FaZe advance to IEM Sydney playoffs over GamerLegion

Karrigan and company won the Nuke decider to take revenge on GamerLegion after losing to them in the tournament's opening round.

FaZe are still in the running at IEM Sydney and have qualified for the first round of the playoffs after winning the do-or-die Group A lower bracket final against GamerLegion, which in turn sent the Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski and his men home.

The three-mapper between the two international sides started off with each team winning the other’s map pick. Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company were the first to hand an upset in a close Ancient. It went FaZe's way in the very last round of regulation just as it looked like GL were about to bring it back to a tie and force overtime.

The series moved to FaZe’s Inferno pick, but a very weak attack, in which karrigan’s men only managed two rounds, proved to be an insurmountable challenge on the CT side as GamerLegion sprinkled three rounds in the half to bring it home 13-7. The map left a beautiful triple by karrigan with the desert eagle after he capped two labored frags with a mid-air headshot against his counterpart, Snax.

Most teams haven’t played each other in CS2, let alone twice, but GamerLegion and FaZe faced each other in the IEM Sydney opening series before the final group stage bout. The first time around it was Snax and his men who knocked the superteam down to the lower bracket with a tight 19-15 on Nuke, but this time around revenge was served by FaZe in Cedar Creek after leaving Vitality and Natus Vincere behind.

It took surmounting a very slow start on the defense, however, as GamerLegion elevated to a 5-1 lead before having their wings clipped as they were dominated by FaZe, who won 12 out of 13 rounds all the way to a 13-6 victory.

FaZe will now play the winner of ENCE vs. G2 in the first round of the playoffs. The original international team has already left some heavy hitters in the dust during their lower bracket run Down Under and are finding strength on Counter-Strike 2 as the tournament progresses.