FaZe deny Outsiders early EPL playoff berth

FaZe have picked up their third win in ESL Pro League Season 16, beating Outsiders 2-1 after a somewhat back-and-forth series. You would have been hard-pressed to guess that we would see a third map though, with FaZe getting off to a blistering start on Outsiders‘ pick of Dust2, only to receive the same treatment on their own pick of Ancient before seizing back control on the Inferno decider.

“Today we had a good game plan and we kind of got unfocused and lost to ourselves on that T side of Ancient as we had a good start,” Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen said after the series. “Yeah, Ancient was a punish pick and we feel comfortable on it, but who would have thought we win 16-5 on Dust2 and lose 16-5 on another map, but classic FaZe things.”

Despite equaling G2‘s 3-0 record atop Group B, FaZe are still not guaranteed of a playoff berth and will need to beat Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen‘s side in their next match in order to ensure advancement. Outsiders, meanwhile, will be left with their heads in their hands as a victory over FaZe would have secured their own spot in the top three, something which is no longer a guarantee as MIBR and BIG remain in contention.

The first two maps of the series had little to write home about, Dust2 being the scene of an absolute slaughter from FaZe, who showcased much better form on the map than they had against MIBR the previous day. Outsiders were shown no mercy as the European combine got off to a 7-0 start helmed by stellar fragging from Russel “⁠Twistzz⁠” Van Dulken, and though Dzhami “⁠Jame⁠” Ali and company managed to prevent a complete shutout, they were left with just five rounds to their name by the end of the map as FaZe moved things on to their own map pick.

An equally dominant treatment was given back the way of karrigan‘s side on Ancient, an initial force-buy battle seeing the teams exchange the lead early on before Outsiders conceded, allowing their economy to build up for an extra round. From there onward though, it was a stalwart defense that was presented, FaZe unable to grab any additional rounds in the first half and barely able to add kills to their tally as Outsiders blazed their way to their own 16-5 finish.

A 3-0 start from Outsiders on Inferno helped them gain initial control, but FaZe were quick to respond, establishing dominance in banana to take the upper hand. There were few opportunities for the Russian team to gain entry into bombsites in the following rounds, a few mistakes from their own side combining with a lockout defense from FaZe, who won nine rounds in a row for a firm lead.

Another round at the end of the half and a pistol win put FaZe even closer to taking a swift victory, but a successful force-buy from Outsiders seemed set to turn tides; however, Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool and Twistzz converted a 2vs4 situation to bring things back into FaZe‘s favor, and from there they pushed their way up to match point before denying one final comeback effort from Outsiders to close out the map, 16-11.