Complexity vs FaZe, what to expect
Complexity face their biggest challenge yet of EPL, dethroning the current kings of Counter-Strike, FaZe. Complexity got into playoffs by the skin of their teeth, relying on Heroic's performance over Astralis to get them through on the final day. Now though, there's no recourse. There's no banking on great Danes to get them through the tough challenge ahead. Their road against FaZe must be won by themselves and themselves alone.
Now then, what can we expect? Beyond the unhelpful answer of "not much", let's dig into the match-up at hand and find the silver linings that just might propel Complexity to the quarter-finals.
Looking at the maps, let's see what we have to play with. Complexity and FaZe permaban Mirage and Vertigo, respectively, so that's two maps off the cards. Complexity have a home on Inferno and Overpass, picking one of those two maps for their first choice without fail. FaZe, on the other hand, have picked Nuke three out of four available opportunities this season of Pro League. It's likely FaZe will continue on that pick while Complexity will choose Inferno or Overpass to make their stand against the international superteam.
The highlights? Complexity have won all three games of Nuke they've played in Pro League, including a victory over rank #4 Astralis. Complexity are also insanely clutch so far, with three of their players ranking in the top three of the event in absolute number of clutches won, for a total of twenty-seven throughout the whole event. For another ridiculous stat, Complexity are 21-8 in 1v1 clutches. The new boys on the block have stepped it up big time and show no signs of nerves.
To continue on Complexity's good notes, Michael "Grim" Wince has stepped his form up immensely, putting up a 1.15 rating through the group stage. His consistency is strong too, putting up a positive rating in all but three maps, becoming the rock that Complexity need to survive FaZe's hurricane.
FaZe, on the other hand, while still retaining amazing form, have certainly faltered from their Major winning form earlier in the year. Since they won IEM Cologne, they've lost to OG, Heroic, and G2, no slouches of teams to be sure, but proof enough that the gods can bleed.
Nonetheless, no matter how many silver linings I can pull, the reality still remains that the sky is overcast. It will take a monumental effort from all five Complexity players to defeat the number one team in the world. On paper, should they win? No way. Could they win? Absolutely. After all, believing in NA has always been about blindly believing your team in the face of insurmountable odds. What's more NA than rooting for the hometown heroes against the internationally picked superteam?
