MOUZ outclass FaZe to set up G2 quarter-final

27-9-2023 21:56

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's side couldn't get anything going in the series and have had their run in Malta come to a bitter end.

xertioN could not be stopped in the series as he put up a 1.50 rating

FaZe weren't able to defend their ESL Pro League title and have been eliminated from competition in Malta by MOUZ, who recovered from a slow start on their map pick of Mirage and still closed things out in firm control (16-10) before completely running away with things on FaZe's pick of Inferno (16-5).

The Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek-led side have been on fire ever since losing their first match in the group stage to MIBR, and haven't dropped a map in any of their subsequent series, including in wins over HEROIC, FURIA, and now, FaZe.

The roster changes they made during the off-season seem to finally be paying off and the team is looking more comfortable in siuhy's system, something which Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman touched upon an interview with HLTV after the team's win over Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and company on Tuesday.

xertioN: "I couldn't find my footing in our system with siuhy [at the beginning]"

Whether MOUZ can maintain that trajectory as they turn their attention to their upcoming quarter-final versus G2 remains to be seen, with Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and company also having hit their stride while in Malta after coasting through the group stage.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
29/09/2023	G2 19:00 MOUZ	Match

FaZe, conversely, has looked a shadow of themselves. The European supersquad has had a tumultuous few months and are struggling to return to a world-beating level, exiting IEM Rio, BLAST Spring Final, and IEM Cologne in the group stage. The team also faltered in the Legends Stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major and were immediately eliminated from Gamers8 by Virtus.pro, with their playoff exit in Malta now joining the growing list of waning results.

It wasn't a disastrous start to the series for FaZe as they recovered from a 0-3 scoreline to briefly take the lead at 7-5 while on the CT side of MOUZ's mirage pick, but that was the only time the PGL Major Antwerp champions truly seemed like they had a fighting chance in the series. From that point onward, they garnered just three more rounds while MOUZ took complete control of the proceedings, helped by stellar multi-fragging from xertioN.

The Israeli rifler continued to showcase excellence on Inferno, with FaZe's circumstances only going from bad to worse. karrigan and company started the map with a 3-0 lead in hand, but only won two more rounds from that point onward as MOUZ made them look the fool en route to a swift series victory.

ESL Pro League Season 18Best of 3

FaZe

Matchpage

27th September 2023

MOUZ

Mirage

Inferno

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants broky	30 - 32	-2	64.8	66.0%	0.93
Robin 'ropz' Kool ropz	29 - 33	-4	67.1	63.8%	0.88
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen karrigan	21 - 37	-16	55.8	51.1%	0.70
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard rain	21 - 38	-17	57.1	51.1%	0.63
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Twistzz	18 - 37	-19	54.5	48.9%	0.56

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman xertioN	45 - 29	+16	105.6	80.9%	1.50
David 'frozen' Čerňanský frozen	35 - 19	+16	77.0	85.1%	1.35
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo Jimpphat	38 - 21	+17	75.9	83.0%	1.31
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás torzsi	27 - 21	+6	70.2	74.5%	1.20
Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek siuhy	31 - 30	+1	78.4	68.1%	1.10

Siuhy`s tryout for Faze`s new IGL (he passed)

2023-09-27 21:57

2 replies

faze cant afford him + he wont downgrade

2023-09-27 22:07

1 reply

2023-09-27 23:58

Light work for Faze Academy

Make ropz a more aggressive player PLEASE

MOUZ in this form can easily take it to G2. So far, the quarter-finals are electric in terms of the match-ups. It's just whether or not MONTE or CoL face Vitality.

2023-09-27 22:01

12 replies

? Mouz played vs 2 teams that are in horrendous form right now, they shouldnt be near g2

2023-09-27 22:14

11 replies

yes they can. All it takes is 2-3 members of the team sleeping which is a 50/50 chance)))

2023-09-27 22:15

8 replies

niko is in great form and monesy shows up 60% of the games, and i have a feeling they might go to 3 maps but g2 should outclass them rn idk

2023-09-27 22:16

7 replies

you underestimate how much G2 goes into stinker mode.

2023-09-27 22:17

i probably do but everytime they do, the next event they randomly win..

i think that mouz has one slight advantage.. G2 are weeks without the proper match which can be a little disadvantage.. exactly this problem is happening at majors every year... the challenger teams are beating legend teams at the beginning of the legend stage because legend teams are not warmed up and they are just waiting for the matches doing some praccs which is not great.. it can happen that G2 will have slower start into the game because of that..

2023-09-28 11:06

both got great superstar in niko & frozen, g2 got the edge with awp in monesy but so does mouz in igl/fragging power combo in siuhy. all depends on jks/hunter aswell as xertion/jimp, whoever of these 4 shows up, got the edge in my book. the experience speaks for g2 obviously, the firepower slightly for mouz. 50/50 game

2023-09-27 22:43

niko and frozen on same level? :P

2023-09-28 00:42

One is the literal entry fragger and the other is the most passive t side rifler of their team. Also niko STILL has better stats. Frozen may be a top 5 rifler this year, key word maybe. But niko has been for half a decade and still is the s1mple/zywoo of riflers. No one is close. The closest there ever has been was ax1le. And that didn't last long. But he's the only aggressive rifler to ever perform at a similar level for longer than a few months. Before anyone calls Frozen aggressive. That was before ropz left. Now Frozen is usually the 4th or 5th guy In. Doesn't make him not a top 5 rifler. He just doesn't compare to the literal goat rifler , who's been the goat rifler for 5 years, and who's only gotten better, and is in peak form. Frozen is not equal Niko at all lol. Again no shade to Frozen. He's truly already peak form wise one of the best riflers to touch cs.

2023-09-28 08:07

niko isn't anywhere near the top of the leaderboards of EPL

2023-09-28 10:25

True but in the fashion that they won, they're clearly ready for a team like G2 unless they completely tilt like they did against Vitality. If both teams are performing at full-power, my point being is that it should be a fantastic match.

2023-09-27 22:34

Both teams feel like a coin toss in every game

2023-09-29 02:35

That was such a pleasure to watch. Never thought MOUZ was bad but seeing them demolishing FaZe like that, the org I hate with burning passion, surely elevates me to being not just MOUZ enjoyer but a MOUZ fan!

xdd

2023-09-27 22:02

mouz 1.18 rating on 14 maps good lord

2023-09-27 22:10

are quarterfinals in arena already?

4 replies

malta has arena?

2023-09-27 22:21

Venue: InterContinental Malta

2023-09-27 22:33

last time around QFs very with crowd already, but to call it an arena is an overstatement

2023-09-28 00:14

actually nevermind, only friday's QFs are with crowd, today's aren't

2023-09-28 00:17

Can only imagine how pissed YNK must've been at the end of this one.

2023-09-27 22:24

How they picked Inferno instead of overpass against one of the actual top3 infernoteams must be a Secret....

2023-09-27 22:39

Are you feeling low on confidence? Are you not able to pop heads in your game? Need some motivation to come back to form? Welcome to a match against FaZe!! Karrigan and rain will offer you your much-needed confidence so that you can shine again.

2023-09-28 00:19