GamerLegion recover from 11-4 down to make Melbourne playoffs over FaZe

ash's troops have recovered from failure in the MRQ in style.

GamerLegion have qualified for IEM Melbourne playoffs after a sensational 2-0 victory over FaZe.

Comebacks were required on both maps, GL winning in double OT from 9-12 on their pick of Mirage and doing so from an even harsher scoreline, 4-11, on FaZe's pick of Nuke.

"We were playing like shit until they got 11," ztr said post-game about the comeback. "Ash took a timeout and said, 'let's play set rounds until we stop playing like shit.' We won three or four rounds playing set, then got a chance to outplay them a bit more in the later stages."

The win puts GamerLegion in back-to-back Big Event playoffs after making quarters at PGL Bucharest, another addition to their impressive catalogue of LAN results in 2025 after a top-eight finish in Katowice.

The only blot on their record is the online Major Regional Qualifier, where two best-of-one losses on day one proved too difficult to overcome.

But they now have an arena playoff match to look forward to, a first for Henrich "⁠sl3nd⁠" Hevesi, Oldřich "⁠PR⁠" Nový, and Sebastian "⁠Tauson⁠" Tauson Lindelof.

ztr's clutches make the difference

GamerLegion had captain ztr to thank for three crucial clutches: Two on Mirage, before a third completed the 4-11 comeback on Nuke in regulation.

ztr's 1v3 on Mirage to deny FaZe the map

ztr converts a 1v1 with milliseconds left on the bomb

"I thought I had zero chance," ztr told Freya "⁠Freya⁠" Spiers post-game about his Nuke 1v3 and he should have done — but the pressure of the eight-round T side streak had got into FaZe's heads according to Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski.

"The setup in the 3v1 wasnt good but it's a result of the whole half," NEO said in his own post-game interview. "The pressure we had on ourselves, the enemies playing really fast-paced CS... They played really good CS."

ztr 1v3 completes nine-round comeback on Nuke

NEO: This result is "not okay"

In that interview, NEO was frank about the scale of FaZe's failure in Melbourne: "It's not okay. It's disappointing. We didn't deserve it this time. We've been working really hard over the last couple of months and in these games, sometimes we're not stable."

The Polish coach pointed to the convincing 2-0 win over 3DMAX earlier this morning as proof that the team can click at the right time, but there are huge question marks over how a Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen-led team can be so frail mentally.

The team have made playoffs in two of the five Big Events they've attended, but both were at the lower prestige PGL events in Cluj and Bucharest.

A David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský ace clutch got FaZe to 12-9 on Mirage and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants sat 14-6 ten rounds into Nuke but when it came to crunch time FaZe had no answer for GamerLegion's pace and firepower.

Austin was always the target to get this constellation online but FaZe are running out of time.