MOUZ and FaZe Advance to the Grand Final of IEM Chengdu

The semifinals of IEM Chengdu were hard-fought. Both of them required three maps to conclude and the winners were MOUZ and FaZe Clan.

MOUZ vs. G2 Esports: 2 – 1

He is saying what we’re all thinking 👇@DonHaci pic.twitter.com/9R83mJV8PJ

— MOUZ (@mousesports) April 13, 2024

MOUZ and G2 had already met each other in the playoffs of the Copenhagen Major. G2 won that match but it was partly because the players of MOUZ succumbed to the pressure. The interruption caused by the fans also played its part.

But here, at IEM Chengdu, they probably felt a lot more relaxed. After all, this was a mere $250.000 tournament.

The two teams lost their map picks. The scores were 13 – 8 on Nuke and 7 – 13 on Ancient. On the third map, the score was even after the first half and everything was decided while G2 were on the CT side.

Unfortunately for them, several round defeats were sufficient to cause them to lose control of the map. And after that, there wasn’t much that they could do.

Astralis vs. FaZe Clan: 1 – 2

This is where our run ends. Playing on stage was incredible. Thanks for having us Chengdu.

Now it’s back to the grind. pic.twitter.com/2dOf0blbtM

— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) April 13, 2024

Astralis had defeated FaZe Clan convincingly in the group stage of IEM Chengdu. But since we’re talking about karrigan, who is one of the best IGLs in the history of Counter-Strike, everyone knew that FaZe would not commit the same mistakes twice.

On the first map, which was picked by FaZe, karrigan’s team won 10 – 13, largely thanks to broky and ropz. The two of them had excellent scores while the rest of the roster finished the map with negative scores.

On the second map, Astralis played much better and won 13 – 5. The score was 7 – 5 after the first half and the second half, played on the CT side, went perfectly for them.

On the third map, Inferno, FaZe were regarded as the favorites. And, indeed, the score was not even close: 7 – 13. Overall, br0 had the best score for Astralis, while broky was the best player on the server.

In this final match of the tournament for Astralis, we finally saw dev1ce struggling to keep up in kills with the rest of his squad. He had even fewer frags than karrigan, who is notorious for his poor KD scores.

Overall, Astralis did a great job at IEM Chengdu and proved that they now have what it takes to become a formidable team again. Keep in mind that at the start of the competition, they weren’t even in the top 25! After it ends, they will probably be in the top 15 or at least top 20.

Header: ESL, MOUZ, FaZe Clan