FaZe become the first team to qualify for IEM Rio Major

After playing seven sets of overtime in three matches, FaZe have made it unscathed through the Europe RMR and secured Legends status at the IEM Rio Major.

FaZe became the first team to secure a spot at the IEM Rio Major. With a 3-0 record in the Europe RMR, the defending Major champions earned Legends status and will skip the Challengers stage of the Brazilian tournament.

The world's No. 1 team beat Sprout in their third match, leaving the Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali-led side with two more chances to qualify. It was business as usual for FaZe — the usual meaning the same shaky form they had displayed at the Regional Major Ranking event, playing four overtimes in their GamerLegion opener and another set of extra time in the second victory against fnatic on day two.

Ancient against Sprout was no different in spite of Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's men stepping into the first map of the series looking dominant on the CT side. Romanian up-and-comer Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea was a thorn in FaZe's side alongside the AWPer, Fritz "⁠slaxz-⁠" Dietrich, preventing the No. 1 team from running away with the game as they recovered from a 4-9 deficit on the CT side.

Briefly taking the lead at the beginning of the second half, Sprout couldn't hold FaZe back until the heavy favorites reached match point, when their advance finally stopped. lauNX's multikills kept the underdogs in the game, and had it not been for a Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants 1v2 in overtime FaZe would have been in real danger of losing the first map, ultimately putting together a perfect defense to close it 19-17.

Sprout didn't let the close loss deter them and kept up their fighting spirit on Nuke with an immaculate start on the CT side. Nine rounds in, FaZe had yet to find an answer to the defense, but from there they got on the road to recovery after Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard broke through with a triple for the first time.

Salvaging the half with five rounds of the last six, FaZe gnawed away at Sprout's lead little by little thanks to a much-needed round win with just upgraded pistols, but a resolution could not be found before overtime. Despite that being somewhat of a comfort zone for the No. 1 team by now, after having played six overtimes in the previous two days FaZe faltered this time around and the series went to Mirage.

On the decider, the dominant FaZe of old turned up for the first time at the Regional Major Ranking. Despite solid effort from lauNX, Sprout could no longer keep up as the No. 1 team put together a near-flawless defense, locking down the series 16-5, 2-1 on their way to the IEM Rio Major.