FaZe break G2 streak to make Shanghai Major final

karrigan and company stopped a five-match loss streak against G2 in the Major semi-final.

FaZe became the second grand finalists of the Perfect World Shanghai Major after defeating G2 in a two-map series (Ancient 13-6, Nuke 16-14).

Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool had another superstar performance to follow up yesterday’s demolition of Vitality and put up a 1.45 rating, something that G2’s individuals simply couldn’t match.

“ropz is playing absolutely amazing, and that’s helping us out a lot,” Håvard “⁠rain⁠” Nygaard said in a post-match interview.

“Every time we come here, the crowd is always chanting our name. We want to come here and prove we are still one of the best teams in the world.”

FaZe will now face off against Spirit in the grand final, set to be played on Sunday at 17:00 .

For G2, this is a disappointing exit to the tournament. Their star trio of Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač, Ilya “⁠m0NESY⁠” Osipov, and Mario “⁠malbsMd⁠” Samayoa went missing in the series, and while Nemanja “⁠huNter-⁠” Kovač and Janusz “⁠Snax⁠” Pogorzelski did their best to drag them over the line on Nuke, their firepower simply wasn’t enough to match FaZe.

“I’m still proud of my boys. This is something we will build on, it will not destroy us,” Wiktor “⁠TaZ⁠” Wojtas said after the loss.

FaZe got the upper hand in the veto as Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen decided to float both team’s permaban, Vertigo, in the first ban round, which allowed them to get rid of Mirage.

FaZe then went for the Ancient pick and got off to a fantastic start, as ropz’s impactful lurking helped them go 8-0 up before G2 got on the board. G2 then found some momentum, which included a second-half pistol victory, but their huNter–led fightback didn’t last long as they petered out in a 6-13 loss.

m0NESY’s performance, or lack thereof, was a crucial factor in the loss, as the Russian superstar could only muster eight frags and made several misplays on the map.

G2 picked Nuke but couldn’t get going early to go 1-5 behind. They then broke FaZe’s money with an upper rush but couldn’t make the most out of it as they lost out to an MP9 Lobby crunch, which meant the half ended 8-4.

Snax and huNter- then put their team on the back with some stellar upper-site holds but couldn’t help G2 secure the map in regulation. FaZe came back from 10-12 on the Nuke offense to secure overtime, where they made the most out of their mid-round calls to take a 16-14 win and qualify for an unlikely grand final.