On Nov. 26, FaZe Clan’s flawless CS2 run ended at the hands of a remade Vitality roster in the BLAST Premier Fall Final.
After a lackluster end to the Global Offensive era, FaZe Clan took CS2‘s initial competitions by storm. They began their campaign by taking home the IEM Sydney title, their first time lifting a trophy since they notched their IEM Grand Slam earlier in 2023. They followed it up with triumphs at the Thunderpick World Championship and the CS Asia World Championship, two lower-tier tournaments, racking up an undefeated streak of best-of-three wins along the way, which ballooned to 18 consecutive wins by this grand final.
FaZe only managed to notch three rounds on Vertigo as Twistzz started out with a 0-8 scoreline. By contrast, flameZ tallied 23 kills to just seven deaths. Despite rattling off seven straight rounds on Nuke T side to take a 7-5 lead into the half as they aimed for yet another comeback, a spotty CT side ultimately cost FaZe as they fell 13-11 to end the series.
It’s unlikely that we’ve seen the last of the FaZe players in podium finishes, but they might not all be together under the same banner. Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken is reportedly heading home to play for Team Liquid, and there are questions about what happens to the roster when the merger with GameSquare, Complexity’s parent company, goes through.
As for Vitality, they appear to be surging at the right time. The addition of William “Mezii” Merriman, who replaced the allegedly Falcons-bound Emil “Magisk” Reif, looks to be working in the short term. Only the BLAST World Final remains before the first Major in CS2 history, which will be held in March next year in Copenhagen, organized by PGL.
Both Vitality and FaZe (should the core of the roster survive the transition period) should be favorites coming in, and both late-2023 BLAST events will be great warmups for the Major. As 2023 draws to a close, don’t be surprised if you see these two back in a grand final against each other in a month.
