s1mple powers FaZe into Major playoffs over The MongolZ

s1mple is headed to his first Major playoff in over two and a half years.

FaZe have secured their place in the playoffs of the BLAST.tv Austin Major, moving past The MongolZ 2-0 for the honor.

Securing a stage appearance in Austin is a crucial result for FaZe, as the international side had little time to integrate superstar stand-in Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev into their lineup, playing only IEM Dallas with the Ukrainian AWPer before the Major commenced.

FaZe had an arduous journey through Stage 2, dominating in their best-of-ones against HEROIC and TYLOO before stumbling in their qualifying matches against Legacy and 3DMAX. Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's troops ultimately secured their Stage 3 spot after besting MIBR in their 2-2 match.

Despite a 5-13 loss to Aurora to begin Stage 3, FaZe have looked in good form for the remainder of the stage, marching past MOUZ, Legacy, and now The MongolZ to claim their place in playoffs.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
12/06/2025	Aurora Finished 13:5 FaZe	Match
12/06/2025	MOUZ Finished 10:13 FaZe	Match
13/06/2025	Legacy Finished 8:13 FaZe	Match
14/06/2025	The MongolZ Finished 0:2 FaZe	Match

With FaZe's qualification for playoffs, the sole American player remaining in the Austin Major, Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski, will give the home crowd somebody to root for after a dismal showing from North America's teams. This will be the first time EliGE has played a Major in front of a home crowd in nine years, since MLG Columbus 2016.

This result also marks an important individual accolade for s1mple, as he returns to Major playoffs for the first time in two and a half years, having last reached the playoffs with Natus Vincere at IEM Rio 2022. This outing will be his first Major playoff with a team other than Natus Vincere since his runner-up finish at ESL One Cologne 2016 with Liquid.

Although things ended well for FaZe, they certainly did not begin that way this series. The MongolZ romped to a 7-1 lead on the offense on their map pick of Ancient, making it seem like FaZe would be in for a difficult time.

Despite the difficult start, FaZe managed to claw back a 4-8 half, closing the gap even further thanks to a pistol round win and a 1v2 from s1mple. The MongolZ claimed a trio of rounds to put them within touching distance of the map win, but 2v4 and 3v5 victories for FaZe swung the momentum back into the international side's favor, allowing them to steal Ancient 13-11.

The MongolZ looked like a shell of themselves on Anubis, getting just two rounds in the first half, one of which stemmed from an impressive 1v3 ace clutch from Azbayar "⁠Senzu⁠" Munkhbold. With Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and s1mple hitting their stride at just the right time on Anubis, FaZe dominated The MongolZ 13-4 to secure the 2-0 series win and their place in playoffs.

More highlights from FaZe vs. The MongolZ

• frozen staves off the A hit with a triple kill

• FaZe scrounge together the 2v4

• s1mple denies Senzu's ace clutch

• frozen and EliGE pair up to secure the pistol

• rain shoves The MongolZ out of A main with a 4k