Renegades proceed to New Legends final round over FaZe

Renegades have successfully advanced to the fifth round of the New Legends Stage following a 2-1 elimination series victory against FaZe.

The second elimination series of the day saw FaZe and Renegades struggle against one another for survival, starting their face-off on Mirage. The Australian offense was able to take the first pistol, and assume a three-round lead off the back of their early success. Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer's AWP quad kill secured FaZe their first round of the half, but the unrelenting Renegades persevered past this, ensuring the majority of the early-to-mid portion of the rounds. It was only in the concluding three rounds that the European mix found consistent success, producing a 6-9 CT half off the back of it.

FaZe's offense kicked off to a successful pistol round, courtesy of a Glock quad kill from olofmeister. This fruitful start yielded the European mix a further two rounds, and much like their adversaries, after Renegades' full-buy was conceded, their dominion continued. Strings of consecutive victories, with the occasional showing from the defence allowed FaZe to extend their lead, subsequently securing map point thanks to a stunning 1v2 clutch from Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard on the B site. Despite their opponents' advantage, Renegades managed to string together the final three rounds of the latter half, pushing their map pick into overtime.

A single overtime was insufficient in settling Mirage, as the teams exchanged 2-1 T side performances, to force a second set of rounds. It was in the second overtime that Renegades eventually managed to outshine their opponents, securing Mirage with a 22-19 score.

Map two, Nuke, saw FaZe kicked off to a very strong T-side start, where the European mix absolutely dominated the initial half. Outstanding individual performances from olofmeister, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and rain, coupled with Renegades' inability to deal with the T-sided onslaught produced a lop-sided 13-2 half in favour of FaZe.

A consecutive pistol round for the FaZe camp, followed by a consecutive conversion made for a fast map point and a colossal comeback task for Renegades. Just one successful round was secured by the Australians in the latter half, with map two concluding immediately after on a confident 16-3 score for FaZe.

The third, and final map of the series was Vertigo. Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski and company transferred the massive momentum from the previous map into the concluder, securing yet another pistol round victory, followed up by a further two. Rifles in the hands of Renegades were no threat for FaZe, as the team continued to snowball, gaining pace as the early stages of the map progressed, leading to a 7-0 lead, reminiscent of developments on Nuke.

Contrary to map two, Renegades were able to halt the rolling stone, their first round courtesy of a triple kill from Sean "⁠Gratisfaction⁠" Kaiwai. In conclusion of the first half, the Australians were able to prevent a blow-out by securing a 5-10 scoreline.

After switching to the defence, the Australian quintet commenced comeback efforts, spearheaded by USP-S double kills from Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad and Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward. The initial success inspired Renegades past their opponents' first full-buy, allowing them to subsequently equalise the scoreline at ten rounds apiece. The teams exchanged blows, after which FaZe attempted a dash for the finish line by closing out three consecutive rounds.

A standout triple kill from jkaem in round 17 broke the offense's momentum, allowing the Australian-majority squad another gap closer, this time at a nail-biting 14 rounds per side. A consecutive round loss for FaZe resulted in a fragile economy come the final round, and a concluding failed A ramp hit saw the team collapse with a close 14-16 score.