IEM Cologne 2023: Vitality and FaZe advance to Group B Upper Bracket semifinals

The IEM Cologne 2023 Group B actions continue in full swing, and we have Team Vitality and FaZe Clan getting excellent victories on the previous day to advance to the Upper Bracket semifinals. Now, we have MOUZ, G2 Esports, Vitality, and FaZe, fighting for two direct slots in the playoffs of the IEM Cologne 2023.

Team Vitality started their journey in Group B with an excellent victory over OG by 2-0. Shahar “flameZ” Shushan and Emil “Magisk” Reif was in the most incredible form possible, leading the reigning Paris Major champions to a great victory. On the other hand, FaZe Clan had to come from behind to take a 2-1 win over NiP to advance to the Group B semifinals.

On the other side of the coin, both OG and NiP will now have to play for their lives in the Lower Bracket of Group B and will face NaVi and Astralis, respectively.

Let’s see what happened in the victories of Team Vitality and FaZe Clan on the last day of Group B of the IEM Cologne 2023.

Team Vitality destroy OG

Thanks to an excellent performance by flameZ and Magisk, Team Vitality destroyed OG in the first match of Group B of the IEM Cologne 2023 to stay in the Upper Bracket. In addition, the team had to deal with some problems on the second map as OG tried to wake up. However, they had the determination to take the 2-0 victory.

The series began in Mirage, OG’s map pick, where we saw a spectacular Team Vitality on their CT side as they managed to take a resounding 12-3 victory. Then, at the change of sides, OG won the first three rounds to give hints of a possible comeback. However, this was all for OG, as Team Vitality won the next four rounds to seal the victory with a comfortable score of 16-6.

On the second map, Anubis, things took a 180° turn as OG woke up and came very close to even the series 1-1. In the first half, Team Vitality suffered on their CT side, but, in the end, they could take a partial victory by 8-7. Then, as the sides switched sides, the match went back and forth, meaning the teams split the rounds to the point where OG was ahead on the scoreboard by 13-12. However, Team Vitality won the last four rounds to take the victory 16-13.

It got close, but @TeamVitality still manage to 2-0 @OGcsgo in their opening match of the #IEM Cologne Group Stage 🐝

16-6 Mirage
16-13 Anubis pic.twitter.com/ee1Ga0TU3u

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 30, 2023

FaZe Clan apply reverse sweep to NiP

The other Group B match saw FaZe Clan coming from behind to apply a reverse sweep against NiP to take a tough win.

It all started in Mirage, NiP’s team, where we saw the young Ukrainian promise Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov, dressed as a hero to lead NiP to victory. FaZe Clan started extremely strong in the first half, winning with a solid 10-5 partial score. However, at the change of sides, NiP’s defense was much stronger than FaZe’s, and after winning ten of the first 11 rounds, NiP could take the lead. Finally, FaZe could not complete the miracle and lost 14-16.

In the second map, Overpass, the attitude of both teams was completely different, as FaZe Clan, on their T-side, got a solid victory in the first half by 11-4. Then, at the change of sides, NiP managed to win the first round, but, unlike the first map, FaZe Clan reacted immediately and won the remaining five rounds to even the series 1-1 after an excellent 16-5.

Finally, the tone was the same on Nuke, the third and decisive map. FaZe Clan again started very strongly in the first half on their CT side and managed a partial 11-4 victory. At the change of sides, FaZe quickly moved 14-4 ahead on the scoreboard, leaving them just two rounds away from winning. Then, NiP won three consecutive rounds to put the score at 7-14, but that was all there was to it, as, FaZe won the last two remaining rounds to take the map victory 16-7.

The reigning #IEM Cologne champions are off to a good start this year 👀@FaZeClan overcome @NIPCS 2-1 in the series!

14-16 Mirage
16-5 Overpass
16-7 Nuke pic.twitter.com/D6UtxbGFmd

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) July 30, 2023

Header: ESL