After defeating Team Liquid in the semi-final, FaZe Clan has finally got themselves a trophy since Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer’s return this year. The international FaZe team went on to beat Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s Natus Vincere in a best-of-three matchup where only two maps were necessary to decide the ultimate winner of this year’s Epicenter in Russia.
Na’Vi chase after FaZe on Mirage
Mirage, FaZe Clan’s pick, kicked off with Na’Vi taking the initial pistol and subsequent rounds. However, FaZe rapidly strung together the next eight rounds before Denis “electronic” Sharipov and co. could respond. FaZe went on to win the half in an impressive manner, 10-5. FaZe yet again showed a strong t-side on Mirage, as it has always been historically for this roster.
After half-switch, FaZe went on to get the first two and was in the driver’s seat to quickly snatch the map. However, s1mple’s team had other plans. As FaZe would secure one round, Na’Vi would secure two or three in return. Natus Vincere brought it all the way back to 12-14, before FaZe recomposed and secured the last two rounds necessary to win the map. Despite s1mple having the most frags and highest rating 2.0 according to HLTV, that wasn’t enough to take it at least to overtime. Meanwhile, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač paved the way to victory by being the most consistent player on the FaZe squad.
FaZe rip apart Na’Vi on Dust2
The next map was Natus Vincere’s pick, and surely they must have regretted that pick in the end. FaZe got to work straight away on ct-side after getting the first five rounds rather easily. The half must have been frustrating for electronic and co. as not only were they well on the path to a blowout, but also losing 1v2 clutches against NiKo and olofmeister must have deepened the wound. The half ended 12-3 and nothing changed on Na’Vi’s ct-side. Håvard “rain” Nygaard and his team did not let their opponents get close this time around. FaZe closed out the game by winning the pistol and the remaining three rounds to secure map and match point.
While all the FaZe players played expertly on Dust2, it was rain, NiKo, and olofmeister that were the primary driving force behind their team’s victory.
What’s next for FaZe?
Back on top. 🏆 #FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/VUJ072bxyY
— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) October 28, 2018
After finally getting a victory on a major tournament after olofmeister’s return, FaZe is looking strong and confident from defeating probably the #2 and #3 teams in the world this year (Na’Vi and Liquid respectively). However, they still did not find success against this year’s by-far-strongest team, Astralis. Nevertheless, it is good to see olofmeister back in shape and stepping up big time for his team. In the final, not only did he show rifling, but also AWPing skills on numerous occasions. Hopefully, we will see FaZe go back to the days when they were the contender for the best team in the world.
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Published: Oct 28, 2018 10:35 pm