3 maps - 108 rounds. That's only one stat that shows how crazily competitive this 3-0 sweep was when looking deeper under the hood. We saw huge nail-biters on every map of the series, in great contrast to their match-up from just 2 weeks ago in Marseille. What were the differences this time around that brought us a very different outcome? Why were FaZe finally able to break their Grand Final curse? What does this series tell us about both teams going further down the road? Let's dig a little deeper.

1. FaZe's two faces

It is crazy how on FaZe are when they are on and how off they are when they are off. To go from losing to Renegades and going the distance against Grayhound to sweeping Astralis in the Grand Final is ludicrous.

It makes sense for your play to be depending on your star players hitting shots when you have players of FaZe's caliber, but when it doesn't work, you can look pretty bad. YNk said during the FaZe/TyLoo series that the winner of that would get stomped by Astralis OR mouz in the final, and it made sense for him to say that because FaZe was looking lacklustre throughout the whole tournament up to that point.

Furthermore, it is also telling that after watching this series in the Grand Final, when you think about important rounds that were won by FaZe, you rather think about a NiKo or GuardiaN clutch than a round that has been won by having the superior strategy. When rounds were won by excellent decision-making, they were mostly won by Astralis. But all of that doesn't seem to matter when we talk about this best-of-five, because FaZe was able to win with that style of play.

2. GuardiaN > device

One reason for that was the huge mismatch between GuardiaN and device. The Slovakian AWPer is playing very well for months now and this time, it was no different.

Over the series, he got 15 AWP kills on device while device only got 5 kills in return, which shows you which way this duel went over all the maps played; especially on Cache, this discrepency was substantiated.

But not only that, GuardiaN was also constantly able to pick out important kills in important rounds which opened or secured bomb sites and helped FaZe lock down rounds that they wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

3. Magisk - Mr. Reliable

I also want to mention Astralis' tower of strength throughout the whole series. Magisk, who just joined Astralis 3 months ago, was Mr. Reliable during the whole tournament and he showed that once more in the finals. Maybe he slacked a bit on Train - if you want to call that slacking, but other than that, he was the guy who made many things happen.

Kjaerbye's departure could really be a blessing in disguise for the Astralis roster, especially considering where North are at right now. The development also confirms Astralis in their decision to sign Magisk in the first place, as they had a few different options to go down and they got criticised for their choice to go with the 20-year-old - but surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), they knew exactly what they were doing.

4. FaZe needs a sports psychologist

I think that it is really telling to hear karrigan say "when people don't expect us to win, we win". FaZe lost many grand finals in the last 6 months, and in all of them, they were the odds-on favorite. Now, once they are the underdog and nobody expects them to show up, they do.

Even if karrigan said what he said jokingly, I think this fact shows that the players have to work on their mental fortitude. NiKo is known to be a bit of a loose-cannon when it comes to tilting - so is karrigan. Astralis had similar mental problems, which is why they hired a sports psychologist and it worked wonders for them.

In my opinion, it is time for FaZe to consult someone similar in order to deal better with the pressure of having to perform, which is clearly what seems to be their biggest problem - and they are definitely not the first team to have these problems.

And I think the blueprint for dealing with these problems somewhat is out there already, which is why FaZe should be able to do something about it if they are willing to and if they realise that this actually is a problem for them in the first place.

5. Astralis wins this series 7 out of 10 times

I think when talking about these two teams, who arguably are the two best teams in the world, it is interesting to compare their approaches to the game and how contrasting they are. On the one hand, Astralis is turning CS:GO into a very cerebral game by noticeably incorporating a lot of preparation into their playbook. No team is as prolific with their use of nades and timings as the Danes are.

On the other hand, FaZe sometimes shows us tactical excellence (like in the 28th round of Overpass or the last round on Cache), but mostly they rely on glimpses of individual brilliance (like the NiKo 1v3 and the Xizt 1v2, both on Overpass or the GuardiaN 1v3 on Train to win their first T round after losing 10 straight) - mostly, the best thing FaZe does from a tactical standpoint are flanks, which they do well consistently.

Both approaches, of course, have their strengths and weaknesses and I already alluded to some of them earlier, but in my opinion, this leads to FaZe's bottom being way lower than Astralis'.

This is also why I think that Astralis wins this series 7 out of 10 times. The beginning of their CT side on Train showed exactly how Astralis can draw up their playmaking - and they went 10-0 while doing so. When FaZe plays at their best, we still have many competitive rounds being decided by individual performances.

6. NiKo may need to reinvent himself

And lastly, I think that even when talking about individual masterclass and the reliance on that, it is more important than ever for your star players to be unpredictable. Which brings me to the fact, that NiKo had problems being that throughout the whole series.

He sort of made Overpass his playground despite this, but especially on Cache, he struggled because Astralis was able to negate his impact by either simply ignoring him or playing on his tendencies and eliminating him early. This throws up the question if NiKo needs to look to reinvent himself in some capacity.

We kind of have this discussion right now with the IGL role change in SK, where arguably one of the best IGLs in history in FalleN doesn't feel like he can have the same impact that he once had because his opponents are reading him far too frequently. I think this is what happens to NiKo in these big matches in grand finals more often than not and to have a consistent place in the ranks of the best players in the world, one simply can not be that easy to predict.

Interestingly enough, NiKo has played a lot more AWP this series than I'm used to see him play, maybe this is one of the ways he and FaZe as a team try to combat this, so we will see how this may develop in the future.