Karrigan has done it! FaZe Clan are your IEM Cologne 2022 Champions. The win marks the end of an extremely successful season where the team picked up 4 of the biggest trophies in the world. With the biggest events out of the way, the team will be focusing on completing the Intel Grand Slam when Counter-Strike returns in August.
After 8 failures at Cologne, Karrigan and Rain finally made it to the Grand Finals. And much like the Major, it seemed like the team was destined to win. With magical clutches and incredible resilience, the match will go down in history as one of the best Grand finals of all time. Let’s take a look at the match that crowned our IEM Cologne Champions.
Image Credit: FaZe Clan Twitter.
Map 1 – Inferno – “Broky Shatters NaVi in One Magazine!”
The opening map of the most anticipated Grand Finals kicks off on Inferno. And right off the bat, the Magician Twistzz pulls off a triple kill to get FaZe clan the pistol. A s1mple 2k with a p250 allows sdy to scavenge two rifles for his team. But FaZe Clan quickly convert their lead to a 5-0. Now on a half-buy, s1mple pulls out a massive play, giving NaVi their first round.
Immediately putting FaZe on the economic back foot, NaVi put together a streak of rounds tying the score at 6-6. FaZe Clan is unable to recover a 3v3 round where they left the bomb at spawn, and the half closes down at 9-6 favoring the Ukrainian side.
The second half starts with NaVi gaining a two-man advantage in the pistol, but still losing the round. After an eco round, NaVi brings guns out in the third. And they are successful in converting an A-hit into their first attacking round. With NaVi in the lead, FaZe quickly put together rounds in a row thanks to a successful 2v1 defense by broky and twistzz, putting NaVi on a bad buy. Crushing the partial-buy, and following it up with a rain 2v2 win, FaZe put themselves in the lead. Broky sprays down four on a banana flank to shut NaVi down. And two solid B site defenses from FaZe’s veterans close the game out 16-13.
Map 2 – Overpass – NaVi Answer Back
NaVi’s pick of Overpass put the desk in confusion with Janko “YNk” Paunović stating it is “Not a NaVi pick “. And once again FaZe Clan starts with a CT side pistol win. But this time NaVi is able to successfully answer back thanks to s1mple’s hero AK. NaVi takes the lead at 3-1 after cleaning up an eco round from FaZe.
FaZe clan on their buy decide to fight for connector and are able to pick up two entries. That is enough to get the round in the bag with four left standing. In the next round, b1t opens the round by one-tapping broky out of the server at long, giving NaVi an avenue into A. FaZe saves in the 4v3 and the saved weapons propel them back in. After closely fought rounds, NaVi takes a narrow lead to end the half.
Immediately in the second half, FaZe Clan takes the lead by winning the pistol and converting it into three. In the next round, NaVi finds themselves in a 3v3 retake turned 3v1. With Twistzz behind a smoke, the round seems almost over, but the Magician pulls out a magnificent clutch with not one but two AK-47s.
Where many would’ve been broken, NaVi showed resilience. The team immediately recovered from the loss and answer back with a force buy victory. FaZe gained just one other round in the half due to NaVi incorrectly stacking the B site. But stunners from S1mple and perfecto close the game out quickly.
Map 3 – NaVi Dominance almost turns into Disaster
NaVi finally was able to start the half on the right foot, picking up the pistol round. While Ancient is notoriously CT-sided, what followed was something nobody would’ve predicted. For the first 8 rounds, FaZe could not convert rounds despite having man-advantage situations. It ended up being a poor buy that finally put FaZe on the board as karrigan found an opening on electronic. But NaVi had no intentions of letting up. When the dust finally settled on the half, NaVi had a lead of 9 rounds going into the second half.
The second half was a similar story at the start as NaVi quickly propelled themselves to match point. But when the match is between the two best teams in the world, anything NaVi can do, FaZe can do better! The international squad brings the game all the way to double digits shutting down attack after attack from NaVi. The first AWP comes out for S1mple but he is bested by broky. NaVi struggles to even get a bomb plant and FaZe secures Overtime.
But in OT, s1mple and sdy ,both found openers than allowed NaVi to take the lead 17-16. Finally FaZe and NaVi end up in a 2v2 round, but s1mple makes an uncharacteristic mistake by walking through the smoke. Luckily for him, b1t was on the case, picking up a stellar clutch to secure the map win.
Map 4 – Mirage – FaZe won’t let the IEM Cologne Champions Title go without a fight
With NaVi ahead in the series 2-1, FaZe got ready to push this to a fifth. Karrigan wasn’t ready to give up the title of IEM Cologne Champions so easily. NaVi however started the proceedings on Mirage with a pistol-round conversion. When the guns come out for FaZe, rain and Twistzz combine to pick up their first. NaVi pull out another buy, but an A site crossfire shuts them down and puts FaZe on even footing.
One more round for NaVi as FaZe plays the A site passively, but NaVi is unable to replicate the success, falling behind 8-4. A quad-kill from electronic over at B puts his team at 5, but FaZe end the half with a big lead at 10-5. The pistol round from NaVi is a bust, and FaZe is threatening to run away with the game. But a s1mple Deagle opener and a broky 1v2 save gives NaVi two more rounds.
A bizarre round sees FaZe attack both bombsites simultaneously but end up losing to time when the bomb gets dropped on A ramp with the final player at B. FaZe however convert their force buy and run away with the game, giving NaVi the worst loss of the finals at 16-9.
Map 5 – Nuke – Someone Call Hogwarts, Twistzz is doing Magic
The conclusion of the most exciting Grand Finals in ages, Nuke. A map that both teams have loved historically. NaVi kicked us off, once again taking the pistol round conversions. This time it was NaVi continuing the success and moving to a 5-0 lead before FaZe came back. Rain, who was the key difference maker on Nuke at the Major, opened up the sixth round outside and swept aside NaVi’s attack on the A site.
After chaotic trading of rounds, FaZe Clan ties the round tally up at 6-6. NaVi forces up and electronic’s mad dash into secret catches two FaZe members off-guard and secures another round. That success is followed up with a 3v3 win for NaVi before FaZe Clan’s outside aggression closes the half at 7-8.
FaZe Clan secure ramp control on the pistol round and trade it down to a 2v2 that is closed out in the favor of karrigan’s troops. Converting that into two more wins thanks to NaVi’s force buy and subsequent save. FaZe then head down secret for back-to-back bomb plants, but only manage to convert one of them.
Another lower round and this time it’s Twistzz stealing the show with a stellar double kill to clutch the round. Edging ever closer, NaVi start piling rounds of their own, tying the game pack up at 13-13, largely thanks to a multi-kill round from sdy that started the run. A squandered 5v3 from FaZe puts NaVi ahead at 14 first, but a lightning-fast hit on the upper site puts FaZe back on board.
Trying to stop match point, NaVi’s economy is on the ropes, but their two saved guns give the fans some hope. But Twistzz puts on his invisibility cloak and flies through the Nuke air, taking down NaVi in one fell swoop.
And with a play as brilliant as that, what more could NaVi even do. FaZe Clan lock down the final map and emerge victorious as the IEM Cologne Champions.
IEM Cologne Champions – Are FaZe the #1 Team of 2022?
Without a doubt, FaZe Clan has now cemented themselves as the best team of the year so far. Winning every single prestige event in the game and making history every step of the way. Here are some of the amazing achievements that they have accrued.
The first team to win a LAN event with a rotating 6 man roster (IEM Katowice 2022)The first international team to win a Major (PGL Antwerp 2022)The only team to win Cologne, Katowice and a Major in the same yearRain – Oldest Major MVPTwistzz – One of the 5 players to win a Grand Slam, Major, Katowice, and Cologne
Credits: Intel Extreme Masters on Twitter
And the IEM Cologne Champions are just one event away from unlocking the Intel Grand Slam. With their next chance coming at ESL Pro League Season 16, will the team be able to repeat the success of NaVi from 2021? Will Twistzz become the only Double Grand Slam holder? We will have to wait and see. But for today, #FAZEUP all the way!
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS: GO news and updates.
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