FaZe see off Vitality to set up rematch with Na`Vi

FaZe came back from a map down to eliminate Vitality and seal passage to Group A's lower bracket final at IEM Katowice.

FaZe move on in the lower bracket after putting in a solid team performance that nullified Vitality and their biggest star in this clash of styles. At first, it looked like it would be one of those series where Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut would hard-carry his team to victory. He came to the team's rescue after an inauspicious start on Mirage and amassed 32 kills to help secure a narrow victory after FaZe had looked so promising at the start of the map.

But Vitality's dependance on ZywOo haunted them as the French prodigy's impact was minimal on Nuke, where Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants led FaZe to a convincing victory. It was the team's fourth map pick loss in 2020, a sign that Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin is still trying to figure out what his squad's strengths are.

ZywOo posed all sorts of problems to FaZe on Inferno and led Vitality's comeback efforts in the second half, but the European mixture put in yet another clinical performance to wrap up the series. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač's men will jump back into the frying pan on Thursday as they will battle for survival against Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and the rest of the Na`Vi gang in a rematch of Monday's three-map thriller.

After a dour start from Vitality, Mirage became the ZywOo show. The French team recovered from a 2-7 deficit on the T side of the map, FaZe's pick, and ended the half down by just one round as the European mixture seemed to have run out of steam.

FaZe will get a shot at revenge against Na`Vi on Thursday

The French team carried that momentum into the second half and won six rounds without response to grab a 13-8 lead. It was only then that FaZe woke up as NiKo's troops strung four rounds together to cut the gap to 12-13. ZywOo wouldn't let a comeback happen, though, pulling off a massive quad-kill on the B site, and, after a highly-contested period, the best player of 2019 laid the game to rest with two key frags in a 2v3 situation as overtime loomed.

Nuke began with FaZe winning the pistol round but instantly losing their grip on the game as Vitality began to rack up rounds. After getting their economy stabilized, the European mixture took control of proceedings before a late comeback from the Frenchmen kept the gap to three rounds.

FaZe further added to their lead after a strong start to their T side, which Vitality responded with their own string of four rounds. For a while, it looked like this would be yet another game that would get away from FaZe, but a 1v2 clutch from broky eased the team's fears and set it up for a convincing victory.

NiKo's troops were on the front foot on Inferno from the offset as they enjoyed a comfortable half on the T side. Despite a great performance from ZywOo, who racked up 18 kills on the CT side, Vitality were limited to just five rounds after struggling to contain the pace set by their opponents.

ZywOo rescued Vitality with a massive quad-kill in the following pistol, with the French side then winning the next three rounds to bring the gap to a solitary round. FaZe kept their cool - and their guns as well - and tightened up their defense, with Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer and Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David both stepping up with multi-kills to seal victory for the team and bid adieuto Vitality.

IEM Katowice 2020Best of 3 VitalityMatchpage 1 2 26th February 2020 FaZe 16Mirage 14 11Nuke 16 10Inferno 16

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	72 - 47	+25	97.2	1.44
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekinALEX	58 - 60	-2	71.7	0.95
Cédric 'RpK' GuipouyRpK	43 - 59	-16	70.1	0.88
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	41 - 55	-14	54.4	0.84
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	40 - 63	-23	57.0	0.72

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	66 - 46	+20	78.3	1.25
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	55 - 46	+9	77.6	1.21
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	58 - 52	+6	74.1	1.12
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	51 - 59	-8	76.3	1.06
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	53 - 51	+2	71.6	1.03

Marcelo 'coldzera' David Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 1115 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.61 Vitality #7 Richard 'shox' PapillonCédric 'RpK' GuipouyDan 'apEX' MadesclaireAlex 'ALEX' McMeekinMathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut FaZe #9 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' Saukants Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Age: 28 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1365 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.65 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants Age: 19 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 283 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.62 Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 19 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.30 Maps played: 571 KPR: 0.87 DPR: 0.62 Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin Age: 24 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 955 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.71 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 23 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1170 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.67 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 22 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.23 Maps played: 1107 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.65

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