FaZe outlast much-improved Liquid in Chengdu

Liquid finally showed glimpses of the quality their ambitious roster has always promised during their run in China, but FaZe are CS2's team to beat.

FaZe have claimed a semi-final berth at IEM Chengdu with a 2-1 series victory over Liquid, taking wins on Nuke (16-13) and Mirage (13-10) either side of a loss on Anubis (11-13).

Whilst the series was a hard-fought battle, as evidenced by the close scorelines, it was also a streaky contest with both teams riding hot patches of play to get their round totals. Ultimately FaZe's superiority on Mirage was the deciding factor, they probably should have closed the map out sooner, but Liquid can take heart from the way they played.

Considering Liquid's underwhelming start to life with their new superteam, a run to the playoffs in Chengdu is a solid return. Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis showed signs of his old self at points throughout the tournament whilst Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken was a carry force during the group stage, although he dropped off in the quarter-finals.

FaZe meanwhile continued to do what they do best: find a way to win. It was not a vintage performance by any means for the European combine, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen in particular struggled badly individually throughout this series, but they won the key clutches and came to play from the word go on the final map, ensuring they continue their excellent record in CS2.

Next up for FaZe is a semi-final matchup with Astralis, where the European squad will be hoping to avenge their convincing defeat by the Danes in the group stage.

Date	Matches
IEM Chengdu 2024
13/04/2024	Astralis 12:45 FaZe	Match

This series kicked off on Nuke and FaZe went on a tear to start their T side. They racked up a 6-0 lead before Liquid could respond, and although Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros produced a majestic 4k hold on Upper, he could not prevent his team slipping to a 3-9 deficit.

The script was flipped in the second half as Liquid started their own offense strong and stopped FaZe getting a grip on their economy, allowing Liquid to close the gap. Things got wild towards the end of regulation, with FaZe winning a 2v4 to get onto map point, only for a classic Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller miracle round to send the map to OT.

Unfortunately for Liquid, due to the OT money rules, FaZe were comfortable for cash on their CT side and thus much improved: this allowed the Europeans to close out a 16-13 win.

Anubis was similarly close, but this time it was Liquid who triumphed. FaZe struggled to produce a truly effective T side until a stunning David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský 4k rescued what was looking to be a dire half, but Liquid's attempt on the offensive half of the map was far more accomplished. Powered by several cadiaN multi-kills Liquid abused FaZe's weak B-site hold, where karrigan and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard visibly struggled, and ensured a three-map series.

Mirage was ultimately a relatively comfortable affair for FaZe, even if the score suggests it was close. FaZe started their T side at a blistering pace and racked up six rounds seemingly before Liquid had plugged in their keyboards, but a more combative approach in Middle allowed Liquid to get a handle on things and garner five CT rounds.

FaZe quickly raced out to map point after winning their CT pistol, and although some individual heroics from the likes of skullz and cadiaN kept them alive for a while, FaZe duly closed the map 13-10 to seal the series.