Karrigan and his team faced challenging situations once again, but they managed to secure another CS2 tournament victory with remarkable comebacks in the semifinal against ENCE and the grand final against MOUZ, concluding a marathon day of play.
FaZe’s journey began with a map deficit against ENCE, losing their pick of Nuke and only securing five rounds on the CT side of Ancient. Following the familiar script, they averted two match points in regulation with ropz’s heroics, winning the map in overtime. They clinched victory on map three, Anubis, with a narrow 13-11 margin in CS2.
Despite MOUZ’s shorter match against Astralis to reach the grand final, they couldn’t overcome FaZe on Mirage, losing their own map pick 7-13 despite Jimpphat’s exceptional 1.42 rating. Jimpphat continued to shine on Nuke, limiting FaZe to four rounds on the T side and leading MOUZ to a 12-6 lead. FaZe seemed fatigued, but in a Cinderella story, they mounted a six-round comeback, forcing a triple-overtime affair. FaZe secured the win with a perfect four out of four conversions at the third attempt.
This victory marks FaZe’s third consecutive CS2 tournament win, following their triumphs at IEM Sydney 2023 and the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, solidifying their status as the dominant team in the new era of Counter-Strike.
Amid ongoing rumors about the roster’s future following FaZe’s parent company’s acquisition by Complexity and impending conflict-of-interest rules, questions have arisen about Twistzz potentially returning to Team Liquid. In a post-match interview, when asked about the continuous comebacks, Twistzz referred to it as “the FaZe way.” When questioned about future comebacks, he diplomatically responded, “I think the next one is looking pretty good.”