Watch Highlights: Intensity, Clutches & More Versus FaZe Clan

• Date: April 13, 2024
• Tournament: IEM Chengdu 2024 (LAN)
• Stage: Semi-finals, Playoffs (Best-of-Three)
• Opponent: FaZe Clan
• Result: 1-2 (A narrow 10-13 defeat on Nuke, followed by a comfortable 13-5 win on Ancient, and ultimately a 6-13 defeat on Inferno.)
• Watch Live: Catch all the action on Astralis.gg/watch

Despite beating number one in the world earlier in the tournament, the result wasn't replicated in the Semi-Final of IEM Chengdu 2024 versus FaZe Clan. During the first two maps, the Danes' showed their true potential, but unfortunately couldn't keep it up on the decider, meaning FaZe Clan won 1-2.

Everyone Chiming In

A flawless pistol round helped the Danes get off to a good start, eventually leading 4-2. FaZe Clan woke up to switch up the tempo and narrowly took a 5-7 half-time lead.

The opponents continued their winning streak by claiming the first two CT rounds - and now the Danes felt the pressure for the first time this tournament. At first, the danger was deviated, but the sharp duo of Helvijs "broky "Saukants and Robin "ropz" Kool was too strong in crucial rounds and won the map 10-13.

Nonetheless, since everybody chimed in during the match, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz & Co. showed teeth as a unit.

• Alexander "br0" Bro got the most assists on Nuke (6)
• dev1ce got the most AWP kills (8)
• broky achieved the best rating 2.0 (1.54)

Ruling on Ancient

A strong start on Ancient by FaZe meant that the Danish quintet had to bounce back in the first half - which they did.

The victory train kickstarted in round 6 as br0 pulled off an INSANE 1v4 clutch on the B-site.

Later on, Victor "Staehr" Staehr clutched as well, and he continued to impress. The snowball kept rolling and dev1ce's troops dominated FaZe with a 13-5 score.

• br0 was the MVP of Ancient with 18 frags and a 1.56 rating
• The Danes won three clutches while FaZe won zero
• Staehr and Martin "stavn" Lund both acquired a 1.81 rating on the CT side.

Crumbling on the Decider

On the decider, Inferno, stavn was fired up on the T-side, which ended 5-7 in favor of FaZe.

The International mastodont's experience prevailed in the latter half as they won the map 6-13, and ultimately the match 1-2.

• stavn dealt the most average damage per round (87.2)
• Håvard "rain" Nygaard had the highest rating 2.0 (1.41)

What's Next?

• ESL Pro League Season 19 begins in ten days from now, on April 23 and finishes on May 12.