The pool play match-up between OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan at HCS Orlando was already set up to be the headliner fight of the first day, and the nail-biting series did not disappoint. Despite a valiant effort by FaZe, OpTic rallied back in the final two games of the best-of-five series and took a vital victory that secured their spot at the top of Pool A—a prize that will reward them better seeding in tomorrow’s championship bracket.
FormaL was a notable standout for OpTic throughout the series, putting on an impressive display in the series opener, Streets. The 30 kills and 13.3 KDA he recorded in OpTic’s 2-0 Oddball victory set the stage for his overall performance, but his teammates were never far behind when OpTic was in control.
That control, however, slipped away from them in games two and three. After FaZe lost the final round of Oddball to the timer with only one point separating the two teams, the following Slayer on Catalyst acted as a revenge tour. Lucid still managed to pace the lobby with an impressive 16 kills to his name, but with all three of his OpTic teammates languishing at the bottom of the scoreboard, his individual efforts could do little to halt FaZe’s growing lead. It was ultimately a team effort from FaZe that secured the win, as both Renegade and Falcated were close behind Lucid with 15 and 14 kills, respectively.
After more of the same struggles to secure kills lead to another defeat in game three for OpTic, the GreenWall’s display of utter dominance in game four felt like watching an entirely different team. Live Fire’s power weapons almost permanently resided in the hands of Lucid and Trippy, granting OpTic the sandbox advantage they needed to keep momentum in their favor for the majority of the Strongholds match. Roars from the crowd could be heard as Lucid secured a clinical Triple Kill with the Heatwave, only to add insult to injury seconds later by converting an Overshield grab into three more kills right after. When a flashy no-scope Double Kill from Trippy closed out the 250-91 victory, it was fair to say that the psychological advantage lay in OpTic’s court for game five.
Despite FaZe managing to build an early lead in the game five Slayer on Aquarius, OpTic again clawed their way back to tie the game up by the 30 kill mark. After a bloody back and forth where both teams traded kills without either gaining an advantage, OpTic gradually managed to take hold of power positions and build a lead. FormaL once again played like the star OpTic needed him to be, sitting atop the leaderboard with 15 kills and only 10 deaths by the end of OpTic’s 50-43 victory.
It was a series to forget for FaZe’s Spartan, who readily admitted following the series—and a lackluster six kills to his name in game five—that he “let the squad down” in his eyes. “I played an awful series,” he said on Twitter. “Made a lot of solid team plays but I did not play to the standard I hold for myself individually,” he then added in a follow-up post. “I’ll bounce back tomorrow 1000%.”
With FaZe now set as the second seed in Pool A, their run in tomorrow’s championship bracket will be much harder than it would have been otherwise. With both OpTic and FaZe putting up impressive performances in last week’s Grunt Classic tournament hosted by eUnited, they both came into Orlando as favorites to win it, which made their first meeting in pool play a major factor in how the weekend plays out.
OpTic will be pleased to end Friday with a flawless 3-0 run thus far in pools, one that will more than likely develop into a 4-0 performance with their final match against an open bracket team tomorrow. They join G1 and Sentinels as the clear winners of day one’s action.
