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The group stage of IEM China 2024 is gaining momentum. We are still watching what is going on in Group B, where a new round of confrontations is being prepared for Long Copeg.
In Group B, in the second round of the upper grid we are watching the fight between Astralis and FaZe Clan. The winner goes to the next round of the group stage, where he will play against the winner of the pair FlyQuest - Vp. And at the same time will become a participant of play-offs.
We will see which of the teams will be stronger and will be able to secure a place in the play-offs, and who will have to fall to the lower net and try their luck there.
Let's go.
FaZe Clan uniform
Let's open the match analysis with the analysis of FaZe Clan's form. In this match they play the first match with odds to win at 1.4.
One of the most stable teams of the last season has quite an extensive record in the first half of the year. However, it predominantly consists of "near" top results.
From the main achievements - getting into the top three at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 and winning at ESL Pro League Season 17. Also this year FaZe got the award for the 4th season of Intel Grand Slam, enriched by $1,000,000.
Speaking of award tournaments, there was less luck here. Top-12 at IEM Rio 2023, and Top-4 at IEM Dallas 2023. At the only Major e in the season FaZe did not cope with the tension, but made it to TOP-8.
Before the Long Conference IEM Cologne 2023 they attended two tournaments of BLAST series: Spring Final 2023 and Fall Groups 2023. At the Finals they were ranked Top 6, and at the Fall Groups 2023 they were in the top three, earning themselves a slot at the Autumn Finals.
- FaZe Clan line-up: karrigan, rain, Frozen, ropz, broky.
Despite the ubiquitous Reshuffle and rather "average" results for the year, FaZe didn't change the main roster. However, there were some substitutions: FaZe presented a new coach, who became the legendary Pole NEO. On his post he replaced the legendary RobbaN and it affected FaZe's gameplay in IEM Cologne 2023, where FaZe took the top-12.
The setbacks continued from there onwards. At Gamers8 2023 FaZe Clan took a similar place (9-12), Ledgeiv at the Long Segment of the Vp tournament with the score 2-0.
Things didn't go too well at ESL Pro League Season 18. FaZe made it to the play-offs on the top grid of Group C, defeating 9Z Team and Fnatic, but in the match for seeding in the main stage they lost to NaVi with the score 0-2. However, FaZe didn't manage to play long at ESL Pro League Season 18: in the first play-offs match, which for FaZe started from the second stage, the team met MOUZ. The future EPL champions sent FaZe Clan home. As a result FaZe found themselves on the 9-12th place of the top tournament.
FaZe rehabilitated quite quickly. Already at IEM Sydney 2023 they triumphed with the victory over CoL in the grand final.
Thunderpick World Championship 2023 FaZe Clan have a great time. The titular European club passed the group stage without problems becoming the best team of the quartet B, and then took part in the play-offs of the championship.
The first opponent for FaZe in the play-offs of Thunderpick World Championship 2023 was MOUZ. A serious opponent, but FaZe did well: 2-1 in favour of the champions of IEM Sydney 2023.
Later MOUZ played against C9 in the match for the final of the tournament and won. They finished what they started with a match against Vp in the grand finals of Thunderpick World Championship 2023, becoming the champion of the $500,000 online tournament.
At CS Asia Championship 2023 FaZe confidently made their way to the play-offs through Group B. Having taken unquestionable TOP-1 the team went directly to the semi-finals of the tournament. FaZe then went head-to-head: first they defeated ENCE 2-1 and in the grand final they defeated MOUZ 2-0.
The last tournament before the BLAST Premier: World FInals 2023 was the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023. There FaZe took the top 2, Ledgeiv in the Vitality Grand Final.
At BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 FaZe, playing with substitutes, managed to take the top 1 in their group. They took turns beating Heroic and then G2. At this rate they reached the grand final, but there Ledge or Vitality. The outcome was almost identical at BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, where FaZe again lost to Vitality in the grand final.
Before the performance at IEM Katowice 2024 they visited BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024. There FaZe very confidently took the top 1 in their group, thus securing a ticket to Spring Finals 2024. IEM Katowice 2024 also went very well: FaZe managed to reach the grand finals, but they didn't have enough strength for the match with charged Spirit. As a result FaZe lost the Grand Final of Katowice with the score 0-3.
Next was PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A, where they finished in the top 5 after losing to Eternal Fire. At the PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 FaZe started with a defeat by Heroic, but then won against FURIA. Then a winless loss to Eternal Fire, a win over Imperial, and a win over Complexity to advance to the Major play-offs.
IEM China 2024 started with a match against Nemiga Gaming. In that match FaZe were stronger and won with a score of 13-8.
FaZe Clan Mappool
The best FaZe map is Mirage. They played 12 matches and won 9 of them.
Then there were Overpass with 8 matches and 5 wins. They play Nuke (7 matches, 4 wins), Inferno (9 matches, 5 wins). Worse is Ancient with 3 wins in 6 matches, and worst of all was Anubis. His FaZe was picked 7 times, but played with a winrate of 42%.
Astralis form
We continue the match analysis with the analysis of Astralis' form. In this match they play as the second number with the odds to win at around 2.8.
The Danish club has had a difficult period. They tried their best to "return" to the TIR-1 scene, but they constantly fell short: Astralis finished Top 20 at ESL Pro League Season 17 and Top 14 at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR B.
At lesser tournaments, however, Astralis fared well. The world's most titled team finished Top 2 at Brazy Party, won CCT South Europe Series #4 and finished Top 4 at Pinnacle Cup V.
Returning to the S-Tier Championships, Astralis took Top 6 at IEM Masters Dallas 2023 and Top 8 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups.
Prior to the BB Dacha, Astralis attended a number of other events. Those were ESL Pro League Season 18 and Roobet Cup 2023, where the once stellar Danes finished in the Top 16.
Just before the Long Convergence, BB Dacha Astralis finished in the Top 4 at CS Asia Championship 2023 and Top 8 at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals. The swing in performance is primarily due to roster manipulation.
- Astralis roster: dev1ce, Staehr, stavn, jabbi, br0.
The latest additions to Astralis are stavn and jabbi. A couple came in with Heroic, who they bid farewell to on not-so-pleasant notes. That said, it's a reinforcement, no matter how you look at it.
The debut tournament for the roster was Dacha, where the Danes finished in the top 8. Then the new season began, which Astralis opened with a performance at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier B. There they took TOP-3, which was enough to pass to RMR.
Before IEM Katowice 2024 they played at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024. According to the results of the championship Danes broke through to the TOP-6 and it was enough to get to the BLAST Premier: Spring Final. The IEM Katowice 2024 Astralis failed in the dust and dust: took the top 32, not passing the Play-In stage.
Then there were two attempts to get to the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, but both were unsuccessful: TOP-11 at European RMR B and TOP-6 at European RMR Decider put an end to Astralis' participation in the home Major.
In the first match of IEM China 2024 Astralis played against steel helmet, as Monte could not make it to China. And if Monte had played there, the score would have been obviously not so crushing as 13-2 in favour of Astralis.
Astralis Mapple
Astralis have two 100% maps. They are Nuke with 9 wins in 14 matches, and Anubis with 5 matches and 4 wins.
They also play Ancient (66% wins in 3 matches). Still playing Mirage (9 matches, 4 wins). Vertigo with 2 wins and 3 losses and Overpass (2 wins in 7 matches).
Inferno are not playing.
History of personal meetings FaZe Clan - Astralis
The last time the teams played each other was in BLAST Spring Final 2023, where FaZe won.
Predicted result of the match Astralis - FaZe Clan at IEM China 2024
In this fight3 I am completely on FaZe's side. They are better than Astralis and their passage to the top 2 of PGL CS2 Major is a proof of that. The only thing that can play into the hands of "Danes" is a theoretical moral decline of FaZe after the offensive defeat at the first CS2 World Championship, but considering how experienced FaZe club is, it is hard to believe in such a scenario.
The result: FaZe's victory.
