FaZe beat Astralis to claim semi-final spot in Cologne

The upper-bracket final of Group B at IEM Cologne has concluded, with the Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen-led team first denying the Danish comeback on Overpass in a 16-13 win, and then closing out the series on Inferno 16-11.

A 2-0 win against Astralis propels FaZe straight to the semi-final after a flawless group stage, one where they didn’t drop a single map against 00NATION, Spirit or Astralis. In the LANXESS Arena, FaZe will face the winner of the match between Liquid and Movistar Riders.

Astralis struggled to get T side rounds on the board on both maps, as they posted three on Overpass and four on Inferno, but aren’t headed home yet thanks to their own upper bracket run, which sees them through to the quarter-finals. The Danes will now move on to face MOUZ in a match consisting of teams not many expected to make it to this stage of the tournament.

Overpass began with Astralis winning the first round of play, but FaZe were quick to fight back with their forcebuy to equalize the score at 1-1. From then on, the Danes were able to win just two more rounds on their offensive side, as Helvijs “⁠broky⁠” Saukants‘s imperious AWPing performance shut out everything Astralis had to offer.

Russel “⁠Twistzz⁠” Van Dulken, who had a quiet game up to this point, popped off in the second pistol round with a triple kill to put his team 14-3 up, which seemed to put the game to bed. FaZe also struggled on their offensive side however, as they lost nine straight rounds to allow their opponents within two rounds, with Andreas “⁠Xyp9x⁠” Højsleth being the best performing player on his team. FaZe did eventually manage to close out the game, moving the series on to their map pick of Inferno.

FaZe started off strong on Inferno, winning the first four rounds with relative ease, before Astralis fought back and got themselves on the board. broky proved to be the difference maker once again, as he got a quad kill to make the scoreline 6-3, with the reigning Major champions eventually winning the half 8-7.

Yet another pistol round for FaZe gave them a three round lead early in the second half, and while Astralis were able to momentarily tie up the scores at 10-10, their T side struggles continued, with the final scoreline standing at 16-11 for FaZe.