FaZe beat Heroic 2-1 at IEM Cologne 2021, sending the Danish team back home. FaZe beat them 16-10 on Mirage, conceived defeat 11-16 on Nuke. The Group B Lower Bracket finals had a conclusive story with FaZe winning the game 16-10 in Ancient map.
Heroic now joins NiP, Vitality, Liquid to return home from IEM Cologne 2021 without getting on to the playoffs.
The newest iteration of Faze Clan, after a series of poor results, knocks the EPL S13 champions out of Cologne through to the playoffs.
After dropping out of the top 30 at the start of June, things looked as bad as they had ever been for the International roster, with Karrigan’s second stint not working out as expected. But they managed to get through the play-ins and continue their fairytale run with a huge upset versus Heroic to finally have a chance at a top 6 finish in an A-tier tournament in some time.
MAP VETO
- FaZe removed Vertigo
- Heroic removed Dust2
- FaZe picked Mirage
- Heroic picked Nuke
- FaZe removed Overpass
- Heroic removed Inferno
- Ancient was left over
FaZe immediately left out their permaban map, that is Vertigo, a map that is almost like a second home map for the Danes, and picked into their reliable map of Mirage, which lets them play a slightly looser style of CS. Heroic chose their home map, Nuke, a long-time favorite of many a Danish team.
The last map of the series was Ancient. This would be the first series at IEM Cologne 2021 where a series would be decided on the newest map in the map pool.
MAP 1: Mirage
(Picked by: Faze Clan, Won by: Faze Clan, Final Score: 16:10)
The international roster had a troubling start to things and it took them a while to find their footing, finding their first after a streak of 6 by Heroic, with in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan‘ Andersen especially having a rough go of things.
Carrygan strikes again ?@karriganCSGO puts his team on his back for the second pistol #IEM pic.twitter.com/So5uwW7zic
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 11, 2021
The Faze boys did manage a respectable T side with 5 rounds, ending the half at 10:5, but it was in no way sustainable. Or so we though, as what was to come was nothing short of perfection. Faze Clan answered back with 11 CT rounds on the trot! Not giving the danish side even a second to breathe. 28 frags combined and only 2 deaths from young guns Helvijs ‘broky‘ Saukants and Russel ‘Twistzz‘ Van Dulken saw them close out the map 16:10 with ease.
MAP 2: NUKE
(Picked by : Heroic, Won by: Heroic, Final Score 16:11)
Faze looked decent on their opponent’s map pick and looked to give them a run for their money on the CT side, racking up 8 rounds to finish the half at 8:7. A competitive scoreline soon turned to a blowout as the Danes showed why they are so feared on this map, as they took a lead early on and maintained it until the end thanks to René ‘TeSeS‘ Madsen and his heroics.
The map finished 16:11, with Faze only managing 3 T rounds.
MAP 3: ANCIENT
(Decider, Won by: Faze Clan, Final Score 16:10)
A thriller was at hand, with both teams winning their picks to find themselves on the grounds of Ancient to battle it out. Another tough start saw Faze down 6-1 on the CT side, but a brilliant showing from IGL Finn ‘karrigan‘ Andersen again, saw them win out the CT half 9:6, winning 8/8 rounds towards the end. Karrigan’s prowess showed again, as aggressive calling and his fragging power on the T side helped them secure a miraculous upset versus the Danish side, ending the map and series 16:10.
AFTERMATH
Faze move on to the playoffs to play Gambit in the quarter-finals, after the CIS team lost to G2 earlier today. Heroic go home for the player break-in 7-8th position alongside BIG as only 6 teams remain.
