FaZe outlast Spirit in instant classic in Copenhagen

Two of the pre-tournament favorites slugged out two overtime maps in a match that would have been worthy of the grand final.

FaZe have inched past Spirit at PGL Major Copenhagen after a mammoth quarter-final matchup, clinching the series 2-1 with wins on Mirage (13-7) and Vertigo (16-14) either side of a loss on Nuke (16-19).

The vast majority of the community considered Spirit to be the favorites to take this Major title, with FaZe serving as part of the chasing pack. HLTV's rankings pitched these two teams as No. 1 and 2 in the world, and FaZe were seeking revenge after being outclassed by Spirit in the IEM Katowice grand final. The series the two teams played out was worthy of the monumental billing.

After FaZe's excellent gameplan allowed them to comfortably take Mirage, the two sides slogged out back-to-back overtime brawls that featured a little bit of everything that makes Counter-Strike great: stellar playmaking, wild clutches, gut-wrenching mistakes and many high-pressure moments.

Spirit managed to out-FaZe FaZe on Nuke, recovering from a squandered 12-9 lead by showing impressive mentality and rising to the occasion in overtime. They nearly did the same on Vertigo, recovering from a 5-12 deficit to send the game to overtime, but Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia crumbled in multiple high-pressure moments whilst FaZe won several key clutches to clinch the series.

FaZe took a gamble letting Vertigo through the veto, a map they haven't played an official on in 2024, but it paid dividends and threw Spirit off their game. Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen deserves immense credit for cooking up a tricky veto that allowed FaZe to bag the vital edge they needed in this series.

FaZe can now look forward to a semi-final matchup with Vitality, a team they have lost against in the last two series they played.

Date	Matches
PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024
30/03/2024	Vitality 17:00 FaZe	Match

This series began with FaZe grabbing a statement victory on Spirit's pick of Mirage. The European combine overwhelmed Spirit's T side in the first half with a proactive defensive approach, scuppering the Russian's plans before they could take shape and allowing David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský to rack up frags. Spirit still found ways to steal rounds away, turning a 3v5 post-plant in their favour and stealing a half-buy thanks to Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets's Deagle to head into the break 4-8 down.

Spirit kicked off their own defensive efforts with a pistol win and conversion, but frozen produced a stellar quad kill to rectify the situation for FaZe. A streak of three close FaZe round wins was broken by Spirit to give the Russians the economic advantage, but they fumbled a vital anti-eco round which spelled disaster, granting FaZe a 13-7 victory.

Nuke started far more brightly for Spirit on their CT side, as once FaZe converted their pistol win the Russians went on a tear. Seven rounds went the way of Spirit without reply thanks to zont1x and donk, the former recovering admirably after a shaky Mirage. Some tasty Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard entries earned FaZe a couple more rounds, but Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov clutched up nicely on the A bombsite to ensure an 8-4 lead for his side.

The second half was a back and forth affair, FaZe picking up another pistol and converting only for Spirit to answer back. frozen popped up with a miraculous 3k and allowed FaZe to grab a streak of rounds, but back-to-back attacks towards the lower site, with donk leading the way, put Spirit on map point. FaZe then did as FaZe often do, step up when their backs are against the wall, and some strong holds of the upper bombsite sent the game to overtime.

The first OT saw the teams trade three Terrorist rounds each to force another set of extra rounds, but whilst Spirit adjusted their CT side and found success, FaZe did not: Spirit duly closed the map 19-16.

It seemed the series might end with an unfortunate whimper as FaZe controlled the opening stages of Vertigo. The Europeans dominated on their CT side, timely aggression and well-coordinated rotations getting the job done as Spirit started to crumble under the pressure. donk found flashes of impact but nothing ground-breaking, zont1x struggled badly and seemed dejected on the player cam, and the team as a whole made some bizarre decisions as FaZe turned the screw.

Spirit mounted a purely cosmetic comeback towards the end of the first half, and FaZe quickly ran out to match point at the start of the second. Then Spirit woke up, as donk and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev began to rack up impact and multi-kill rounds as they set about mounting an imperious CT side of their own. The Russians needed to clinch multiple clutches, and for zont1x to recover and provide some key impact frags, but eventually they managed to force another OT.

The frenetic feeling of the game carried into OT, with both teams making plays, making mistakes and winning rounds. Ultimately it was FaZe's extra little bit of power in clutch situations that sealed the deal 16-14, sending the pre-tournament favorites out of the Major and granting FaZe a semi-final berth.