Heroic beat FaZe to top Group C

Heroic have secured their best result yet since adding Jakob “⁠jabbi⁠” Nygaard, beating FaZe in a best-of-one on Inferno to top Group C and earn one of the top three seeds in the gauntlet bracket of BLAST Premier Fall.

The Danes were struggling to play up to their former level, having exited IEM Cologne in 13-16th place before the tournament break, but have shown renewed vigor in Copenhagen. Although they dropped Nuke to FaZe in the upper final, Heroic recovered by beating BIG in the lower bracket before claiming a relatively one-sided win on Inferno, the scoreline not giving them the credit they deserve as they looked the superior side in most full-gun rounds en route to victory.

“We had some communication issues, couldn’t really close the rounds,” Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen explained of the loss in an interview after the match. “It was a strange game from our side, it felt like we won more ecos and force-buys than weapon rounds and that has really not happened to us before. Maybe it’s the start of the season and we have to get back in form, and I think it’s good we get a loss here so we can reevaluate how we can play better.”

FaZe kicked off inferno with a 3vs5 recovery, converting what looked to be a lost pistol round into a 3-0 lead. Once gun rounds rolled around though, Heroic showed a much better face, consistently halting the European combine’s efforts to even garner small portions of map control. What looked to be open territory was repeatedly reclaimed by the Danes, crisp aim from their newcomer jabbi overpowering the best team in the world as Heroic pushed up to a 9-6 lead at the break.

A quad kill from Russel “⁠Twistzz⁠” Van Dulken gave FaZe the edge as the second half got underway, but that was immediately lost as Heroic overwhelmed the B bombsite with a force-buy to regain control. Efforts to fight back into the map from FaZe proved fruitless as rounds for them were few and far between, their players often seen tucking into bombsites or over-committing to duels in banana in situations that continually went the way of Heroic. Ultimately, FaZe managed just three more rounds in the second half before Heroic claimed victory, winning the map 16-10.