FaZe eliminate NAVI and clinch Paris Major playoffs spot

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen executed some great calls and found frags in crucial moments to keep his team in the game.

FaZe are the sixth team to secure a spot in the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 playoffs after defeating Natus Vincere in the 2-2 decider match. The European squad successfully recovered from a catastrophic 0-2 start to the second group phase with three consecutive best-of-three victories to advance.

"We started to choke, we started to be nervous," said coach Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy in the post-match interview. "People forgot what to do, threw another smoke, or forgot their roles... that's very important because when you play against FaZe you have to play at the top of your concentration."

The loss put an end to Natus Vincere's journey at the last CS:GO Major after a disappointing run in the Legends Stage. Their journey was marked by defeats to Liquid and an 0-2 collapse against Monte, losses which sent the Ukrainian squad to the elimination series.

Robert "⁠RobbaN⁠" Dahlström's men will finally breathe a sigh of relief after a tense run to the knockout stage. FaZe's qualification for the playoffs started with an 0-2 record against HEROIC and Into the Breach on the first day, but successfully recovered with wins over 9INE and Bad News Eagles to go into the decider fixtures.

Meanwhile, Natus Vincere were eliminated in the group stage of a Major for the fourth time in their Global Offensive history and the first since PGL Krakow 2017, when they were eliminated by fnatic with a 1-3 record.

The series got started on FaZe's pick of Overpass and it was a masterclass from Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy, especially in that second half where he propelled his team to a victory on the T side with a 1.85 rating. karrigan's men came back later in the half courtesy of a karrigan 1vs2 clutch against Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, but Natus Vincere ultimately claimed the map with a 16-13 scoreline.

FaZe then came back with a statement victory on Mirage, blowing Natus Vincere out of the water on their own pick with a colossal team effort from the European combine. Every FaZe member except for karrigan displayed a rating higher than 1.30 as s1mple and company crumbled on the T side on their way to a 5-16 loss.

The match was decided on Anubis and despite a close first half in which FaZe kept the affair close with a 7-8 scoreline at halftime, s1mple and company cruised after the break. Natus Vincere held a 15-9 lead over their opponents, but an unlikely CT comeback powered by Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants kept FaZe in the game and forced overtime.

It took two sets of extra time, but eventually FaZe edged out Natus Vincere on Anubis 22-19 to secure the map and take the series 2-1, eliminating their opponents from the Major. The match was full of back-and-forth highlight plays, and marked the most entertaining series of the Major so far.