FaZe to IEM final over AST

After playing each other in the Round 2 of the Swiss stage, FaZe and Astralis met again, this time for a place at the IEM Sydney finals. It all started on Cobblestone, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's men pick, with Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli killing four to help his team secure their Terrorist pistol round.

As well as in the first round, FaZe continued to consequently execute B, including in the first gun round, which the Danes were able to win. Despite it, the European mixture quickly reached the five rounds, but couldn't win the anti-eco in the following one – Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye closed it off in an 1v2 with an AK he picked in the beginning of the round.

With 28 kills and an 115 ADR, rain led the way for FaZe on Cobble

In the next round, FaZe did not execute B for the first time: Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard opened the way for his team at A with a fast quad-kill to secure a 6-2 lead. With their economy broken and failing to find key kills, Astralis only managed to get one more round in the first half – a pistol B stack in the 12th round.

In a slow-paced pistol round, the Danes executed B and got the first two kills. However, their adversaries traded other two and, from that point, Kjaerbye was left alone against three and almost pulled it off, but rain clutched the 1v1 to guarantee a triple-kill and the CT-side pistol for his team.

Astralis were down 3-13 and had to force-buy in order to stay alive on Cobblestone, which they did with a well-succeeded fast A execution. Despite having a double-AWP setup, FaZe lost their buy in the 22nd round after a 3v5 that Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz finished with an 1v2 clutch.

Even though allu did four opening kills during his opponents' round streak, the Danes kept on winning eight rounds in a row. FaZe were then able to reach the 14 rounds, but a 2v4 from gla1ve and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth in the next round got their team back to the game. Even with a 1v2 by the latter in the following round, FaZe denied Astralis' hope by winning two more rounds to finish the map 16-13.

With a 1.17 team rating on Nuke, Astralis took the series to a third map

Astralis started their adversaries' map pick, Nuke, with a near-flawless pistol round as Counter-Terrorists. In their anti-eco, the Danish five men couldn't hold Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's Deagle as both of them had a double-kill with it to win the round. From that point, Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey's squad won the subsequent two.

As both teams had weapons, Kjaerbye helped his team secure one more round with a triple-kill. Although the Danish player killed another three in the next one, it was NiKo's triple that guaranteed a two round lead for FaZe.

After FaZe won yet another round, device assured his team's third round as CT with an AWP triple-kill. The Terrorists then executed A and broke Astralis' economy, which meant they easily reached a 7-3 scoreline. However, in the next two rounds, device had a triple-kill with the UMP at B and Kjaerbye, for the third time, killed other three at the upper bombsite. Furthermore, Astralis won two more for an 8-7 lead at the end of the first half.

It was NiKo who opened the second half, but it was the Danes who picked the pistol round. Nevertheless, the Bosnian player helped his team win the force-buy with a double-kill with the Deagle. With a 2v5 from Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen and Kjaerbye in the next round – although NiKo killed both, he did not have time to defuse – the Danish duo opened the way for a five round lead (13-8).

Despite losing four in a row and having to play with pistols, FaZe finally managed to pull one round out in the 22nd. In a 3v5, Astralis reached the 14 rounds after outplaying the European mixture with a slow-paced split at A.

After losing two more, Xyp9x was left all alone against four, which seemed like FaZe were going to able to get their 12th round. Still, the Danish player managed to clutch it out with a stylish play and, as he reset his opponents' economy, eventually take the series to a third map with a 16-11 win on Nuke.

Kjaerbye and his team say goodbye to Sydney

FaZe began the decider map, Train, with yet another fast pistol round. After winning it, karrigan and co. continued their Terrorist trial for five more rounds as they not only picked the anti-ecos but also the first gun round.

Astralis were then able to pick their first two rounds. Since FaZe managed to plant, they could buy one more time. This time, their firepower prevailed as they picked their sixth round – and eventually the seventh once the Danish five men had to save.

device stepped up in the following round with an AWP triple-kill to help his team secure their third round, but yet another fast push from FaZe guaranteed the eighth round in their favor – and another save round for Astralis. After losing their eco, the Danes won three in a row to close the gap to 6-9.

As for the second half, FaZe continued to thrive in their pistol rounds and got one more, the second on Train, in their favor. After winning the subsequent two anti-ecos, allu's good positioning at the A bombsite assured the first gun round for his team as Counter-Terrorists.

From that point, Astralis lost a semi-buy but won the next round with a near-flawless. The Danish squad then changed their pace and did a fast B execution to win one more round, which broke their adversaries' economy and guaranteed the ninth round in their favor.

Despite failing to get the opening kill, a triple and a double-kill by rain and karrigan in the 24th round, respectively, opened the way for FaZe's trial to the IEM Sydney finals as they won one more to finish close the map 16-9.