FaZe, Heroic to face off for IEM Cologne playoff spot; Vitality, FURIA out

FaZe march on in the lower bracket after eliminating Vitality, but HEROIC stand on their way to the round of six.

The disappointing form Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's men have been showing online is seemingly behind them, as FaZe have won four out of five matches played in Cologne and a 2-0 over Vitality being their latest accomplishment.

A true test of FaZe's level will come next in the form of HEROIC. The Danes have risen to the top since the additions of Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali and Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck earlier in the year and have defeated FURIA 2-0 to get one step away from playoffs. However, Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller's team has been lacking some of the flair they are known for at the $1,000,000 LAN event.

FaZe's 5-2 start to Mirage, their map pick, wasn't converted into a strong offensive half for the European side, who have been struggling as T recently. An eight-round streak for Vitality started with a 2v5 turnaround from Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire and Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier, setting them up for a respectable first half (10-5). However, the Frenchmen never got going after the switch, as Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer on the second AWP inspired a comeback and enabled a near-flawless CT side for FaZe.

Solid defenses continued on Dust2, where FaZe were 6-0 up and closed out the half 11-4, killing Vitality's momentum with a full eco. A quick conclusion to the map was avoided with a USP-S eco win from apEX and co., who then started a comeback, but a moment of briliance from Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken at 14-14 pushed FaZe across the line.

HEROIC's CT side on Ancient showed some gaps, with FURIA exploiting them to get six rounds for the half, equalizing after the pistol (9-9). HEROIC started rolling with the rifles and cadiaN's 1v3 clutch on A propelled them close to victory, but it was only after overtime that the Danes closed out the map. On their pick of Nuke, cadiaN's team had an easier task and after an early back-and-forth, won 12 of 16 rounds down the stretch to take the map 16-10.