FaZe move past Rebels 2-0 in Katowice

A close Nuke win segued into a smooth Ancient victory for FaZe.

FaZe have come out on top in their opening matchup at IEM Katowice 2024, moving past hometown heroes Rebels with a 2-0 scoreline to secure a matchup versus a red-hot Eternal Fire for a shot at the playoffs.

The European combine's victory over the Poles did not come freely served on a silver platter, however, as Rebels' pick of Nuke devolved into a battleground despite a confident 10-2 lead for FaZe after the conclusion of the first half. Rebels managed to shut out FaZe in a number of rounds on the defense, but FaZe being constantly within touching distance of match point made the comeback effort extra grueling.

In the end, the recovery efforts proved to be too much to ask from the Polish side. On the verge of claiming double-digit rounds, Rebels collapsed versus FaZe's pistols to allow their map pick to slip away from them with a 13-9 scoreline.

Although Rebels managed to keep things close in the early rounds of Ancient, FaZe soon put together another solid half akin to their showing on Nuke, pulling ahead to a 9-3 lead. This time around, FaZe did not humor any serious comeback efforts from the Poles, allowing them to take only four more rounds before finishing off the series with a 13-7 victory.

Date	Matches
IEM Katowice 2024
04/02/2024	Falcons 19:30 Rebels	Match
04/02/2024	Eternal Fire 21:00 FaZe	Match

FaZe's win over Rebels has now earned them a matchup versus Eternal Fire in the upper bracket semi-final, a prospect that excited David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský in his post-match interview, considering his and Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's previous venture with Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker on MOUZ. Asked about his thoughts on the matchup, frozen said that he could not recall the last time he had played against his former teammate and that he was looking forward to the upcoming game. Meanwhile, Rebels are now slated to play the new-look Falcons for a shot at survival in the tournament.