The very first round of FaZe’s IEM Rio 2023 bout against FURIA saw a gamebreaking flashbang, and while ESL might’ve missed the moment in question on their stream, the Counter-Strike community is far from blind.
One game-breaking flashbang left two FURIA players in an incredibly favorable position as FaZe clan bounded around the CT corner on Mirage. The flash was thrown by FaZe clan, but despite popping in front of two members of FURIA’s outfit, not a single player was blind.
ESL’s stream failed to showcase the bug, leaving FURIA’s IGL Andrei “arT” Piovezan to bring it to the community’s attention in an April 18 Twitter post. As it turned out, the player models had the “flash animation,” but FURIA could see everything.
Art added he “was deaf out of nowhere, but our screen didn’t even flash.”
Whether this flash dramatically changed the outcome of the game is up for debate, however, it likely placed FaZe on the back foot in the early rounds on Mirage. Other players were scattered around the map and also failed to make an impact. This flashbang bug definitely didn’t make their odds of winning the pistol round any higher.
Robin “ropz” Kool was baffled by the glitch, with the FaZe rifler questioning “wtf” happened. Fans, many of whom were up in arms, speculated the issue related to the server and not CS:GO itself. Some even demanded ESL consider a rematch after this strange case.
Unfortunately, for FaZe, they’ve just been “CS:GO’d.”
In the end, FURIA came out on top in the series, winning 2-0. The Brazillian roster started off strong on the T-side of Mirage before closing out the first half with 10 rounds.
Mirage wrapped up with FURIA taking down the recent Grand Slam winners 16-8, with FaZe clan struggling to collect some rounds on the CT side.
FaZe’s map pick Nuke saw the international roster come within reaching distance of the victory, however, FURIA’s T-side, again, proved too strong for karrigan and Co. After their crushing defeat at the hands of FURIA, FaZe has been sent to the lower bracket where they’ll take on Vitality, with the loser being eliminated from the tournament.
This type of bug cannot be a part of Counter-Strike, let alone professional matches. Hopefully, Valve spot this issue and get into gear.
