IEM Cologne 2026: New Challenge Coin, Major Stickers, and Souvenir Trade-Up System
3
min
0
0
Want to get some IEM Cologne 2026 Major items? The good news is that their sale has already started. The reason lies in the new CS2 update, which is already in the air and ready for download! But what exactly should we expect there? While many players are waiting for new skin collections in the Armory Pass, Valve changed the usual way to obtain Major stickers. But, of course, it’s better to explore everything slowly to be sure that you won’t miss any detail. Without further ado, let’s begin our journey into CS2 changes.
Major Hub, Viewer Pass, and Stickers
And the first change you can find in the new CS2 update is the IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub. Here, you can purchase a Cologne 2026 Viewer Pass, which comes in two types. The expensive Pass offers additional 900 tokens you can use during the event to get major items like stickers.
No less important to mention is that you can play the Pick’Em Challenge and earn rewards. Among them is an upgradable Cologne 2026 Coin. With an active pass, you can upgrade it from Bronze to Silver, Gold, or Diamond with 300 additional tokens for each upgrade.
Of course, remember to check the Active Pass Leaderboard. Here, you can compare your Pick’Em Challenge performance to your friends. Show who is the pro in the game!
Last but not least is Souvenir-O-Matic. With this feature, you can create your own Souvenir skin within seconds. Here is step-by-step guide:
- Choose the skin from your inventory.
- Select a match and a player from it.
- Obtain the same weapon finish you used in Souvenir quality, with gold stickers for the team, autograph, and map.
If your skin had stickers on it before the process, they will be removed.
Souvenir Trade-Up
From now on, we can use Souvenir skins in trade-up contracts. It works in the following way:
- Choose ten Souvenir skins for a trade-up contract.
- Combine them with standard finishes by need.
- Confirm the contract.
- Receive a standard skin of a higher quality from one of the collections of used skins.
In other words, the process is as simple as always. But, of course, it has already affected the price of Souvenir skins, making the cheap offers multiple times more expensive. At the same time, the value of premium Souvenir items could drop.
Further adjustments
Among the further adjustments are several fixes for different cases. For example, Valve fixed finger animation on the Bayonet model. Also, in the advanced video preview, a moment was fixed where tire fire particles were flickering.
No less important to mention that a spectator in-eye flash amount was increased. In some cases, there was a pick-up weapon hint text for weapons that couldn’t be picked up. In the end, Valve also fixed the incorrect scoreboard timeline presentation in overtime.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, Valve entirely turned the IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub into something more. Now, we can directly choose what we want to obtain, along with using Souvenir in trade-up contracts. On one hand, it’s a victory for common players, but a loss for collectors with prestige souvenir items. Of course, we will see the result of this CS2 update in the next few weeks. The only thing that is clear is that it will definitely affect the skin market, as it was with the Trade-Up Update in late 2025. If you want to stay updated with future market changes and CS2 updates, check the SkinPlace Blog.
Hey everyone, I’m Owen! I dove into Counter-Strike and Dota 2 when I was 13, and a decade later, I’ve clocked over 8,000 hours in both games combined.
I saved up months of my allowance to buy my first Counter-Strike knife at 14 and have been involved in the trading space for several years.
I also love competing, which is why I’ve reached the top ranks in both Counter-Strike and Dota 2 – Global Elite and Immortal, respectively.
Now, I share my knowledge and experience through insightful guides from someone who’s been there and done that.
Experience and Credentials:
I’ve been writing articles since 2021, publishing over 1,000 pieces. I cover everything from guides and news pieces to opinionated features.
Subscribe
0 Comments
