FaZe outlast NIP in marathon opening match

It took over 50 rounds for FaZe to take down NIP in their opening CAC match.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe opened their run at the CS Asia Championships with a marathon map that crossed the 50-round threshold. Its 53 rounds made it the third-longest CS2 map and the longest CS2 map on LAN.

In the end, it was Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and his men who came out on top in the Group B opener and moved on to the winners’ match.

Ancient survived the veto, and it was FaZe who got off to a quick 4-0 start, although it didn’t last. Ninjas in Pyjamas brought it back to a 5-5 tie even after throwing a 2vs4 situation and came back to lead 7-5 after their defensive half.

FaZe pulled enough strength on the defense to bridge a large gap, from 5-11 down, winning five rounds in a row before giving up match point. karrigan and his men didn’t let up against a struggling economy on Ninjas in Pyjamas's side, however, and brought it to a stalemate by round 24.

A slew of overtimes ensued with all sorts of situations playing out. FaZe hit match point, Ninjas in Pyjamas hit match point, FaZe went up 3-0 at one point just for Ninjas in Pyjamas to tie things up in the second half.

Upon hitting 50 rounds a technical pause had to be called, which took the wind out of Ninjas in Pyjamas’s sails as the back-and-forth brawl gave way to FaZe winning three in a row, bringing the 25-25 stalemate to a final score of 28-25.

Date	Matches
CS Asia Championships 2023
09/11/2023	MOUZ 10:20 FaZe	Match
09/11/2023	Wings Up 14:15 Ninjas in Pyjamas	Match

FaZe will have to reset quickly after their quintuple overtime match, as they are set to take on MOUZ for a spot straight into Saturday's semi-finals. MOUZ will have a little bit more time to settle before their bout with Wings Up, which will decide who plays the first round of playoffs and who doesn't make it out of the group stage.