FaZe take down Cloud9 to book Katowice playoff spot

FaZe have secured the final spot in IEM Katowice's Champions Stage following a convincing 2-0 victory over Cloud9.

The final match of the New Legends Stage began on Cache, Cloud9's map pick, with FaZe jumping out to a 4-0 lead on the CT side. The North American side pulled two back after getting their economy back in order, but FaZe regained control of proceedings on a very weak buy and went on another dominant run, finishing the half with 12 rounds.

After switching to the Terrorist side, FaZe piled even more pressure on their opponents after taking the pistol round and the subsequent anti-eco. Cloud9 responded with a third-round buy, but then they gifted FaZe a 15th round as Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist showed an uncharacteristic lack of composure, which allowed Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev to clutch a 1v2 situation.

It looked like FaZe had the game in the bag, but all of a sudden then ran out of steam. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's side struggled to make mid-round calls and lost their grip on the game, and many viewers certainly started to have flashbacks of the ELEAGUE Major Boston final between these two teams.

The North American side managed to take the game the full distance, but just when overtime seemed to be inevitable they managed to put the game to bed after successfully selling a B fake - a bold strategy for which the players appeared to credit coach Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović.

Things looked very shaky for Cloud9, considering the North American side had not played Dust2 in the last three months. Unsurprisingly, they were outclassed by FaZe for the majority of the first half and could not handle the pace or power of the European team, who raced to an 11-2 lead. Still, the North American side refused to throw in the towel and picked up the final two rounds of the half to keep themselves in the game.

Now playing on the Terrorist side, Cloud9 took the pistol round with an A split and the next two rounds, bringing the deficit to 7-11. Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta then boosted Cloud9's hopes of survival in the tournament with a stunning 1v4 clutch, but FaZe held on, winning five rounds in a row en route to a 16-9 finish.