FaZe dismantle forZe to progress to ESL Pro League S11 stage 2

FaZe have locked down a spot in stage 2 of ESL Pro League S11 Europe after taking down FORZE in two maps (Inferno 16-4 and Nuke 16-10).

Group C runner-up FaZe faced off against FORZE - the third-placed side from Group B - in the first Play-In match of the day, sending the Russian side out of the tournament with a strong all-round performance in a two-map series that began with a demolition job on Inferno.

Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David got FaZe off to a flying start on FORZE's map pickk with a quad kill, which included a knife kill in a 1v1 clutch, to enable the European mixture to purchase the AWP in the subsequent round. Despite possessing the Big Green Gun early on, FaZe continued to add to their score without relying on it as yet another phenomenal quad kill from Brazilian superstar kept his team firmly in front on the CT side.

The clutches persisted in the match moving forward as a Dmitriy "⁠facecrack⁠" Alekseyev 1v2 posted FORZE’s first round on the board before Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač won out a 1v3 in return with calculated utility usage to extend FaZe’s lead to 8-1. FaZe bulldozed their way through the Russians' attack time and again to take a 13-2 advantage at the halfway mark, with NiKo and coldzera boasting 39 kills between them.

The second half proved to be the Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer show as the Swede spearheaded FaZe’s T side for the team to close out the map swiftly, picking up an ace in the final round of a 16-4 domination.

With confidence beaming in the FaZe camp, the European giants went into their pick of Nuke looking to end the series promptly, but an early 3-0 lead on the Terrorist side was quickly flipped on its head by a four-round streak from FORZE. As their economy stabilised, FaZe recomposed to get a foothold in the half to claim seven of the eight remaining rounds, with Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov denying olofmeister a 1v4 clutch to total the Russian squad’s defensive rounds to five.

FORZE secured a much-needed second half pistol to garner four additional rounds, interrupted only by a quad kill round from NiKo that began with the Bosnian ace having just a Deagle in hand. Now sitting at a 9-11 deficit, the Jerry-led side had their sights set on a comeback, but FaZe tightened up their defence to close out the remaining rounds 16-10 to eliminate FORZE and book their spot in the second stage of ESL Pro League S11.

With two Play-In matches still left to play, the team list for the second stage of ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe currently looks as follows: