FaZe secure first win as MIBR go 0-2 on BLAST Pro Series day one

FaZe have secured their first win at BLAST Pro Series São Paulo, defeating MIBR 16-11 on Nuke, which puts the Brazilians in a tough spot as they begin the home event with a 0-2 record on the first day.

MIBR took on FaZe in the second round of play at BLAST Pro Series, with Nuke selected as the map, which the Brazilian side had only recently picked up following a long history of having the map as their permaban.

Despite a good start for the European side, who converted Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's 1v3 clutch in the pistol round into a 3-0 lead on the offense, Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's team looked poised to take their second victory on the map this month following WESG World Finals with a nine-round streak.

Although NiKo kept finding openings outside, FaZe struggled to maintain advantages to put the bomb down in favorable situations until they were down 3-9, when they strung together the last three after switching up the pace and finding key pickoffs around the map on the back of quick plays.

MIBR topped up the 9-6 half with a comfortable pistol round win on upper, but FaZe immediately replied with a forcebuy and started taking over the match. Giving the Brazilian side a taste of their own medicine, Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard & co. went on a seven-round streak with relative ease aside from a couple of retake scenarios, and they only lost one more round while mounting a dominant defense for the 16-11 victory.

With the win, FaZe secure their first three points after going 1-1 on the first day of competition in São Paulo. On Saturday, they will go up against Liquid in the third round to kick off day two.