It does not look like CS:GO will lack great and powerful AWPers in the future with the arrival of numerous top talents throughout the last couple of years. Something the legendary and four-time Major winner Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz also has noted.

As the guest in the most recent [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsdE3aetwFU&t","isNewTab":true,"text":"episode "}]of HLTV Confirmed, dev1ce praises the new generation of AWPers, where he also pin-points what they are doing so good these days and what aspects he’s yet to master himself.

- I think m0NESY is going to be one of the greatest that’s ever touched Counter-Strike. His mechanical skills are absurd and a bit cleaner than what you see with s1mple, where s1mple just has more flair, dev1ce stated. 

- s1mple does impossible things, m0NESY does that as well, but it’s kind of different with the mouse movement because of the difference in mouse sensitivity… but m0NESY is for me the next big, big, big player.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/m0NESY_G2_uilqxo","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

m0NESY, G2's new talisman, gets a lot of honouring words from dev1ce

dev1ce then continues to highlight a young trio of snipers as well.

- degster still has something to learn but he’s also really, really good. Like there are so many CIS AWPers that is good – you can just go through the list of deko and so on, who supposedly is not a very friendly player to play with.

- broky and sh1ro as well. They fit perfectly into their teams and these two are specially very good at trade fragging with the AWP when you execute. That’s something that’s really hard for me, like quick zoom and trade fragging, and is something that I’m working on which is quite new.

When asked Zvonimir “Professeur” Burazin about what makes these new top-tier AWPer stand out, the Astralis superstar quickly points towards one specific aspect; Clutching.

- One common thing is the clutch factor. I think that’s something you’ve seen more and more with AWPers - It has been there with FalleN and others previously - But now you’re thrown into clutches a lot more as an AWPer because you set your team up for executes. 

- Especially broky, m0NESY, and degster. You can just see the highlight reel when you say their name in the clutch situations, dev1ce said. 

You can watch the entire HLTV Confirmed episode down below.

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device

m0NESY

degster

broky

sh1ro

Astralis

A sterling start to 2022 fizzled into mediocrity, but still considered to be the best team of the year, FaZe look to stamp their claim on 2023 with an early success story here at BLAST Spring Groups. Finn 'karrigan' Andersen will be confident that his team can re-find their form of last year and with the deadly rifle duo of Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken and Robin 'ropz' Kool giving  scintillating performances throughout the BLAST Premier World Final, the confidence will be flowing. Getting to the Spring Finals is a necessity for FaZe to continue their quest to reclaim their crown atop the world rankings and we expect nothing less.

Fate halted Complexity’s charge to the IEM Rio Major in the form of Imperial, and since, no tangible improvement has presented itself. Despite the efforts of Michael 'Grim' Wince, the team are yet to confidently grasp the mantle of #2 in North America, so facing off versus superior opposition here could prove difficult. Saving Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli from the ageing Swedish scene was a step in the right direction, yet more consistency is needed around him to truly allow Complexity to rise. Can they upset the big names of Group B and sneak a place at the Spring Finals, or will it be another trip to the gauntlet?

Liquid have shown steady progression throughout the year and capping it off as runners up at ESL Pro League Season 16 and the BLAST Premier World Final gives them great momentum coming into the new season. Positive yet laborious progress from Josh 'oSee' Ohm has begun to elevate Liquid’s level, and I’d say they are slowly but surely morphing into potential title contenders. If Keith 'NAF' Markovic and Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski can finish tournaments in the same fashion as they start them, Liquid can challenge the world’s best and continue to scythe through into the latter stages.

With their only wins at the IEM Rio Major coming over the Asian RMR minnows of IHC and Grayhound, OG’s performance left much to be desired. What followed was the community notion that OG weren’t worthy of BLAST Partner status, something they duly backed up by crashing out of the Fall Finals without winning a map. A late resurgence thanks to spite at the World Finals ended the year on a relative high, but it will take a lot to continue that momentum and take on the two favourites here in Group B. Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan will hope to maintain his form and take revenge for their semi-final loss at the World Finals. Can OG surprise us again?

This group looks more of a two-horse race but the raw firepower on OG and the historical success Complexity has seen at BLAST events could prove potential difference makers.

Group B kicks off on the 20th January with FaZe taking on Complexity.

FaNg

YEKINDAR

FaZe

compLexity Gaming

Team Liquid

FaZe Clan entered 2022 in top form despite just having made a roster change at the end of their disappointing 2021 year. Robin “ropz” Kool’s arrival to the team was felt immediately as the FaZe squad went on to mark a successful debut in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, before taking Katowice by storm. A month later, ESL Pro League Season 15 kicked off, and FaZe found themselves in a deep hole after getting handed a 0-2 start to their group. However, they dug themselves out, as they went on to secure three series victories to make it to the playoffs where they took down NAVI in the quarter-finals and ENCE in the final.

FaZe didn’t seem to let the foot off the pedal as their dominant form continued and the roster went on to win the first Major in Antwerp, beating NAVI in the grand final of the event. But, just like many other Major champions before them, FaZe found themselves faltering at the next two events, which were in Dallas and Lisbon. A second place at the online Roobet Cup followed, and the FaZe roster started to find their title-winning form, which they showcased at the IEM Cologne, where once again took down NAVI in a grand final. Karrigan’s men ended the first part of the season as the No.1 team in the world, being just one tournament victory away from the Intel Grand Slam title. However, when the second part of the season kicked off, FaZe weren’t able to get their rhythm going.

“I think the ‘biggest’ issue is that we made a deal to shave our heads if we win the Major, but everyone that agreed to do it chickened out. So most of us agreed to do it after Cologne win, but the same thing happened. So, I think what prevented us from bringing home more trophies is karma.”

 – broky told [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/35361/top-20-players-of-2022-broky-6","isNewTab":true,"text":"HLTV in an interview."}]

When the IEM Rio Major came, FaZe hoped that they had been able to solve their issues to enter the tournament in good form, but they didn’t as they got eliminated from the biggest event of the year with a 0-3 record, just two days in.

“But if being for real, then I think everyone reacts differently after winning so many tournaments in a short period, especially ending the first part of the season on a high note. We don’t have any sports psychologist or any of that, so personally, I definitely didn’t have the same amount of motivation as at the start of the year until I got hit with a reality check at Rio. We went out as fast as we arrived there.”

The realization of lacked motivation helped FaZe become better in the next small period of time, in which broky showed excellent form despite his team getting bested by Heroic in the grand final of the BLAST Premier Fall Final. At BLAST Premier World Final, FaZe missed out on their last chance to grab silverware after getting eliminated in the semi-finals of the event.

Even though broky and company didn’t continue their title-winning form in the second part of the season, the Latvian AWPer still made it into the Top 6 of HLTV’s World Player Ranking, thanks to many of his outstanding performances in the biggest events of the year.

Being the last player standing on your team and winning 1vX duels requires great mental strength and definitely skill as well. Some CS:GO players are simply better suited to clutch out the round than others. They are the ones their teammates believe can be the hero and pull off a miracle after everyone else has fallen. But who is the best? Take a look at the list right down below to find out who has been the best clutcher in 2022!

This list is based on most clutches won by a player in 2022.

Take a look at the best clutchers in 2022 right here:

We are slowly approaching the end of 2022 as we now have the vast majority of tournaments on the calendar behind us.

We started off the year with NAVI on top of the world ranking after a stellar 2021 season, and then it was FaZe’s turn to rule things with their dominant wins at IEM Katowice, PGL Major Antwerp, and IEM Cologne – Now it seems like the throne is up for grabs with no clear favourite.

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However, who has been the best individual performers so far this year? 

That is something we’ve taken a look at in this article. And by looking at the numbers, it’s no surprise that the usual suspects Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut are to be found at the very top.

More upcoming and ‘soon-to-be’ superstars in Heroic’s Martin “stavn” Lund and Kaike “KSCERATO” Ceraro has also found their way to the Top 10.

You can find the 10 highest-rated players of the year down below.

#1 {cflag:RU} sh1ro (Cloud9) | 1.27 Rating / +779 K-D difference

#2 {cflag:UA} s1mple (NAVI) | 1.27 / +710

#3 {cflag:FR} ZywOo (Vitality) | 1.25 / +738

#4 {cflag:DK} blameF (Astralis) | 1.22 / +674

#6 {cflag:RU} Ax1Le (Cloud9) | 1.20 / +363

#7 {cflag:TR} XANTARES (Eternal Fire) | 1.19 / +259

#8 {cflag:DK} stavn (Heroic) | 1.17 / +365

#9 {cflag:BR} KSCERATO (FURIA) | 1.15 / +378

#10 {cflag:LV} broky (FaZe) | 1.15 / +598

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blameF

s1mple

NiKo

Ax1Le

stavn

ZywOo

XANTARES

Here's a list of the best CSGO players in 2022. See which player has had the most impact on his team in 2022

Highest Rated Players in 2022 ⇒ Read the whole list of the best CSGO players here

Helvijs "broky" Saukants and FaZe came short at the very end of Mirage, where the star-studded roster lost to Heroic in overtime.

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The Latvian finished the event with an impressive 1.29 rating, which was enough to secure him the MVP award for the tournament.

Helvijs "broky" Saukants was also awarded the MVP medal at IEM Katowice at the start of the year.

The Latvian fought off two other Baltic players at the top of the ratings of the event.

Highest-rated players at BLAST Fall Finals:

ropz

On Overpass the round was almost done and dusted. NIP had planted the bomb and had the clear upperhand. But then Helvijs "broky" Saukants wielded his AWP. With an almost nonchalant shot he fired into the smoke without scoping in, and took out a Swedish Ninja.

The kill initiated FaZe to try and retake the site, which was done after another stellar kill from broky.

[twitchClip:PlumpArborealSandstormHassaanChop-PA9B_cHnvCkQYmVN]

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Four teams are left at BLAST Fall Finals who will move into the Royal Arena today, where the two Semi-Finals will be played.

With NAVI eliminated, FaZe is the big favorite for the title and the $200.000.

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All five players are ranked within the top 11 players of the tournament which underlines the dominance from FaZe, who has beaten OG and Heroic in their two opening matches.

BLAST Fall Finals will continue today: (CET)

Twistzz

rain

FaZe are looking to try and finish the season as they started it at the beginning of the year. Their last couple of months has been sour to say the least. But in Copenhagen things are starting to look promising again.

Today they took down the Grand Finalist from Rio, as Heroic fell short on Ancient and Inferno.

On Heroic’s pick on Ancient, it took two hard-fought halves and a brilliant individual performance from Helvijs "broky" Saukants to steal the map away for FaZe. The Latvian provided 34 kills during the 30 rounds it took FaZe to win 16-14.

On Inferno it was one-way action. Twistzz and karrigan destroyed Heroic on both the T and CT side to give FaZe the perfect setup for Saturday's Semi-Final on the big stage at Royal Arena.

Heroic will get another chance tomorrow to go through to play in front of the crowd. 

FaZe - Heroic 2-0 | BLAST Premier Fall Finals

16-14 (Ancient) {cflag:LV} broky – 1.52 Rating / 34-21 K-D / 101.8 ADR

16-5 (Inferno) | {cflag:CA} Twistzz – 1.96 Rating / 24-12 K-D / 130.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Helvijs 'broky' Saukants – 1.27 Rating / 47-34 K-D / 85.5 ADR

Heroic

In what can only be described as a disaster for FaZe Clan, karrigan and company got eliminated from the IEM Rio Major with a 0-3 record in the group stage, even though the roster was one of the biggest favorites to win the entire tournament.

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FaZe was dealt the killing blow by the underdogs from Kosovo, Bad News Eagles, who not just handed FaZe the worst placement of any defending Major champion squad, but also shocked the entire Counter-Strike world by eliminating one of the best teams in the world without an organization behind them.

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IEM Rio Major 2022 was a huge failure for FaZe, considering the fact that karrigan and company had already won the three biggest tournaments so far this year. What went wrong for FaZe?

Find out right here as NaToSaphiX takes a deep dive into their monumental failure in Rio:

karrigan

Bad News Eagles

With the 18th Major being in full swing at IEM Rio, we have taken a look at who has been the best player in Major in history.

On our list, you will have to have played at least 20 maps to be part of the ranking.

1. {cflag:BR} Marcelo "coldzera" David - 1.25 rating (72 maps)

Widely considered one of the best CS:GO players of all time. The Brazilian has been incredibly consistent at the nine Majors in his career winning two of them back in 2016. He is still most famous for his insane double no-scope shot at Mirage that saved Luminosity down 9-15 in the Semi-Final of the MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016.

Coldzera's play inspired his team to a fantastic comeback and was later rewarded with a graffiti from Valve. Coldzera is back in action this year for 00NATION, who was one of the 24 teams, who qualified for IEM Rio. The Brazilian is currently the best player at a Major.

2. {cflag:UA} Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev - 1.21 rating (92 maps)

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"Gamle billeder/S1mple_ukraine_1_dn8xxh","originalWidth":1279,"originalHeight":719,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Probably the best CS:GO player to ever play the game. The Ukrainian finally won a Major last year in Stockholm but has shown some incredible consistency in his performances on the big stage. He has attended 11 Majors, and will always be remembered for his double no-scope kill on Cache.

3. {cflag:UA} Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi - 1.18 rating (22 maps)

From two veterans to a newcomer on the big stage. The headshot machine of NAVI was brought in before the PGL Stockholm Major. And what an impact he had! b1t gave NAVI the last push to elevate the team to become the best in 2021 without any doubt. He rocked a 1.21 rating in Stockholm in his Major debut!

4. {cflag:LV} Helvijs "broky" Saukants - 1.17 rating (21 maps)

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/broky_FaZe_jpl5dy","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

The Latvian could be looking into grabbing another Major in Rio in November. FaZe is one of the big favorites for the tournament, and luckily for them, they seem to be able to rely on broky as a difference-maker. At his first Major in Stockholm, broky was the best player for FaZe, who had a disappointing run. In Antwerp, he played a big part in FaZe winning the title. The AWP'er also has the ability to perform some sick clutches and is definitely a player to keep an eye on in the future.

5. {cflag:SE} Andreas "znajder" Lindberg - 1.17 rating (21 maps)

29-year-old znajder has had a long career in CS:GO. He won a Major in 2013 with Fnatic, but was also taking part in ELEAGUE Major in 2017 for GODSENT. The Swedish rifler was also skilled with the AWP, and performed at the highest level in all three Majors that he played. At the start of 2021 he was announced on the Lemondogs roster, but has not played any competitive games since the summer of 2021.

6. {cflag:FR} Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut - 1.16 rating (46 maps)

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/ZywOo_Vitality_dhr4lu","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

It was always meant to be for ZywOo. He was born on the same day as Counter-Strike's commercial release on November 9, 2000. Dubbed the "Chosen One", ZywOo has also delivered on the big stage. In his four Majors so far, ZywOo has been outstanding on an otherwise mediocre team. Team Vitality has not made it past the Quarter-Final stage despite ZywOo's individual brilliance. Will Rio be the tournament, where ZywOo and Team Vitality breaks through?

7. {cflag:DK} Nicolai "device" Reedtz - 1.15 rating (123 maps)

When is device coming back? Is device coming back? Where is device now? The questions surrounding the Danish AWP god are many, which all seem fair looking at device's Major results. As part of the legendary Astralis roster, device won four Majors and earned two MVP's along the way. His best individual Major was IEM Katowice 2019, where device scored a rating of 1.32.

8. {cflag:US} Timothy "autimatic" Ta - 1.15 rating (29 maps)

The North American player earned himself a reputation from 2017-19 on Cloud9, where the rifler performed consistently in four Majors in a row. The highlight was undoubtedly the Boston ELEAGUE Major in 2018, where Cloud9 on home turf shocked the world and won the Major. Now the American rifler is back and will play his fifth Major at IEM Rio, where he and Evil Geniuses will look to build on their rising form.

9. {cflag:PL} Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski - 1.14 rating (83 maps)

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Snax_2_obqqd7","originalWidth":1000,"originalHeight":563,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Virtus.pro - DreamHack"}]

As part of one of the most legendary rosters in Counter-Strike history, Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski has made his mark on the game, which we all love. The Virtus.pro rifler has attended 13 Majors in total and finished among the four best in seven of them. On home turf in Katowice in 2014, Snax and Virtus.pro cemented their names in history with a win. His best individual performance was in 2014 at the DreamHack Winther 2014 event.

10. {cflag:RU} Denis "electroNic" Sharipov - 1.14 rating (69 maps)

The now NAVI in-game leader has played eight Majors in his career mostly for NAVI. He made his debut at a Major for the team FlipSid3 together with Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy, who is the coach of NAVI now. At the FACEIT Major in London 2018, electroNic was the highest-rated player at the event with a 1.36 rating! The Russian star has won one Major and been in three Grand Finals in total.

(The list is made without the statistics from IEM Rio)

coldzera

B1tGOD

znajder

autimatic

Snax

electronic

Here are the best players at Majors

Virtus.pro

Natus Vincere

{cflag:DK} Finn "karrigan" Andersen - 0.92 rating in 2022

{cflag:NO} Håvard "rain" Nygaard - 1.09 rating in 2022

{cflag:CA} Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken - 1.12 rating in 2022

{cflag:EE} Robin "ropz" Kool - 1.13 rating in 2022

{cflag:LV} Helvijs "broky" Saukants - 1.16 rating in 2022

One of the two stand-out favorites for IEM Rio. That is in a short description of what the expectations are towards Finn "karrigan" Andersen and his teammates from FaZe.

After an incredible year with wins at IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, ESL Pro League Season 15, and PGL Antwerp Major, FaZe is only one win away from completing the IEM Grand Slam run and winning an additional $1,000,000.

But recently there have been hick-ups and some questions surrounding the world's number 1. Before the start of the fall season, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken underlined FaZe’s two big goals for the remainder of 2022. ESL Pro League Season 16 and IEM Rio. A win in one of the two events would secure them the Grand Slam, and their names in the history books.

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But FaZe disappointed at ESL Pro League. They lost maps against MIBR, Outsiders, and Complexity before losing two matches to G2 and Cloud9 leading to an early exit in the Quarter Finals. Then followed the RMR tournament, where a 3-0 record looks solid on paper, but in reality, the wins against Sprout, Fnatic, and GamerLegion were all very close affairs.

But perhaps the recent results came at the exact right time. FaZe has almost a full month of practice to fix their mistakes and to come up with new innovative ways of approaching the game. 

FaZe’s 2022 best results: Winners of PGL Antwerp Major, IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, and ESL Pro League Season 15.

The world leaders from FaZe are off to a brilliant start at ESL Pro League Season 16 with Finn “karrigan” Andersen and company grabbing an easy 2-0 win over FTW in the first series of Group B. By only giving up 8 rounds over two maps, FaZe showed why there are 52 spots between them and FTW on the world ranking.

An individual who was extremely well-playing today was FaZe’s Helvijs 'broky' Saukants, with the Latvian machine being near-unplayable on both Inferno and Overpass. broky ended up with 49 frags and an average rating of 1.88.

The next match today will be between Outsiders and BIG and is set to begin at 16.00 (CET). FaZe and FTW will be in action again tomorrow.

FaZe – FTW 2-0 | ESL Pro League Season 16

16-4 (Inferno) | {cflag:NO} rain – 1.70 Rating / 23-11 K-D / 111.2 ADR

16-4 (Overpass) | {cflag:LV} broky – 2.08 Rating / 27-11 K-D / 120.0 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Helvijs 'broky' Saukants – 1.88 Rating / 49-23 K-D / 118.1 ADR

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Helvijs "broky" Saukants delivered one of the best clutches so far this year when he dismantled the Danes from Astralis in a fierce 1v4 situation at BLAST Premier Fall Groups. The Latvian machine was located on the upper side but after a couple of quick kills he managed to get the bomb brought down to B

The rest you can see for yourself right down below.

FaZe ended up winning the series 2-1 over Astralis with Nuke being the deciding map. The result means FaZe has grabbed themselves a spot at the prominent BLAST Premier Fall Finals, while Astralis on the other hand must settle with a spot at BLAST Premier Fall Showdown. 

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Things are nearing an end at the ongoing BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 event and with today being the last day of the event, things are getting intense. Exactly intense was the match between FaZe and Astralis who both found themselves in a position where a victory was needed in order for them to qualify for the upcoming Fall Finals event. 

Whilst it was a close affair between the iconic Danes and the in-form FaZe roster, it was ultimately "karrigan" and his troops to come out on top. Playing a huge part in the success of FaZe today was the Latvian AWP'er "broky". On Nuke, the third and final map of the Bo3-series, "broky" stepped up in a huge fashion and managed to drop a 31-bomb alongside an incredible 1v4 ACE clutch. 

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We spoke with another star player from FaZe in "Twistzz" shortly after the victory against Astralis, and for good reason, the Canadian headshot machine sang the praises of his extremely gifted teammate who helped carry FaZe across the finish line: 

To hear more from the Canadian FaZe rifler you can watch the exclusive interview posted down below: 

Some players remain scarily consistent and whilst they very rarely have an extraordinary bad game, it is equally rare for them to drop a 30-bomb and completely dominate the entire server. Whilst that may be the case for some players, there are also players like "broky" who has an incredibly high skill ceiling and can outright win games singlehandedly when he is feeling himself. 

When playing against Astralis on the third map of the Bo3-series at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022, that was exactly the kind of "broky" we got to witness and Astralis were forced to face. 

Left alone, without the bomb in his hands against four CT-sided Danes, "broky" was tasked with the impossible challenge. Whereas most would probably opt for a save, "broky" quickly realizes his chances after taking down the first opponent with a no-scope. With nothing but swift shots, the Latvian AWP'er of FaZe takes matters into his own hands and secures a dire round for his team, take a look: 

The match began in the jungle of Ancient and was picked by Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic and OG having won their last six series on the exotic map. After a close 8-7 half in the favor of OG, the map ended up being won quite easily by the underdogs as they closed it out 16-9.

On Mirage FaZe managed to answer back after falling short on the first map. Something they did through a super strong T-side led by the Latvian machine Helvijs “broky” Saukants, who collected 16 kills (23 in total) for himself sending the series towards a third deciding map.

Inferno is always an exciting decider map, and today it was no different. OG did well in the first half to put in eight rounds on their T-side to set up a thriller ending to the match. For OG it was Shahar "flameZ" Shushan, who was leading the team with several multi-kill rounds. The Israelian had a battle with FaZe's Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken of which player would have the most impact on the server. 

At 14-10, it was again flameZ with the double kill that set up his team for success. OG won the map and match 16-11 and will face Astralis tomorrow for a spot in the BLAST Fall Finals, while FaZe will have a second chance to make it through on Sunday, when they go up against the loser of the match on Saturday.

10-16 (Ancient) | broky – 1.46 Rating / 25-17 K-D / 94.4 ADR

16-9 (Mirage) | ropz – 1.63 Rating / 26-12 K-D / 97.5 ADR

11-16 (Inferno) | flameZ 1.43 Rating / 24-14 K-D / 87.0 ADR

flameZ

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. 

16-13 (Overpass) | {cflag:LV} broky - 1.41 Rating / 28-18 K-D / 99.1 ADR

16-11 (Inferno) | {cflag:DK} karrigan - 1.41 Rating / 22-14 K-D / 90.9 ADR

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

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By the end of today, we are left with only four teams battling for the number one spot at the ongoing $250.000 Roobet Cup 2022 event. We have already found our first two semi-finalists, and today we will find the next two. In the first Quarter-final brawl FaZe take on ENCE in a battle of the Danish IGL's. "karrigan" and his member at FaZe are shaping up as a real contender for the #1 spot in the world, however, "Snappi" and his troops at ENCE have been on fire ever since their great performance at the PGL Major in Antwerp. On paper, FaZe were the big favorites. It was also the star-studded roster of FaZe to come out on top. In just two maps, the European roster with nothing but big names in it prevailed as the stronger team. The victory against ENCE means that FaZe will be facing either Astralis or forZe in tomorrow's Semi-finals. 

The first map of the Bo3-series was picked by ENCE and saw the Bo3-series kick off on Ancient. Whilst FaZe are no joke on Ancient, it is arguably one of their weakest maps and with ENCE having one of the best Ancient players on their team in "Maden", it seemed like an obvious pick from "Snappi" and his troops. Once the game got underway, however, thinks started to look bleak for ENCE. After winning the first three rounds off the back of a pistol-round victory, ENCE were completely silenced by a phenomenal FaZe defense. Only securing a single round after the initial three, ENCE had to see themselves behind at halftime at the scoreline of 11-4. Once the two rosters had switched sides, it seemed as if ENCE had finally woken up. Unfortunately for ENCE, it was all a little too late. The enormous lead from the first half, as well as a great performance from FaZe's main AWP'er "broky", meant a victory for FaZe as they secured Ancient at the scoreline of 16-10. 

The second map of the Quarter-final brawl was, of course, picked by FaZe and meant a trip to Overpass. Despite being the perfect map to call for creative rotations, something that "Snappi" himself is very good at, Overpass has been ENCE's worst map as of late. In the past three months, they have only managed to win 40% of the times on Overpass (10 maps), which might very well be why "karrigan" opted for that specific map. Finally finding their groove was ENCE as they started Overpass looking like a completely different team than what we had seen over on Ancient. A phenomenal CT-sided half meant that it was ENCE's turn to go to halftime at the scoreline of 11-4. Unfortunately for ENCE, the story of a poor T-side continued on Overpass. Struggling to find ways past the rock-solid defense of "karrigan" and his troops, ENCE had to see themselves bested. At the scoreline of 16-12 on Overpass, FaZe put up yet another great performance, claimed the victory against ENCE, and earned their spot in tomorrow's Semi-finals. 

FaZe - ENCE 2-0 | Roobet Cup 2022 (Quarter-finals) 

16-10 (Ancient) | {cflag:LV} broky - 1.60 Rating / 27-13 K-D / 102.2 ADR

16-12 (Overpass) | {cflag:LV} broky  - 1.55 Rating / 30-16 K-D / 95.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Helvijs "broky" Saukants - 1.58 Rating / 57-29 K-D / 98.8 ADR

ENCE

FaZe are currently in really great form and it seems as if "karrigan" has finally put together the right pieces in order for FaZe to become real contenders for the number one spot in the world. Known for their always star-studded roster, the current FaZe roster is no different. With nothing but big names on board, FaZe is a scary beast that when awakened can be problematic for even the toughest of opponents. 

In addition to the clever and iconic players in "karrigan" and "rain", FaZe have some of the absolute best aimers and mechanically skilled players in "ropz" "Twistzz" and "broky" on the roster. Just the other day, "Twistzz" played an instrumental role for FaZe in the ongoing Roobet Cup 2022 event, posting an incredible performance as well as a clean ACE along the way.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"highlight-why-twistzz-is-headshot-king","isNewTab":true}]

Carrying on with their Roobet Cup 2022 run today, FaZe was tasked with the challenge of German BIG. Whilst they would ultimately have to see themselves bested against the German machine, another player stepped up to the plate and proved how he is also capable of winning rounds all by himself. The Latvian sniper "broky", this time wielding an AK-47, took down every single BIG player and won the round singlehandedly - take a look at yesterday's best highlight: 

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