FaZe will attend a BLAST Showdown event for the first time since 2020 as a result of this loss.
Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) have eliminated FaZe Clan from BLAST Premier Fall Groups on Aug. 2 following a 2-0 sweep in Group C's lower bracket final.
This loss to NiP at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups means that FaZe will have to attend and do well at the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown to qualify for the $425,000 BLAST Premier Fall Final in September. The starred international lineup haven't played in a BLAST Showdown event since 2020, which shows how big this victory was for NiP.
Just like in the victory against Cloud9 on Aug. 1, Artem "r1nkle" Moroz was the best player for NiP. The Ukrainian youngster is proving to be one of the best AWPers in CS2, and if he keeps up, he'll be the catalyst NiP have missed since the glory days of Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund and Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg.
BLAST Premier Fall Groups: NiP 2-0 FaZe Clan
Game | Map | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ancient | NiP 16-14 FaZe |
| 2 | Inferno | NiP 13-11 FaZe |
| 3 | Mirage | Not needed |
R1nkle paves the way for NiP on Ancient
The Group C lower bracket final kicked off on Ancient, and it felt like the map would last forever as both teams were playing well. NiP and FaZe dragged the action to overtime, and the former came off on top because the Ukrainian AWPer r1nkle was a truly difference-maker.
The young star put out one of the most dominant performances we saw at BLAST Premier Fall Groups as he finished Ancient with 31 kills, just 13 deaths, and an outstanding 1.56 rating. For comparison, nobody on either FaZe or NiP got more than 21 kills.
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NiP keep their head up on Inferno despite economy losses
Inferno looked like it was going to be one of these classic maps in which a team loses because they dropped the ball in economic rounds. Perhaps the old NiP lineup would have choked after losing the anti-eco to Robin "ropz" Kool, but this new lineup recovered from their mistake and outplayed FaZe Clan beautifully on gun rounds later on.
While r1nkle finished Inferno with the highest rating (1.32) on NiP's side, everybody on the team had their moments, especially the young Swedish rifler Max "maxster" Jansson. The 19-year-old was NiP's top fragger as he kept getting important frags late in the game.
This victory over FaZe at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups put NiP in a prime position to win Group C. They'll play against G2 Esports on Aug. 3 at 8 a.m. PT.
That's all for now. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024 coverage.