rain dazzles FORZE on Overpass to earn FaZe a Legends Stage berth

FaZe recovered from their loss against ENCE to cruise into the Legends Stage, thanks in no small part to Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard.

FaZe have joined G2 and ENCE in qualifying from the Challengers Stage of the BLAST Paris Major by besting FORZE 2-0. The European combine seemed in control of the series from start to finish, taking Overpass 16-12 and Nuke 16-11.

rain, who posted a heroic performance on Overpass, stated in a post-match interview on the broadcast that he still felt FaZe had improvements to make. He gave his judgement on their communication against FORZE, something the team have mentioned is an issue for them currently:

"I’ll go 4/10 for this match, it was still pretty lackluster and I think we have a lot of things to work on before the Legends Stage. It’s good that we have a couple of days off to figure stuff out."

He also addressed the current state of FaZe, saying "I think it’s like karrigan said, we are all hitting shots, we just need that extra spark of motivation and to be able to communicate and make sure everything is clear for your teammates."

The series kicked off on Overpass, the pick of FORZE, and rain made the Russians pay for their choice with a superlative performance. The Norwegian produced a mammoth 23 kills and 170 ADR to carry FaZe to a convincing 12-3 CT half, and FaZe duly converted on their offense for a 16-12 win.

Nuke was a similar story, but this time it was 15 kills and nearly 100 ADR from Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken that carried FaZe to a strong 9-6 first half on their T side. This gave FORZE another second-half mountain to climb, and they were once again unable to do it, FaZe taking a 16-12 win to seal their spot in the Legends Stage.

FaZe have seemed in fine shape throughout the Challengers Stage, first producing an excellent comeback from 10-14 to beat Monte 16-14 on Ancient, then easing past paiN 16-12 on Nuke. The European squad then traded map picks with ENCE in their first attempt at qualification, but their only weak showing of the tournament so far on Anubis prevented them from making the Legends Stage at the first attempt. Against FORZE, they made no such mistake.

FORZE on the other hand had to bounce back from a heart-breaking defeat on Mirage by an unfavored Grayhound side in their opening match; they led the map 12-3 at the half but were unable to prevent a monumental comeback by the Aussies. Bounce back they did, first by clinching a narrow 16-14 win on Nuke over Liquid thanks to a Aleksandr "⁠zorte⁠" Zagodyrenko hard-carry performance, and then by crushing Monte 16-6 on Ancient. FaZe outclassed them in this series, but the Russians will get a final crack at qualification on Thursday.