Opinion: Will FaZe continue their dominance at IEM Dallas?

A first-place finish at the PGL Antwerp Major last week was the cherry on top of what has been one of FaZe's best years since their entry into Counter-Strike back in 2016. A hat-trick of tournament wins and a return to the world's number one spot leaves the European mix as the go-to favorites for IEM Dallas but, with the event being almost as stacked as the Major itself, do FaZe have what it takes to take home their fourth trophy on the bounce?

A three-peat of wins to spur FaZe on in Dallas

With the addition of Robin "ropz" Kool at the start of 2022, FaZe's dream roster was finally realized, and to say his addition has paid off would be a tremendous understatement.

Their first of three trophies came at IEM Katowice where FaZe waltzed through the Play-In before edging out opponent after opponent on their way to the Spodek Arena,
eventually seeing G2 wait for them in the grand finals. Once there, one of the most entertaining matches in years was played out, eventually seeing FaZe reign supreme and take home their first major trophy since 2019.

Just a couple of weeks later, the quintet headed to Düsseldorf in Germany for ESL Pro League Season 15 where things initially looked quite shakey, seeing the side almost miss out on a spot in the playoffs. Despite this scary start, FaZe once again came alive in the playoffs, moving past Players (formerly Gambit), NAVI, and FURIA on their way to the final versus ENCE. Looking to get revenge from their opening 2-1 defeat, FaZe dismantled their opponents in the grand finals, winning all three of their maps with conviction as they took down the rival European mix of ENCE 3-1 to earn themselves their second, consecutive trophy on top of the $190,000 prize.

While those two victories were impressive and clearly no fluke, the one that had eluded the super-team was the Major itself, the title that bests any other achievement in the game. Being the favorites throughout the entire event was clearly deserved as the roster once again blew their foes out of the water, taking down heavy-hitters NIP, a surprisingly strong Spirit, and the incumbent Major champions NAVI in the grand final, with the latter seeing a resurgence in form during their campaign in Antwerp. Whilst many had expected FaZe to make a deep run in Belgium, dropping just two maps tournament-wide was impressive, and many had predicted NAVI to come alive in search of back-to-back Major trophies, putting FaZe's current form into even greater context.

Winning any one of these trophies is hard enough, and only the best of the best can continue to do consecutively, like Astralis in 2018 or Liquid's Intel Grand Slam run the following year. The calibre of opponents also faced is worthy of praise, with there being no "easy" grand final thus far in 2022.

A team of stars ready to tear up the competition

When dissecting FaZe's most recent success, three star players on the roster spring to mind: ropz, Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken and Helvijs "broky" Saukants. Any one of these talents is capable of carrying the entire team on their back in times of peril, and it's not uncommon for the three musketeers to take turns shining when it matters most. This ability to turn to any one of these players when needed plays an integral part in FaZe's recent wins, with each of the three tournament victories seen in 2022 notably having a different MVP every time.

Leading the squad in terms of rating are the Baltic duo of ropz and broky, with the pair boasting strong 1.15 ratings in the past three months. For the Estonian, his entry into FaZe has seen little to no drop off in performance, with the 22-year-old slotting into Finn "karrigan" Andersen's system with ease, all the while being a menace in the server with crisp aim and catastrophic lurks helping to spearhead FaZe's many successes. As for broky, the Latvian AWPer has been instrumental in the squad's recent showings, with his 1.15 rating increasing to 1.18 when versus Top-5 opponents, propelling FaZe to victory in their most difficult of matchups.

As for North America's representative in Twistzz, he boasts a lower yet still impressive 1.11 rating over the past three months, peaking at IEM Katowice where he boasted a 1.15 showing throughout that event. Should the Canadian come alive once back in his native continent, it could really help FaZe further extend their lead over the competition. Despite this, when in a team with as many talented players as FaZe, it can be hard to be the star player, but even while sitting middle of the pack team-wise, Twistzz still continues to be a formidable opponent in-game.

When FaZe won IEM Katowice with Justin "jks" Savage as a stand-in, social media was quick to rally around the Australian's respectable performance, going as far as to call for Håvard "rain" Nygaard's permanent removal from the roster. In the tournaments since, we've instead seen the Norweigan seemingly rediscover his old form, coming out of the PGL Antwerp Major as HLTV's MVP whilst simultaneously sporting a tournament-high 1.24 rating. Even when rain doesn't display this individual prowess, he's still key to FaZe's victories through his selfless play, and again, the squad have three others they can call upon when needed.

With teams only being as good as the players on the roster, it's no surprise that the star-studded lineup that is FaZe is now the best in the world. Not only this, but rain's sudden revival will only serve to further extend FaZe's lead over the rest of the competition. Moreover, from an outside perspective, the four players appear to fully invest into karrigan's calling, and it always feels like the team are on the same page, something that was missing towards the end of the in-game leader's last stint with FaZe. Should all four of the above keep up their performance in 2022, it's safe to say that there are little teams can do to knock FaZe off their stride and a "FaZe era" really could be on the cards.

Is there any team that can go toe-to-toe with FaZe?

With eight of the ten best teams in attendance at IEM Dallas, it's clear that the competition in Texas will undoubtedly be fierce, but with a notable absence in NAVI due to visa complications, there are just a few teams that seem able to dethrone FaZe at the minute.

The biggest challenge facing FaZe when Dallas kicks off has to be ENCE. After all, this is the squad that easily took down the titans in FaZe's opening game at the Major. Once more, ENCE also took a map off of FaZe in the grand finals of ESL Pro League Season 15 so it's clear that Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer's men have what it takes to put up stubborn resistance against FaZe. In addition, ENCE have steadily been improving event by event, only being knocked out of the Major in the semifinals after a three-map affair versus NAVI, a squad that sit second in the world. Whilst FaZe certainly have an advantage over ENCE, especially considering the team's use of a stand-in, it's not out of the question for an upset to happen and for ENCE to take FaZe down should they meet.

Certainly disappointed with their early exit from Antwerp, G2 will be traveling to the States determined to put up a strong performance in Dallas in an attempt to silence their critics. The G2 roster is built around the Kovač cousins who possess some of the sharpest aim in the game, enough to power the squad to victory. G2 also have an experienced in-game leader together with the Russian prodigy of Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov to further assist in helping G2 finally lift some silverware. As seen during Katowice, if G2 are able to stand up to FaZe when playing their A-game, it'll simply be a case of whether the side have been able to iron out any wrinkles in their game prior to Dallas.

Looking to also cause troubles for FaZe are NIP, who have now had just over two months and the PGL Antwerp Major to settle Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin into the lineup, giving NIP the perfect time to peak since they are no longer classed as a new roster and have had ample time to perfect their roles in-game. However, a big blow to the squad comes with the news that Hampus "hampus" Poser has been ruled out of the event due to illness, leaving NIP without their in-game leader and with Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson flying to Texas as a substitute. This loss of their captain may seriously jeopardize any chances of NIP making a deep run, but with a respectable top-eight finish at the Major possibly boosting NIP's confidence, it's entirely within the realms of possibility that NIP do the impossible and take down FaZe without their leader.

While IEM Dallas is certainly a tier one event, filled to the brim with some of the world's best, they're all teams FaZe has become accustomed to beating time and time again. NAVI's sudden exit from the invite list, and at the time of writing, only ENCE seems to be the team that can finally take down FaZe in an elimination match. G2 could potentially hit the ground running in Dallas, much like NIP, but this would require the two sides to be playing the best CS they possibly can against the well-oiled machine of FaZe.

Could jet lag derail the FaZe train?

Sitting in FaZe's favor during their three-tournament spree was the fact that they always had a couple of weeks to recuperate and recharge prior to their next appearance. This break may seem small, but it really can make the biggest of differences versus the best teams, while also preventing burn-out and exhaustion amongst the athletes.

For IEM Dallas, however, this simply isn't the case. Firstly, the Major in Antwerp ended a mere eight days prior to the commencement of their appearance in the States, leaving precious little time before the squad have to fly across the pond. Those few days before the start of the tournament will then be spent on recovering from jet lag, fixing mistakes within their game, and changing their strategies/set-ups from the Major last week so as not to be anti-stratted. Correspondingly, the FaZe camp will also be adapting to the new environment, further complicated when you consider that every major tournament since early 2020 has taken place either online or in Europe, meaning none of the players will have been used to flying overseas to compete in at least a couple of years.

Thankfully, the FaZe squad is as experienced as it is star-studded, and this comfort with LANs and big stages may be the deciding factor in their matchups. However, it's also possible that the team struggle to adapt to a tournament so soon after their Major championship victory just last week, causing errors not typically expected of the world's best team.

While FaZe winning IEM Dallas outright is the most likely scenario heading into the event, there are still things that need to go their way. The young guns need to keep up their impressive individual displays while FaZe's opponents in the server ideally need to be a fair while away from their own, respective peaks. All of this whilst doing their best to overcome jet lag and fatigue is no easy feat, but should FaZe come away from Dallas with another trophy in their cabinet, it further cements the side as the world's best and would put the FaZe side a first-place finish at IEM Cologne away from being the fourth squad to earn an Intel Grand Slam.

FaZe have already started their IEM Dallas campaign with a currently ongoing matchup versus Australian side, Encore.