FaZe Clan are the champions of the first tournament in CS2 era

The first tournament in the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) era, the IEM Sydney 2023, is now history, and we have FaZe Clan beat Complexity Gaming 2-1 to become champions of the tournament.

Undoubtedly, we had a lot of excitement from start to finish in this first tournament in the CS2 era. However, we also witnessed many surprises, and we cannot fail to mention Complexity. This team had many problems in CS:GO in recent years, but it seems they started with a completely different disposition in CS2.

On the other hand, this tournament may allow the FaZe Clan to be reborn after they had a complicated 2023. After winning the ESL Pro League S17 and Intel Grand Slam S4 in March, the team won no more until IEM Sydney 2023.

COMPETITIVE COUNTER-STRIKE 2 AT IT’S VERY BEST.

THE FIRST CHAMPIONS.@FaZeClan 🏆🏆#IEM pic.twitter.com/OTa5v7TL6t

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 22, 2023

Let’s see what happened between Complexity and Faze Clan in the Grand Final.

FaZe apply a reverse sweep to become champions of IEM Sydney 2023.

Due to the level and confidence of both teams, we expected a match full of emotions, and so it was. From start to finish, both teams left everything to give us a great show. Finally, after several rounds of overtime in the third map of the series, FaZe completed the reverse sweep against Complexity to win 2-1 and secure the championship trophy.

On the other hand, it is also worth noting that it was an exceptional Grand Final worthy of a Tier 1 tournament in this new era of CS2.

The series was held in Overpass, Nuke, and Ancient.

Overpass

It all started at Overpass, Complexity’s map pick, where we enjoyed a CS2 of the highest level from both squads.

In the first half, FaZe Clan displayed great defense to take a narrow 7-5 victory. However, this only woke up the North American team, who, with the help of Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, managed to turn the score around and take the victory in the first map by 13-11.

.@Complexity HAVE THE LEAD IN THE FIRST CS2 GRAND FINAL.

They hand @FaZeClan a loss on Overpass as they take it 13-11.

Nuke is coming up next!#IEM pic.twitter.com/4idqYxlKGE

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 22, 2023

Nuke

The teams then moved to Nuke, FaZe Clan’s map pick, where things remained equally balanced, with FaZe stepping up to even the series 1-1.

In the first half, FaZe Clan started with impressive aggressiveness thanks to the level of play of Robin “ropz” Kool to take an 8-4 partial victory. However, at the change of sides, the match turned into a spectacular give-and-take that completely favored FaZe. Finally, after 11 rounds (6-5), FaZe won 13-10 and evened the Grand Final 1-1.

WE’RE GETTING A THIRD MAP TO CLOSE OUT THE #IEM SYDNEY GRAND FINAL. @FaZeClan take Nuke 13-10 against @Complexity!

Ancient is the decider for the first CS2 LAN title. pic.twitter.com/NPmdMCc53x

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 22, 2023

Ancient

Finally, in Ancient, we enjoyed an EXCEPTIONAL match that we have no doubt and, above all, worthy of a Grand Final. Complexity showed resilience and never gave up on this map. However, Finn “Karrigan” Andersen and FaZe Clan showed that experience and winning blood are a plus in these matches.

In the first half, FaZe Clan started with overwhelming Complexity on their CT Side, preventing the North Americans from being able to deploy their offensive game. As a result, FaZe took an excellent partial victory by 9-3; they were only 4 rounds away from being champions. However, this woke up Complexity in a big way, and, with the help of Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli and EliGE, they managed to come back to level the score at 12-12.

Finally, after several rounds in Overtime, FaZe Clan took the victory by 19-16 and thus proclaimed themselves as the first champions in the Counter-Strike 2 era.

.@FaZeClan ARE YOUR #IEM SYDNEY CHAMPIONS! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/yEJiM4BrIZ

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 22, 2023

Header: ESL