FaZe has been eliminated from IEM Cologne 2024 following a heartbreaking 1-2 defeat to SAW in a nail-biter of a quarterfinal. Here’s everything that went down in the best-of-three showdown between the two teams.
Map Veto
- FaZe banned Vertigo
- SAW banned Mirage
- FaZe picked Inferno
- SAW picked Anubis
- FaZe banned Dust2
- SAW banned Ancient
- Nuke was left over
Game 1: Inferno (Pick: FaZe, Win: SAW, Final Score: 13-6)
FaZe Clan secured a hard-fought pistol round to kick off the first map of the series on Inferno’s T-side with a win. A failed force-buy attempt from SAW put the Portuguese squad in a tough spot, but a surprise victory on the eco-round quickly put them back in the game. SAW showcased their dominance on the CT side of Inferno in the following rounds, taking the lead for themselves with some impenetrable site holds. FaZe could grab their third round after SAW had taken four rounds in a row, but the latter bounced right back, leaving little room for mistakes as they went into the second half of Inferno with a solid 8-4 lead.
With a pistol-round win on their T-side, SAW found themself in a comfortable position as they could extend their lead to 10-4. FaZe tried to get back into the game with a win on their first gun round, but they could only get one additional round to their name before SAW closed out the game with a 13-6 score.
Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto dominated the Inferno leaderboard with an impressive K/D of 23/10, rocking a whopping 118.7 ADR.
Game 2: Anubis (Pick: SAW, Win: FaZe, Final Score: 13-11)
After losing their own map pick, FaZe looked to regain their composure by winning the pistol round to kick off Anubis on their T-side. A force-buy from SAW in the following round shut them down, but FaZe responded with a force-buy of their own, leaving no room for SAW to capitalize. FaZe managed to win the buy-round as well, which enabled them to extend their lead to 4-1 before giving up a round to their opposition. SAW seized the opportunity and built on their momentum to equalize the game, but FaZe struck back hard, grabbing four consecutive rounds to end the half with an 8-4 score.
FaZe grabbed the crucial second pistol round of the map on their CT side and found themselves in a comfortable position as the scoreboard showed a 10-4 lead in their favor. However, SAW wasn’t willing to give up anytime soon, as they grabbed their first gun round and went on a rampage with back-to-back round wins. They managed to tie the score at 11-11, dropping only one round across the eight played. However, FaZe emerged victorious in the end, clinching the game 13-11 thanks to a decisive clutch by David “frozen” Čerňanský.
Game 3: Nuke (Win: SAW, Final Score: 16-14)
SAW started the CT side on the right foot as they grabbed the first pistol round and followed it up with another win on the anti-eco. FaZe secured their first buy-round of the game, putting a dent in SAW’s economy to equalize the score. The two teams then proceeded to trade a few rounds back-and-forth, but SAW did manage to end the first half with a slight lead as they went into the weaker side of Nuke with a 7-5 score in their favor.
It didn’t take long for FaZe to equalize the score as they secured the final pistol round of the series. SAW found themselves in the driver’s seat once again as they took their first buy-round of their T-side and capitalized on the economic advantage to take the game to match point. However, FaZe struck back decisively, claiming the last four rounds of the half and pushing the match into overtime.
Rallying behind standout individual performances, SAW managed to outmaneuver FaZe in a thrilling finish, ultimately securing the victory with two round wins in each half and a hard-fought score of 16-14.
