FaZe Clan has narrowly managed to escape defeat against Team Liquid on the opening day of IEM Cologne. Despite losing, the North Americans managed to put up an impressive showing which brings high for them in the future as they will have a chance to progress in the tournament through the lower bracket of Group B.
Veto
- Liquid removed Vertigo
- FaZe removed Anubis
- Liquid picked Mirage
- FaZe picked Nuke
- Liquid removed Ancient
- FaZe removed Dust2
- Inferno was left over
Map 1: Mirage; Pick: Liquid; Winner: FaZe
Mirage has been a go-to pick for Liquid but has also been a map where FaZe has pulled off some good victories. Starting on the offense, Liquid failed to start the map on a high, as FaZe got off to a 5-0 start before Liquid could post a round. Liquid managed to win two more rounds before FaZe won two but the North Americans almost caught up with them to close the first half with a 7-5 scoreline.
While Liquid managed to bring the score difference a lot closer in the second half of Mirage, FaZe was on point with the tactical adaptations that saw them pull away with a victory just when Liquid closed the game. After a tough exchange of rounds, FaZe closed the map with a 13-11 victory.
Map 2: Nuke; Pick: FaZe; Winner: FaZe
Nuke being a T-sided map, FaZe did considerably well given they match Liquid round for round. With way less experience than FaZe on this map, Liquid put up a decent showing under the leadership of a former FaZe star. The first half ended with a leveled scoreline where both teams had a fair chance of taking it away in the second half.
Liquid managed to walk into a lead by winning the pistol round but it was all FaZe upon then. Having managed 6 rounds on their offense, FaZe walked away with 7 rounds in the second half that saw them win the match against Team Liquid 2-0.
