sharks, BIG’s Stage 2 elimination by B8
- Breakthrough performances — FUT’s perfect 3-0 Stage 2 run, Spirit’s 10-0 form trajectory, the FL4MUS carry layer
The photojournalism context
HLTV’s gallery format is one of the longer-running Counter-Strike content traditions. The Major-photo release typically captures the kind of moments that don’t make the highlight-reel cut but structurally define the tournament’s story arc — celebration shots, defeat reactions, backstage interview captures, audience reaction frames.
brcho and Brychcy’s work specifically has anchored HLTV’s recent Major photo coverage. The pair operate as the photojournalism complement to the broadcast layer — capturing what the cameras-on-stage angles miss.
The Stage 1-3 narrative compression
The structural shape of the Major’s opening three stages compresses into a small handful of defining narrative arcs:
- The 32-team field producing more pre-event-favourite upsets than any recent Major
- BetBoom and 9z as the two structurally most significant underdog runs
- Vitality’s apEX-GOAT-framing pressure producing both the breakthrough (8-2 form into Cologne) and the structural shock (the 9z loss)
- The all-Bo3 Stage 3 format reshaping how variance compounded
- Brazilian Counter-Strike’s structural T1 re-emergence (paiN, MIBR, Legacy, 9z)
What the LANXESS playoffs will capture
The playoff weekend produces the photo-gallery centrepiece. LANXESS Arena’s stage architecture, the home-crowd intensity, the cathedral-design MVP medal presentation, and the Cologne-specific stage haze all compound into exactly the kind of imagery that defines Major photo galleries. brcho, Brychcy, and the rest of HLTV’s Major photo team will be on-site for the final weekend’s structural visual capture.
The structural value of Major photojournalism
Counter-Strike’s photo-gallery tradition matters beyond the immediate content cycle. The structural value is archival — the imagery becomes the long-term visual record of how Major arcs actually unfolded. The 2014-2016 Cologne Majors’ iconic photos still circulate in CS community spaces a decade later; the 2026 Cologne gallery will compound the same way.
