FaZe weather FURIA comeback to secure final playoff spot in Shanghai

karrigan’s troops almost dropped a 12-2 lead but got the job done in the end.

FaZe became the final playoff team at the Perfect World Shanghai Major after a three-map series against FURIA (Inferno 6-13, Dust2 13-9, Mirage 13-10).

It looked like Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen and company would secure a dominant victory after going up 12-2 on the decider, but dropped clutches to Kaike “⁠KSCERATO⁠” Cerato and Felipe “⁠skullz⁠” Medeiros to allow FURIA back into the game.

In the end, FaZe’s individuals got them over the line, as David “⁠frozen⁠” Čerňanský (Inferno), Håvard “⁠rain⁠” Nygaard (Dust2), and Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool (Mirage) all put up 100+ ADR maps to secure a playoff spot.

“Yeah, we made playoffs, but at what cost? I saw some FaZe magic and some FaZe stuff I didn’t want to see,” admitted a relieved karrigan in a broadcast post-match interview.

The series began on Inferno, where FaZe got off to a terrible start. frozen was the one shining beacon of hope for his team as he found an ace in the second-round forcebuy alongside a triple spraydown on the B site, which allowed FaZe to go into the second half 3-9 down.

ropz gave FaZe another second-round force in the second half with a stylish quad-kill, but the European combine couldn’t string together a comeback. FURIA returned to winning ways as soon as their economy allowed and took a statement 13-6 victory into their map pick of Dust2.

The pre-match map stats didn’t look good for karrigan and company. FaZe lost three out of the last five, including a 7-13 defeat to FURIA in Rio, while the Brazilians are on a seven-match win streak.

That was far from what happened, though, as a rain masterclass on the CT side kept FaZe in the game before they took over on the offense. Everything went the way of karrigan’s squad, including a crucial 2v5 on the A site late on, which meant they forced the decider of Mirage.

FaZe kept up their Dust2 form to take a 12-2 lead, but FURIA didn’t give up. KSCERATO began the comeback effort with a 1v2 before skullz’s incredible 1v4 made the scoreline even closer, but FaZe eventually did enough to secure a 13-10 victory and a playoff spot in Shanghai.