FaZe Clan

Aleksi "allu" Jalli

Finn "karrigan" Andersen

Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey

Nikola "NiKo" Kovač

Håvard "rain" Nygaard

Robert "RobbaN" Dahlström (Coach) Aleksi "allu" JalliFinn "karrigan" AndersenFabien "kioShiMa" FieyNikola "NiKo" KovačHåvard "rain" NygaardRobert "RobbaN" Dahlström



FaZe certainly have a shot at the title.

Since the addition of NiKo in February, FaZe have made five straight top-four finishes, including four grand final appearances in a row, until ESL One Cologne – where their group stage woes forced them to play SK already in the semi-finals. This is a team capable of beating both Astralis and SK – their only true competitors going into the event – but they might also be trending in the wrong direction. After losing a nail-biter in the grand final of ECS Season 3 Finals, where they came back to a 15-14 lead from earlier 0-11 and 2-13 deficits on the deciding map, FaZe had a relatively poor showing in Cologne. Starting down 0-9 versus mousesports on nuke as counter-terrorists, and going 1-12 after a 2-0 start on train’s defensive side against OpTic, even put them at some risk of elimination in the group stage. Liquid were far outmatched due to their map pool, yet FaZe also did not play well versus SK.The team under karrigan’s leadership have had some days to sort out their issues, though they are not instantly obvious. FaZe has only played cobblestone versus Astralis, and while their cache is shaky at best, until SK’s pick in Cologne no one had floated it against them in a series. Attending multiple events in a row could be taking its toll on FaZe, who rely more-so on their high individual skill than both Astralis and SK, which makes their performance more sensitive to tiny changes in how well the likes of NiKo and rain play. Whatever the case may be, FaZe will not be winning PGL Krakow if they do not step up from Cologne – though admittedly the way they played at ECS Season 3 Finals, a mere a week earlier, could well be enough.I questioned FaZe’s decision to pick overpass versus SK, and it led to this roster’s worst loss. They are still good on the map, but it is unclear whether they would like to play it again versus either of their foes. Cache will pose a minor issue versus SK – because rain will not carry FaZe all by himself next time around – but Astralis seem unlikely to pick it, unless they are doing so simply to counter karrigan’s team. FaZe do not seem to mind playing nuke, though few remember how poor their offline record is on it at 1-4 – even if their losses are only versus Astralis and G2, both elite nuke teams. Most teams avoid mirage and nuke against them, with much of the action coming in on train, overpass and inferno. FaZe have a claim to being the number-one team on inferno – a generally wide-open map – and the only team to beat them on overpass is SK. Map pool-wise, they are good to go.FaZe’s form will decide if NiKo can finally become a major champion, or if this will be another strong finish, but without the celebration at the end. They have all the necessary tools, the experience of deep playoff runs, and come in as one of the clear top-three sides. The dirty secret of PGL Krakow is that one of the trio will get an easy – on a relative basis – run to the grand final, while the other two will have to battle each other on the way. That might be enough to be the difference-maker in Krakow, but first FaZe need to forget about Cologne, not drop easy games in the group stage, and be ready for each playoff game. It would be crazy to expect them outside of the top four, but they may be the ones of the trio to end their run in the semis.