FaZe remain undefeated at IEM Cologne 2022

If not Natus Vincere, who are then the frontrunners to lift the IEM Cologne 2022 trophy? A good guess could very well be FaZe. Currently ranked as the best team in the entire world, according to HLTV's official rankings, "karrigan" and his troops at FaZe have seemed dangerously cohesive and consistent at a very high level as of late. Quite the opposite of consistent, have been the Danes of Astralis. With only "blameF" standing out as a beacon of light in the otherwise very dull performances from the Danes as of late, Astralis are yet to have found a way to perform at a consistent level. The two teams locked horns as a ticket to the Semi-finals of IEM Cologne 2022 was on the line. On paper, FaZe were the heavy favorites and perhaps unsurprisingly it was also the star-studded roster of FaZe to come out on top of the brawl between Astralis and FaZe. With confidence through the roof, FaZe silenced the Danes and earned their ticket to the Semi-finals of IEM Cologne 2022.

The first map of the Bo3-series was picked by Astralis and saw the brawl kick off on Overpass. Struggling to find a map that FaZe have not been a monster on in the past three months, Overpass seemed a decent bet for the Danes to get off to a great start in the Bo3-series. Instead, however, it was FaZe to hit the ground running. Starting on their CT-side, FaZe locked down both bomb-sites and suffocated the Danes at every chance they got. Having difficulty with breaking down the defense of "karrigan" Astralis would have to see themselves behind at 12-3 before giving their CT-side a go. Whilst it became far less one-sided in the second half of Overpass, the lead created in the first was ultimately too much for the Danes to come back from. At the scoreline of 16-13, it was FaZe, spearheaded by a confident "broky", to claim victory on the first map of the brawl.

The second map of the brawl between FaZe and Astralis was picked by FaZe and saw the battle continue on Inferno. With Astralis having great history on the map of Inferno it is a map that IGL "gla1ve" is more than familiar with. Despite the history between Inferno and the Astralis name, however, it is also a map that FaZe have seemed almost unbeatable on in the past three months. Continuing as Overpass had ended, the first half of Inferno was very close with little separating the two teams from each other. At the scoreline of 8-7, the two rosters switched sides. Still close between the two, the CT-side of FaZe seemed far more comfortable than their T-side and was ultimately enough to get them across the finish line. At 16-11, FaZe claimed victory against Astralis and secured a spot in the Semi-finals of IEM Cologne 2022.

Highlight of the Bo3-series:

FaZe - Astralis 2-0 | IEM Cologne

16-13 (Overpass) | broky - 1.41 Rating / 28-18 K-D / 99.1 ADR

16-11 (Inferno) | karrigan - 1.41 Rating / 22-14 K-D / 90.9 ADR

MVP: Robin "ropz" Kool - 1.28 Rating / 43-26 K-D / 77.0 ADR