Reigning Major champions FaZe eliminated from IEM Rio by Bad News Eagles

Bad News Eagles shocked the Counter-Strike world by eliminating reigning Major champions FaZe from the IEM Rio Major, taking a closely fought 2-1 series win in dramatic fashion.

Bad News Eagles needed some stellar individual performances to eliminate the current world No. 1, particularly from Flatron “⁠juanflatroo⁠” Halimi on Vertigo and Dionis “⁠sinnopsyy⁠” Budeci on Mirage. Making another Legends Stage was already an achievement for the Kosovar squad, but they ensured their Major is not over just yet by completing a majestic upset.

As for FaZe this was a monumental failure, particularly considering the fact they had already won the three biggest events held so far this year. Uncharacteristic mistakes plagued them throughout the series, but particularly when the pressure ramped up towards the end of Mirage, something unthinkable for a team renowned for their prowess in clutch situations. A single map win is one of the poorest results ever for a reigning Major champion.

The intrigue of this game began before the players even connected to the server as FaZe opted to leave Vertigo for Bad News Eagles to pick in the veto, a map that is usually their perma-ban and one they haven’t played since the ESL Pro League Season 15 playoffs in April.

Vertigo duly opened the series and straight out of the gate Bad News Eagles‘ uptempo, brawly offense repeatedly overwhelmed FaZe, whilst the European mix struggled to get the majority of their individuals going, particularly Helvijs “⁠broky⁠” Saukants. Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen and co. did mount a minor recovery in the middle of the half but the Eagles, powered by the immense juanflatroo, still grabbed a few more rounds to take a 9-6 lead into the second half.

FaZe faltered after winning their T pistol, allowing Bad News Eagles to get to 12, and it seemed they were on the verge of being punished for allowing Vertigo through the veto. They managed to grind out five in a row to make the score competitive, but then fumbled to a low-eco buy from Bad News Eagles which allowed the Kosovar squad to get to 15. Just as it seemed FaZe would go down, a miraculous 4k from Russel “⁠Twistzz⁠” Van Dulken in a 2v4 rescued them and helped to take the game to overtime.

Bad News Eagles were not to let this map slip away from them, and they allowed FaZe a single round as they confidently closed out overtime 19-16 to put FaZe on the brink of elimination.

Nuke was a different story, with FaZe running out to a 9-0 lead as Bad News Eagles struggled badly to get a grip on their CT side. They did improve enough to pick up a few rounds late on their defense, but it simply wasn’t enough and they quickly fell to a 16-8 defeat when sides switched, sending the series to Mirage.

FaZe opened Mirage on the CT side and put together a powerful 11-round defensive half, their opponents struggling to find much traction after losing to a second-round force. Bad News Eagles did grab the second pistol and rode that momentum to an 8-11 score, but at this point FaZe got rolling to grab three in a row to put themselves on the brink of victory.

There was still more resistance left in Bad News Eagles and a switch to a double-AWP setup bore fruit as they stopped FaZe cold, forcing the series to yet another overtime.

The pressure was palpable as the game entered OT and the first period was split evenly, both teams searching unsuccessfully for a way to break the stalemate. Bad News Eagles found two T rounds to open the second OT and that was enough, as they duly put up the two CT rounds needed to eliminate FaZe and achieve one of the biggest shock results of the year.

Group Legends Stage