What to expect from the GameSquare Derby

You don't need me to explain why this is one of the most important matches for North American Counter-Strike, do you? Do you remember Complexity's last grand final? MSI Gaming Arena 2018, against Dzhami "Jame" Ali's AVANGAR. Not even a tier one event. This is the highest peak the organization has reached, so far, and it comes in the very beginning of the CS2 era.

Trying to stop the flop is FaZe, a team that is very much accustomed to playing grand finals of big events. A side that started off slow in Sydney but has been ferocious when on stage. A side that is very much able to stop the flop, but has shown some weaknesses worth worrying about if you are a FaZe fan. It is the biggest match of Counter-Strike 2's history, and it has NA written all over it.

Complexity dominance

The best North American move of the off-season was undoubtedly Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski's move to Complexity. Although the season started off slow, since the end of IEM Cologne, the team has been looking ferocious, dominating in the Americas region and showing great signs of improving during ESL Pro League S18. But since the start of IEM Sydney, and the start of the CS2 era, this is a completely different beast. Clear wins over every opponent they faced make Complexity look as strong as FaZe, even stronger in some aspects.

• Riflers need to be on top of their game today like they have been all event long

• hallzerk has been struggling to find as much impact as before, with the new AWP

• JT has been showing he is NA's #1 IGL

• Communication is key, don't let the nerves of a grand final get in the way of that

Phoenix FaZe

Just like the mystical birds, FaZe has been reborn from the ashes. A shaky and inconsistent start to the tournament, i.e. the whole group stage, has shown that there is some polishing left to be done, and with the recent news of Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken supposed departure, one starts to think if this is the final ride for this squad as it is, and if that has had influence in the team's performances. The playoffs and stage games have shown a different-looking FaZe, a much more deadly one, and for their last four maps played, FaZe are the favorites to win this final, but by a small margin.

• rain and broky have been instrumental to the team's success in Sydney

• Twistzz became alive in the playoffs

• Can karrigan beat JT in the IGL battle?

Previous Matchups

The teams have met twice before, with FaZe winning both series, but that was during CS:GO. Now with CS2, Complexity will try to revert that situation.

Likely Vetoes

With a coin toss deciding who is the better seed, there's no way of knowing who is going to ban first, so, let's try and do both scenarios.

Gamesquare-off

With the reports that FaZe Clan is being acquired by Gamesquare, Complexity's parent company, this might be one of the last times we see these two teams fighting on the same server and in the same event. Just like what happened with the EG Blueprint project, Complexity and FaZe will have the same ownership, thus resulting in a Conflict of Interest if they play in the same event. Some, jokingly, say that this matchup can decide which roster gets to keep organizational support, but that seems too dystopian, even for the esports industry.