FaZe eliminate Major champs
It was a joyous end to the day for FaZe as they took down the 2023 BLAST.tv Paris Major champs to stay alive at the first top-tier CS2 LAN in the world. IEM Sydney has already seen some upsets as teams are adjusting to the new game and the new format standard. With so many teams, players, coaches, and IGLs adjusting to MR12, it affects exactly how the rounds play out and potentially what maps teams feel comfortable with. For Russell "Twistzz" Van Dulken, it was a tough battle as the squad came back from an overtime defeat to win the series.
FaZe got started on their own pick of Overpass, but soon came to regret it as they were only able to claim three T-sided rounds while Vitality jumped to a 9-3 lead. However, the map proved to just be very CT-sided as FaZe roared back to claim nine CT rounds of their own, only to lose the comeback at the last round of regulation with Vitality forcing overtime, where the French organization claimed a 16-14 win.
Needing a comeback, FaZe headed to Inferno and found slightly more success in the first half as opposed to the last map. Despite losing the pistol, FaZe found their footing and surged ahead to claim the first half 7-5 while playing defense. Switching sides, FaZe did not let up as they took a 9-5 lead. That lead quickly disintegrated as Vitality came back to tie it all up at 9-9. However, Faze would pull through in the end as they tied up the series 1-1 with a 13-10 victory.
Finally, Nuke was a topsy-turvy game with Vitality utterly demolishing FaZe right out of the gate. A pistol-round win quickly snowballed into an 8-1 lead. But Twistzz and his teammates weren't ready to give up just yet as they came right back, reversing the entire deficit to secure a 13-9 victory on Nuke to stave off elimination while sending the reigning Major champs back home.
VitalityFaZe| Vitality |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut |
59 - 54 | +5 | 86.9 | 72.0% | 1.18 |
 Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi |
59 - 50 | +9 | 76.2 | 72.0% | 1.15 |
 Emil 'Magisk' Reif |
51 - 51 | +0 | 76.7 | 66.7% | 1.04 |
| Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan |
46 - 51 | -5 | 61.0 | 68.0% | 0.98 |
| Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire |
40 - 49 | -9 | 66.5 | 70.7% | 0.95 |
| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
59 - 50 | +9 | 92.2 | 74.7% | 1.34 |
 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants |
54 - 52 | +2 | 70.5 | 73.3% | 1.08 |
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
58 - 52 | +6 | 77.2 | 62.7% | 1.05 |
 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
52 - 50 | +2 | 69.4 | 73.3% | 1.03 |
| Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
29 - 52 | -23 | 55.7 | 66.7% | 0.77 |
Still in the lower-bracket, FaZe and Twistzz are scheduled to play against Natus Vincere tomorrow at 04:30AM.
