- The two teams faced off on Nuke and played to overtime
- AWPer Helvijs “broky” Saukants’ clutches came in to save FaZe
- The narrow win puts FaZe in the 2-0 pool
Overtime saved FaZe Clan from suffering defeat at the hands of Fnatic at the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR A.
FaZe Narrowly Triumphs Over Fnatic
Fans of competitive CS:GO were recently treated by a nail-biting game between one of the sport’s biggest names – FaZe and Fnatic. The game ended in the former’s favor, but with a score of 19-17, it was a very close match.
FaZe Clan, the world’s Number 1 team, barely managed to get ahead of their opponents with the overtime being crucial for its victory over Fnatic. This marks FaZe’s second close win in the tournament, following the defeat of GamerLegion on Tuesday. That match required a whopping 53 rounds for FaZe to walk out with a difficultly-fought victory.
It’s safe to say that the overtime and the actions and close clutches of FaZe’s Latvian AWPer Helvijs “broky” Saukants saved the day. Scoring multiple kills throughout the match, ending it with 36 frags, 10 more than FaZe’s second-best fragger, Håvard “rain” Nygaard, broky was undoubtedly the team’s best player.
How Did the Game Go?
FaZe and Fnatic faced each other on Nuke. Fnatic quickly gained the initiative with in-game leader William “mezii” Merriman's players leading the first four rounds. However, FaZe caught up as the half progressed, eventually overtaking their opponents with a five-round lead by the time the side swap happened.
Fnatic was having none of this and once again took the early lead after the side swap. The team overturned FaZe's pistol-round victory with six rounds of their own, bringing the score to 11-11. FaZe responded weakly by winning the 23rd game. However, Fnatic once again responded strongly by adding four of the next five rounds to reach match point.
This was the time FaZe’s reputation shone once more as the team was able to steal away the last two rounds of regulation to force a trip to overtime. The extra round was what FaZe needed to snatch away Nuke 19-17 and move to the 2-0 pool.
With this narrow victory, FaZe needs just one more win to qualify for the Europe RMR.
