The next stop of the Intel Extreme Masters circuit is upon us, taking us this time to the beautiful German city of Cologne, which is the 4th biggest city of the country and is located on both sides of the Rhine river. This is not the first time the IEM circuit has stopped in the city, as  the city made its first appearance as a host city for the circuit back in November of 2007, when the Intel Friday Night Game Cologne was held, with Mousesports coming out 2-1 on top of mTw in the Counter Strike 1.6 competition, and Dutch legend Grubby defeating fire_de 2-0 on maps to win the gold in Warcraft 3.

Fans would have to wait almost 2 years to see Cologne back in the circuit, as it would not be until 2009 when ESL (IEM organizers) would decide to go back to the city, this time for its 4th season. Ironically, season 4 of IEM featured 2 stops in Cologne, Global Challenge Cologne and the European Championship Finals. For the first one, the winners would be Mousesports in CS 1.6, Ensidia in World of Warcraft and SK Rapha in Quake Live. For the European Championship Finals Mousesports would repeat the gold in CS 1.6, while SK and Srs.Cypher would take gold in World of Warcraft and Quake Live respectively.

Season 5 would once again feature a Global Challenge in Cologne, this time dropping World of Warcraft and Counter Strike 1.6, leaving us with Quake Live and the back then newly released Starcraft 2. In Quake Live, it would be a German taking the gold, as ESC.k1llsen managed to surprise the crowd beating the man everyone had predicted as the winner, SK.Rapha. In Starcraft 2, the young Swedish player Morrow would beat the infamous IdrA to take home the gold and with that, $5,000.

The last stop of the circuit in Cologne was the Global Challenge held in the city last year for the 6th season. In that occasion, the featured games were League of Legends, and the back then booming Starcraft 2. In League of Legends, fan favorites CLG.na took home the $12,000 prize after defeating their countrymen from TSM. Unfortunately, CLG.na will not be able to defend their title this year, as they cancelled their participation in this year's edition of the Global Challenge. But, going back to 2011, it would be South Korean star PuMa taking the gold in Starcraft 2 over his compatriot MC, thus securing himself a whopping $6,500 in the process.

This year, and for the first time ever, the Global Challenge Cologne will be held at the ESL studios, which should allow for a great spectacle. Unfortunately, since the location of the event cant pack as many people as past venues, most fans will surely have to watch the event from home. Be sure to stay tuned to mymym.com as we will keep you updated with fresh coverage directly from Cologne, giving you all of the information regarding our League of Legends team participation in the event.