FaZe conquer Cloud9 to win ELEAGUE Invitational 2019
The third and final day of ELEAGUE's four-team invitational came to a close last night, seeing FaZe reverse-sweep Cloud9 in the best-of-three grand finals (3-16 Mirage, 16-12 Inferno, 16-9 Train) to take home their first trophy of 2019.
Before FaZe could take on Cloud9 however, they had to work their way past BIG. With Cloud9 sending Fatih "gob b" Dayik's side into the lower bracket the day prior and FaZe eliminating compLexity in the lower bracket final, the two teams were forced to clash in the consolidation final to determine which team would survive to face Cloud9 in the grand final.
BIG opened up the series with a 2-0 lead on their map pick of Cache, but found themselves on the backfoot as FaZe gathered nine of the ensuing ten rounds for a 9-4 lead. BIG snagged an additional two rounds towards the end of the first half, with FaZe securing the final round for a 10-5 lead swapping onto their T side.
This time it was FaZe who took the pistol round, working their way to a 12-5 scoreline. BIG battled back for a trio of rounds of their own, but another set of rounds saw FaZe move up to 14-8 in reply. Another three rounds went BIG's way as they fought to remain in contention, but FaZe finally secured themselves match point at 15-11. BIG continued to contest as yet another trio of rounds went their way, but FaZe narrowly edged out a 16-14 win in regulation to take the first map for themselves.
It was BIG who took firm control on FaZe's pick of Mirage, garnering a 9-1 lead to kick off the map on their CT side. Although FaZe fought back towards the end of the half, gob b's side took an 11-4 lead as they swapped sides. FaZe also got off to a hot start on their CT side, netting themselves seven of the first eight rounds of the half with a number of site retakes. Despite their efforts to comeback into the map, FaZe found themselves facing match point as BIG took three straight rounds to sit upon a 15-11 score, eventually closing out the map 16-14.
The third and final map of Inferno saw yet another dominant first half scoreline. Although BIG began the half with a 3-0 lead off the back of a pistol round victory, it was FaZe who dominated on their CT side by securing eleven of the remaining twelve rounds in the half. With BIG residing on just four rounds as they swapped to their CT side, their chances for a comeback were slim. Despite suffering a reset after each round they won, FaZe inched towards the finish line on their T side, finally bringing the series to a close with a 16-10 map win to advance to the grand finals.
FaZeBIG| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
71 - 54 | +17 | 80.1 | 74.4% | 1.19 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
61 - 57 | +4 | 79.8 | 68.6% | 1.13 |
 Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer |
57 - 52 | +5 | 79.3 | 74.4% | 1.12 |
 Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev |
55 - 53 | +2 | 73.8 | 74.4% | 1.08 |
 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács |
53 - 51 | +2 | 61.0 | 64.0% | 0.94 |
| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
62 - 61 | +1 | 88.9 | 67.4% | 1.11 |
 Owen 'smooya' Butterfield |
63 - 61 | +2 | 75.5 | 62.8% | 1.06 |
| Fatih 'gob b' Dayik |
50 - 57 | -7 | 68.4 | 67.4% | 0.93 |
| Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch |
49 - 58 | -9 | 63.2 | 65.1% | 0.90 |
 Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş |
41 - 60 | -19 | 52.8 | 60.5% | 0.76 |
Cloud9 were unrelenting as the grand final kicked off on FaZe's pick of Mirage, with Timothy "autimatic" Ta and William "RUSH" Wierzba combining to demolish FaZe in the first half 14-1. The European team's fate was quickly sealed in the second half as they managed just two rounds before Cloud9 closed out the map 16-3, taking the series to their own pick of Inferno.
Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer helped FaZe get off to a hot start on Inferno, with the team taking the first four rounds of the map. Cloud9 battled back for one of their own, but found themselves swiftly reset as FaZe battled back for control. Repeated economical bashings (and an incredible 1vs3 P250 clutch by Håvard "rain" Nygaard) saw Cloud9 unable to string rounds together, with FaZe emerging victorious in the half with an 11-4 lead as they swapped to their T side.
Cloud9's fate seemed sealed as they lost the pistol round in the second half, but a force-buy enabled them to seize control back in their favor to begin a comeback attempt. Another six rounds went Cloud9's way before FaZe stopped the streak, taking three rounds straight to grant themselves match point. Cloud9 attempted to rally back with another round, but FaZe sealed the deal for a 16-12 map victory, taking the series to Train.
Yet another FaZe player stepped up for the European squad in the final map, this time in the form of the team's AWPer, Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács. An early 1vs4 clutch by GuardiaN helped FaZe maintain control, with the Slovakian player helping to tear apart Cloud9's defense on Train and grant the American-European mix just four rounds in the first half.
FaZe were quick to grab a 14-4 scoreline with a trio of rounds in the second half, and despite Cloud9's last ditch efforts to fight back, GuardiaN was not to be stopped as FaZe took the map win 16-9, with GuardiaN putting up a beastly 2.11 rating and ending the map with 34 kills while averaging 131 damage per round.
Cloud9FaZe| Cloud9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey |
51 - 42 | +9 | 80.6 | 72.2% | 1.11 |
 Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
51 - 45 | +6 | 71.2 | 70.8% | 1.09 |
| Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist |
52 - 44 | +8 | 76.3 | 63.9% | 1.06 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
42 - 49 | -7 | 68.7 | 66.7% | 0.99 |
| Jordan 'Zellsis' Montemurro |
45 - 50 | -5 | 74.2 | 66.7% | 0.97 |
| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács |
59 - 45 | +14 | 86.3 | 70.8% | 1.25 |
| Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer |
53 - 50 | +3 | 82.0 | 66.7% | 1.12 |
| Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
45 - 49 | -4 | 65.3 | 65.3% | 0.97 |
| Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev |
40 - 51 | -11 | 62.3 | 63.9% | 0.84 |
| Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
32 - 46 | -14 | 57.4 | 56.9% | 0.81 |
The final standings for ELEAGUE's 2019 Invitational are:
1. 
FaZe - $80,000
2. Cloud9 - $40,000
3. BIG - $20,000
4. 
compLexity - $10,000
Cloud9, FaZe, BIG, and compLexity are next slated to appear at the IEM Katowice Major, with Cloud9 making the first appearance as a part of the New Challengers stage from February 13-17. The New Legends stage, where the remaining trio of teams will return, is set to run from February 20-March 3.
