FaZe and NIP met in the quarter-finals of the PGL Major Antwerp in the first match of the Champions Stage. It finally went to karrigan’s team, who won their map of choice, Nuke, 16-10, dropped Overpass 13-16, and won Inferno 16-8 to advance to the semi-finals.
Despite the defeat, NIP remained competitive, particularly on their own map of Overpass, where captain Hampus “hampus” Poser dropped 30 kills to bring the map home and keep his team alive.
First Map: Nuke
NIP started things off as the defenders on Nuke, taking pistol and the four rounds that followed to take a quick 5-0 lead. After converting a half-buy on improved pistols in the sixth round, FaZe clawed their way back into the game, winning three of the following four and pulling the score to 4-6 behind much-needed firepower courtesy of Hvard “rain” Nygaard and the in-game commander himself, karrigan. Before the break, NIP had won back-to-back rounds in which FaZe were totally shut out, but a 1vs2 clutch from Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken in the 15th stopped the dominant Swedish team from expanding their lead any further, leaving the score at 9-6 in favor of NIP.
Any hints of FaZe’s poor start in the first half were fully gone by halfway, as the world’s top-ranked team played a near-flawless CT side, leaving NIP unable to regain their footing for the rest of the game. Though hampus and crew successfully dropped the bomb in the 20th round, it would prove to be a minor consolation, as FaZe completed the comeback on Nuke with a 16-10 final score, with rain and karrigan proving to be the difference-makers behind their respective 24 and 23 kills.
NIP’s Hope: Overpass
Overpass started with FaZe winning the pistol round, but NIP swiftly responded by winning five of the following six rounds, successfully opening up site and planting the bomb off the back of hampus’ 10-2 K-D at that point, giving them a 5-2 lead. FaZe did not let their opponents to extend their advantage as they tightened their defenses, which in turn shut off most of NIP’s efforts in the second half as they fought their way back into the game and seized the lead, 8-7 after 15 rounds.
After switching sides, both teams remained incredibly competitive, and four rounds into the second session, they were tied at 10-10. Robin “ropz” has back-to-back clutches. FaZe gained a slight lead thanks to Kool and Twistzz’s last-minute site pushes, until Ludvig “Brollan” took over. Lockdown on Brolin Once again, a site defense tied the score at 12-12. NIP finally defeated Overpass 16-13 to force a decider against Inferno.
FaZe’s Incredible Comeback: Inferno
The third and final map began with NIP going on a three-round streak before FaZe responded with three of their own, both runs highlighted by clutches; a 2vs4 clutch from Patrick “es3tag” Hansen and Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora in the second round and a 1vs3 clutch from Helvijs “broky” Saukants in the sixth. NIP was able to get a break and string together five consecutive rounds thanks to another fantastic fragging from hampus, and they quickly found themselves ahead 8-3. As things began to look bleak, FaZe stepped up at the crucial moment, scoring the final four rounds of the half and cutting their lead to one.
FaZe did not let up in the least as they displayed a flawless CT side, winning all nine rounds played as ropz and the rest of his squad totally shut down anything NIP threw at them to secure the map and series, advancing them to the Major’s semi-finals.
Read more: Astralis’s worst Major result in club’s history: PGL Major Antwerp 2022
