Liquid advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Natus Vincere 2-1 at ESL One Cologne (11-16 on Train, 16-12 on Nuke, and 16-6 on Cobblestone).
The third quarter-final in Cologne saw Liquid and Natus Vincere clash in a best-of-three series. Train was chosen by Natus Vincere as the opening map and they started on the T-side.
Liquid had a clean pistol round triumph after Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski's opening kill but they fell short in the third round, losing to an early buy. An ace by EliGE gave Liquid an eco round win and the North Americans took the lead with EliGE's quad kill in the subsequent round (5-4).
Liquid extended their lead to 7-4 after winning a 3vs5 post-plant situation and Nick "nitr0" Cannella's triple spraydown closed out the half as Liquid led 10-5.
Hiko will be in another Major semi-final
Natus Vincere were victorious in the second half pistol round thanks to Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev's quad kill and the CIS team followed it up with two anti-eco wins. Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev's triple kill in the fourth round didn't help much as Natus Vincere ultimately took the round. After Liquid made it 11-10, they could only get a maximum of two kills in the following six rounds, resulting in a 16-11 Natus Vincere win.
Nuke kicked off with a team ace by the CT-sided Natus Vincere but Liquid came on top in the third round after a team deathmatch style duel on the Outside area.
Liquid then equaled the score at 4-4 but Natus Vincere responded with three rounds. The North Americans grabbed their fifth and seventh rounds thanks to s1mple's entry kills but trailed 7-8 at halftime.
Natus Vincere end their Major journey
A quad kill takeover by nitr0 in the second half pistol round gave Liquid a huge advantage as the Counter-Terrorists. Three kills by Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács in the first gun round gifted it to Natus Vincere but Liquid held on, winning a 2vs2 post-plant situation and extending their lead to 11-9. nitr0's 1vs2 clutch ended the match as his team won 16-12.
Cobblestone was the deciding map and Liquid, who were on the T-side, ripped through the Natus Vincere defense in the first five rounds, giving up only six kills while doing so. Just when the CTs, Natus Vincere, picked up a round, s1mple's triple kill reset their economy and allowed Liquid to extend their lead.
A quad kill by Spencer "Hiko" Martin, followed by s1mple's triple put Liquid 10-1 ahead. The CIS team's economy got demolished once again as this time they cut the deficit to eight but Liquid replied immediately, going on to lead 13-2 at halftime with s1mple's incredible 1vs3 clutch.
A four people rush into middle in the second half pistol round worked for Liquid and although they lost some rounds afterwards, they didn't allow Natus Vincere to come back and finished off the map 16-6 and the series 2-1.
ESL One Cologne 2016Best of 3 
Natus Vincere
Matchpage 1 2 8th July 2016 
Liquid 16Train 11 12Nuke 16 6Cobblestone 16
| Liquid | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple | 67 - 54 | +13 | 87.9 | 1.27 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE | 47 - 51 | -4 | 76.7 | 1.13 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0 | 59 - 53 | +6 | 74.1 | 1.11 |
| Josh 'jdm64' Marzanojdm64 | 47 - 48 | -1 | 66.0 | 0.99 |
| Spencer 'Hiko' MartinHiko | 47 - 52 | -5 | 68.4 | 0.98 |
| Natus Vincere | K - D | +/- | ADR | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward | 70 - 49 | +21 | 87.6 | 1.24 |
 Denis 'seized' Kostinseized | 48 - 55 | -7 | 76.8 | 0.98 |
| Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus | 50 - 55 | -5 | 73.0 | 0.97 |
 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsGuardiaN | 45 - 50 | -5 | 64.3 | 0.96 |
| Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie | 45 - 58 | -13 | 74.3 | 0.93 |
Follow HLTV.org writer BenjaCS on twitter.
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski 
Age: 18 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 352 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.70 Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev 
Age: 28 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 800 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Spencer 'Hiko' Martin 
Age: 26 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 473 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.61 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács 
Age: 24 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 785 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 
Natus Vincere #5 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsDenis 'seized' KostinEgor 'flamie' Vasilyev Nick 'nitr0' Cannella 
Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 383 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev 
Age: 18 Team: LiquidB Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 438 KPR: 0.84 DPR: 0.70 Liquid #11 Spencer 'Hiko' MartinNick 'nitr0' CannellaOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievJosh 'jdm64' MarzanoJonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski