FaZe extend win streak to 16 with opening win over NIP

FaZe will play the winner of Cloud9-NAVI for a spot in the semi-finals.

FaZe have now won their last 10 LAN best-of-threes after beating Ninjas in Pyjamas in their Fall Final opener. Their seven-map pool came in handy once again, diverting the veto to Vertigo (13-6) and Nuke (13-9), and showing the championship form we are now used to seeing from FaZe in Counter-Strike 2.

FaZe's ability to ban Overpass put Ninjas in Pyjamas in trouble before a round had been played, since it left the map pool as Vertigo, Nuke, and Mirage — three maps that NIP have not scored a single victory on (for 11 losses) in the last three months.

"It's super good," Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen told us post-game about the seven-map pool. "Obviously, Vertigo isn't our strongest map, but the results we had now are pretty good, beating MOUZ and VP and also showing up great today as well. Feels super good to take out the enemy's best map if you respect their Overpass, and we respect NIP's Overpass at this point."

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, despite reportedly being set to join Liquid, shone brightest all series-long with his trademark impactful 2Ks sending NIP down to the lower bracket in Group A.

Action began on Vertigo, where FaZe made light work of Ninjas in Pyjamas' T side. The game was Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet's debut for the Ninjas, but after just four and a half days of practice they struggled to make a dent in FaZe's formidable defense.

Anchors Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and Twistzz were the equivalent of Scylla and Charybdis as NIP failed to break into either bomb-site consistently. Just two rounds were found by the end of the half, the pistol and a 1on1 win from Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke in the first gun round, and FaZe easily closed the map out.

Nuke was closer, at least initially, before FaZe accelerated to take their record on their usual pick to 11-2 on CS2. The score was 5-5 early on, but once the sides switched FaZe's supremacy resumed and they closed the map out 13-9.